Two females of Ixodes schulzei Aragão & Fonseca, 1951 were collected from Nectomys squamipes (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) at Iguazú National Park, Misiones Province, Argentina. This is the first record of this tick species in Argentina. All previous records of I. schulzei came from Brazil (some of them close to the border with Argentina) where larvae, nymphs and females of I. schulzei have been found parasitizing Sigmodontinae hosts. The current record of I. schulzei has been expected and its range may include Paraguay.

A new species of the genus Sphaerotarsus Womersley, 1936, S. quercus sp. nov., is described from larvae collected in an Oak (Quercus spp.) forest in Shiraz, Iran. This is only the third species of Sphaerotarsus known as larvae and is the first time the genus is reported from outside of Australia. A key is given to the world species of larvae.

The frequent application of acaricides is necessary for the management of the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae because of its high tendency to rapidly develop resistance to the used chemicals. Here, we aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of the simultaneous development of acaricide resistance in multiple mite populations and assessing their genetic structure. To this end, we used four microsatellite loci to analyze the genetic structure of 11 T. urticae populations collected from eight commercial apple orchards, one apple tree nursery, one experimental apple orchard, and one hop farm. In the commercial orchards and nursery, acaricides were used frequently every year; in the experimental apple orchard, acaricides were not used after transplantation; and in the hop farm, a propylene glycol emulsion was used periodically. Allelic richness and heterozygosity were not highly different among the orchards. In most mite populations, the inbreeding coefficients were significantly higher than zero, indicating frequent occurrence of inbreeding. Inbreeding coefficient values were higher in populations collected from commercial orchards, suggesting that acaricide applications increased the frequency of inbreeding in mite populations. Overall, the results showed that the recurrent chemical treatments have a strong bottleneck effect on T. urticae populations, which probably accelerates the development of acaricide resistance.

A new species of tarsonemid mite, Steneotarsonemus hippodromus sp. nov., is described from kikuyu grass Pennisetum clandestinum (Poaceae). The new species is the fifth species of the subgenus Steneotarsonemoides. Keys to the subgenera of Steneotarsonemus and species of Steneotarsonemoides are provided, as is a list of species in each subgenus of Steneotarsonemus.

This study investigated mite biodiversity and density on Capsicum annuum in temperate (Bursa and Yalova provinces) and semi-arid (Ankara province) zones of Turkey from 2009 to 2010. A total of twenty-six phytophagous, predatory and generalist mite species were established on pepper leaves. Tetranychus urticae (Tetranychidae) was the single predominant species on the plants in all zones, while Phytoseius plumifer, Neoseiulus californicus (Phytoseiidae) and Tarsonemus bifurcatus (Tarsonemidae) were found to be other common species. Mite diversity and density were higher in temperate zone provinces than in Ankara, which has semi-arid conditions. This variation was significantly correlated with high humidity in the temperate zone, but only for phytophagous mites. The highest number of predatory species was found in the temperate zone, a finding also correlated with humidity, but not significantly. Although phytophagous mite diversity was lower than that of predatory mites in both zones, phytophagous mites were more than abundant than both predatory and generalist mites. The current study observed a significantly high population density of T. urticae from late July to mid August of 2010 and 2011. The sharp decline in T. urticae density on pepper was found to be associated with the onset of rainfall in June and September. Consequently, similar population growth patterns in phytoseiids [Neoseiulus bicaudus, N. californicus and Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) recki in Bursa and Yalova; Phytoseius plumifer in Ankara] were found in all zones and in both years. Generally, predatory mite density showed a gradually increasing population growth pattern from late July to early October.

Common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. (Asterales: Asteraceae), is an annual harmful weed of North American origin, now widely distributed in Central and Southern Europe, Asia and Australia. It is an agricultural weed, but it represents a serious risk for human health because its pollen can cause severe allergies. Recently, in the framework of the EU-COST Action ‘SMARTER’, an European program was started with the aim to develop sustainable management strategies for ragweed in Europe, with a special emphasis in the search and selection of biological control agents. Among them, the record of a new eriophyid mite Aceria species in Serbia has been considered as potential important biological control candidate. This paper describes the species following both morphological and bio-molecular approaches, and is giving some preliminary data on the geographical distribution and on the biology of the eriophyid mite on its host plant.

