 It was classified and named as "Tarsotomus macropalpis" by Nathan Banks whose report in 1916 was 

The mite has been recorded at a speed of 322 body lengths per second ().This is far in excess of the previous record holder, the Australian tiger beetle "Cicindela eburneola", the fastest insect in the world relative to body size, which has been recorded at or 171 body lengths per second.The cheetah, the fastest land animal, which has been clocked at a peak of , scores at only 16 body lengths per second.