We report on a collection of mites in the family Laelapidae associated with scarabaeid beetles in Iran. Five known species are recorded from Iran for the first time: Coleolaelaps asiaticus Karg, 1999, Hypoaspis integer Berlese, 1911, Hypoaspis pentodoni Costa, 1971, Hypoaspis phyllognathi Costa, 1971, and Hypoaspis terrestris (Leonardi, 1899. Four new species are described: Coleolaelaps costai sp. nov., Hypoaspis larvicolus sp. nov., Hypoaspis maryamae sp. nov., and Hypoaspis melolonthae sp. nov. The ecological relationship between these mites and their beetle hosts has not been analysed in detail, but they probably do not play a major role as biological control agents of pest scarabs.
This paper reports on five species of mites of the genus Gymnolaelaps associated with ants and soil in Iran-G. artavilensis sp. nov. from Pheidole pallidula, G. laevis (Michael) and G. myrmecophilus (Berlese) from Tetramorium caespitum, G. myrmophila (Michael) from Formica sp., and G. obscuroides Costa from soil. Gymnolaelaps australicus Womersley and G. hospes (Berlese) have also been reported from Iran, in association with P. pallidula, but those records are incorrect. A key to the species of Gymnolaelaps occurring in the Western Palaearctic Region is presented. We review the related genus Laelaspisella Marais & Loots, and transfer Gymnolaelaps kabitae Bhattacharyya and G. canestrinii (Berlese) sensu Costa to Laelaspisella.
This paper reports on three species of mites of the genus Laelaspis in Iran – Laelaspis calidus Berlese from Pheidole pallidula, Laelaspis humeratus (Berlese) from Tetramorium caespitum and Laelaspis dariusi Joharchi & Jalaeian, sp. n. fromsoil. The new species is described and illustrations provided.
A new species of laelapid mite, Myrmozercon hunteri sp. nov. associated with Myrmica sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), is described and illustrated. A key to 18 species of Myrmozercon is presented. Ten further species, all described prior to 1950, are briefly diagnosed but cannot be included in the key. Myrmozercon is shown to include a distinct group, Myrmozercon sensu stricto, which all have short, highly hypotrichous legs and a series of other consistent character states. This group probably arises from within Myrmozercon sensu lato, which have long legs with little or no hypotrichy, but some species also have character states found in Myrmozercon s.s. Myrmozercon ovatum Karawajew, 1909 is regarded a junior synonym of M. brevipes Berlese, 1902.
This paper report on a new species of mites of the genus Myrmozercon associated with ant in Iran – Myrmozercon cyrusi Ghafarian and Joharchi sp. n. was collected associated of the Monomorium sp. in Kenevist Rural District in the Central District of Mashhad County, Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran. This new species is described and illustrations provided. Myrmozercon ovatum Karawajew, 1909 is suspected to be a junior synonym of Myrmozercon brevipes Berlese, 1902 and host-specificity and host range of Myrmozercon are also reviewed.
A new species of phytoseiid mites, Neoseiulus neoagrestis sp. nov., was described based on all ontogenetic stages and extensive comparison with types/vouchers of closely related species and a thorough analysis of GenBank data. Mite specimens were collected in an area at the eastern coast of the Black Sea of Russia and cultured. Molecular barcoding revealed a close match (100–99.25%) with several unidentified COX1 sequences from Canada. Both Canadian and Russian mites reproduced sexually and had consistent morphology, including the presence of gd2 gland pores, indicating that they belong to a single species, N. neoagrestis sp. nov. The presence of gd2 gland pores distinguishes N. neoagrestis sp. nov. from a closely related, parthenogenetic species N. agrestis (Karg), which lacks gd2 gland pores. Despite having an arguably negligible morphological difference, these two species were clearly distinct by COX1 sequences (19.95–22.01% K2P distances). We studied the ontogeny of N. neoagrestis sp. nov. and provided comparison with related Neoseiulus species. Furthermore, our examination of types of N. agrestis, N. salish, and N. striatus indicated that the latter two species are potential junior synonyms of N. agrestis.
This paper reports on nine species of mites of the family Laelapidae associated with insects and soil in Republic of Korea: Cosmolaelaps hortensis Ishikawa from Allomyrina dichotoma (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), and C. chianensis (Gu), C. hrdyi (Samšiňák), Cosmolaelaps sejongi sp. nov., Gymnolaelaps laevis (Michael), Holostaspis mooni sp. nov., Hypoaspis longicaudus sp. nov., Laelaspis mandibularis (Ewing) and Ololaelaps wangi Bai et. al. from soil. This is the first record of Gymnolaelaps, Holostaspis and Laelaspis from Republic of Korea. The new species are described and illustrated from adult females and additional morphological characters that complement the description of Ololaelaps wangi Bai et. al. are presented.
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