This paper reports on 12 species of Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from West Bengal, India. Amblyseius crotalariae (Gupta, 1977), Amblyseius guajavae (Gupta, 1978), Typhlodromips syzygii (Gupta, 1975), Scapulaseius asiaticus (Evans, 1953) are re-described, and Scapulaseius moraesi sp. nov., Euseius sundarbanensis sp. nov., Euseius astrictus sp. nov., Asperoseius latericulus sp. nov., Asperoseius jujubae sp. nov., Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) carambolae sp. nov., Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) heliotropium sp. nov. and Phytoseius namkhanaensis sp. nov. are described as new.

In this paper five new mite species are described from West Bengal, India—Amblyseius dahliae sp. nov., A. bengalensis sp. nov., A. brachycalyx sp. nov., A. conulus sp. nov., A. parbatabasii sp. nov., and two species are re-described—Amblyseius largoensis (Muma, 1955) and A. herbicolus (Chant, 1959) (Acari: Phytoseiidae).

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This paper reports on 13 species of Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from West Bengal, India. Eight species, namely Euseius alstoniae (Gupta, 1975), Paraphytoseius orientalis (Narayanan, Kaur & Ghai, 1960), Amblyseiulella heveae (Oudemans, 1930), Gynaeseius ricini (Ghai & Menon, 1969), Neoseiulus longispinosus (Evans, 1952), Neoseiulus imbricatus (Corpuz & Rimando, 1966), Neoseiulus barkeri Hughes, 1948 and Phytoseius kapuri Gupta, 1969 are re-described, and five species, Typhlodromips jhilimiliensis sp. nov, Typhlodromips neosyzygii sp. nov, Proprioseiopsis amari sp. nov, Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) bolpurensis sp. nov, and Phytoseius mauritiana sp. nov. are described as new. Neoseiulus barkeri Hughes, 1948 is reported from India for the first time.

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The mites of the family Phytoseiidae are one of the most studied groups of predatory mites worldwide for its species diversity, wide distribution and feeding potential to act as biocontrol agents for control of pest mites and small soft bodied insect pests. Phytoseiid mites are boon of nature because they sustain on pests of many agri-horticultural crops which are indeed very difficult to manage relying solely on pesticides. Considering its immense importance, it has been extensively explored from eastern India to understand the inherent potential of these biocontrol agents. In the era of biological control, predatory mites, specifically those belonging to the family Phytoseiidae, are now appreciated with farmers worldwide as natural enemies for their exhaustive use in pest control in greenhouses and as well as in open field conditions.

Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek), also known as green gram, is one of the important pulse crops grown in West Bengal, India. Mungbean is affected by various insect and non-insect pests, among which the yellow mite, Polyphagotarsonemus latus (Banks) plays an important role amounting huge crop loss. The peak population of the mite (23.2 mites/sq.cm leaf area) encountered during the initial budding stage of the crop and declined thereafter at the end of flowering stage. A tune of 50–80 % crop loss was estimated due to its infestation. Among seven acaricides tested, Dicofol, Diafenthiouron and Spiromesifen showed higher efficacy against the mite than the other acaricides used. The yellow mite is a regular and major pest of mungbean which appeared in a severe form in the farmer field especially during pre-kharif season which can be manage successfully by application of two successive round of acaricides like diafenthiouron or dicofol at 10 days interval during early reproductive stage of the crop that ensure the flowering and fruit setting of the crop giving satisfactory yield. The present study provides an important finding regarding the peak season of infestation by yellow mite and the effective measures to be taken against it which will help the mung bean growers to combat the loss from this havoc.