Chigger mites of Iran have been revised based on examination of type materials in the collection of Zoological Museum of Moscow University and reference data. Hitherto, 85 species of trombiculids were recorded in Iran; synonymy, diagnoses, data on depositories of type specimens, lists of hosts and collection localities are given for each species. Original measurements of holotypes or paratypes are provided for 46 species. Four new combinations are proposed: Ornithogastia merops (Vercammen-Grandjean, Rohde and Mesghali, 1970) comb. nov., transferred from Guntherana; O. oenanthe (Vercammen-Grandjean, Rohde and Mesghali, 1970) comb. nov., transferred from Guntherana; Microtrombicula galerida (Vercammen-Grandjean, Rohde and Mesghali, 1970), comb. nov., transferred from Eltonella; and M. meriones (Vercammen-Grandjean, Rohde and Mesghali, 1970), comb. nov., transferred from Eltonella. Comparison of our measurements of holotypes with those given in the original species descriptions published by Kudryashova was carried out using statistical methods to establish probable systematic bias between metric data obtained by different researchers. A key to species of Iranian trombiculid larvae is compiled. With the use of public geoinformation online resources, actual names and coordinates were established for all 48 sites of Iran where chigger mites were collected.
Chigger mites of northern Iran were studied on the basis of field collections from rodent hosts. Thirty-five species were recorded. Two new species, Cheladonta afshari Stekolnikov and Shamsi sp. nov., collected on Apodemus sp. in Guilan and Mazandaran Provinces, and Neotrombicula tehranensis Stekolnikov and Shamsi sp. nov., collected on Cricetulus migratorius and Chionomys sp. in Tehran Province, are described. One new synonym is established: Neotrombicula vernalis (Willmann, 1942) (= Neotrombicula kermani Kudryashova, 1977 syn. nov.). Seventeen species were recorded in Iran for the first time; thus, the number of known Iranian chiggers constitutes 104. The record of Neotrombicula autumnalis (Shaw, 1790) in Iran is important from the veterinarian and medical points of view, as this species attacks humans and domestic animals.
A new species of the genus Ectagela Schmidt (Phylinae) from Iran, Ectagela kermanensis sp. nov. is described and illustrated. The type specimens are deposited in the insect collection of the Natural History Museum of University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran.
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