Tetranychus urticae Koch and Tetranychus kanzawai Kishida are important pest mites of various crops of economic importance around the world. Prey consumption and functional responses of two species of phytoseiid mites on these two spider mites were evaluated at 25 ± 1°C, 65 ± 10% RH in the artificial climatic chamber with a photoperiod of 16 h light:8 h dark. The functional response of both Neoseiulus species was type II on three immature stages (egg, larva and protonymph) of Tetranychus species. The value of attack rate coefficients (α) of N. californicus to each stage of Tetranychus was greater than N. longispinosus, and the shortest handling time (T_h) was obtained on larvae followed by nymphs and eggs. The maximum attack rate (T/T_h) on eggs, larvae and nymphs of T. urticae was estimated to be 11.87, 37.23 and 26.95 for N. californicus, and 18.43, 28.98 and 20.67 for N. longispinosus; the maximum attack rate (T/T_f) on eggs, larvae and nymphs of T. kanzawai was estimated to be 11.90, 42.97 and 39.60 for N. californicus, and 24.15, 31.60 and 24.45 for N. longispinosus. When different densities of prey were offered to the predators, more prey was consumed at higher prey densities, and interaction between prey stage and prey density was significant for N. californicus, but not significant for N. longispinosus. The ability of N. californicus preying on larvae and nymphs of both Tetranychus species was significantly greater than N. longispinosus at high prey densities, but N. longispinosus consumed more eggs than N. californicus.

Strawberry, Fragaria ananasa Duchesne, is one of the most favorite fruits throughout the world and its commercial production is highly influenced by available nitrogen (N). Nitrogen improves plant quality but unfortunately also increases its serious pest, Tetranychus urticae Koch. So, life table parameters and population growth rate of two-spotted spider mite (TSSM) were compared with four nitrogen concentrations (namely, 0, 50, 80 and 100% of the recommended N level) on strawberries under greenhouse condition. The 100% nitrogen application resulted in enhancing the protein and decreasing phenol content of the host plants. Also the mite's intrinsic rate of increase (r_m) and the instantaneous rate of increase (r_i) reached their maximum (0.234 and 0.26, respectively). The plants received the 80% and lower N showed a decrease in protein content and higher phenol content causing a significant decrease in TSSM's r_m (0.218–0.202) and r_i (0.24–0.22). Manipulating the N content in fertilization programs of strawberries as a strategy in integrated pest management is discussed.

Eotetranychus frosti (McGregor) is one of the major pests of apple trees in Iran. This mite damages the leaves of the apple trees and affects the quality and quantity of the fruit. We studied the life table parameters of this phytophagous mite at six constant temperatures (16, 22, 27, 30, 33.5 and 37°C) under laboratory conditions at 50±5% relative humidity (RH) and a photoperiod of 16:8 h (light: dark), fed on apple leaves. The longest and shortest oviposition periods were recorded at 16°C (37.97 days) and 37°C (7.63 days), respectively. Adult longevities of E. frosti females were influenced by temperature, ranging from 45.59 days at 16°C to 9.37 days at 37°C. Lifetime fecundity of E. frosti at 16°C was 88.10 eggs, 118.69 eggs at 22 °C and 36.71 eggs at 37°C. The intrinsic rate of increase (r_m) significantly differed among tested temperatures, lowest at 16°C (0.0935 day^-1) and highest at 37°C (0.346 day^-1). The finite rate of increase (λ) was highest at 37°C (1.414 day^-1) and lowest at 16°C (1.098 day^-1). With increasing temperature from 16°C to 37°C, the mean generation time (T) significantly shortened from 42.28 to 9.26 days. Minimum and maximum values of doubling time (DT) were 1.10 and 7.41 days obtained at 37°C and 16°C, respectively.

The present study is based on oribatid mite material (Acari, Oribatida) collected in 2014 from Sphagnum magellanicum swamps of southern Chile. A list of identified taxa, including 41 species, 33 genera and 23 families, is presented. Two species (Gehypochthonius urticinus, Zealandozetes southensis), two genera (Zealandozetes, Tutorozetes) and one family (Maudheimiidae) are recorded in the Neotropical region for the first time. Seven species (Nanhermannia dorsalis, Cultroribula bicuspidata, Anderemaeus hammerae, Membranoppia (Pravoppia) patagonica, Moritzoppia keilbachi, Subiasella (Lucioppia) hauseri, Allosuctobelba diceros), one subgenus (Subiasella (Lucioppia)), three genera (Gehypochthonius, Moritzoppia, Cultroribula) and one family (Gehypochthoniidae) are recorded in Chile for the first time. A new species of the genus Tutorozetes (Punctoribatidae) is described. Tutorozetes incisirostris sp. nov. differs from the type species, Tutorozetes termophilus Hammer, 1967, by the presence of a wavy rostrum with a median incision, distinct striate body surface and longer lamellar setae. A new generic diagnosis and systematic placement in Ceratozetoidea for Tutorozetes are proposed.

Many species of mites are of agricultural and veterinary importance to human. The bacterial symbiont Cardinium is assumed to be widespread and involved in manipulating its mite host's reproduction. We investigated Cardinium infections in phylogenetically diverse mite species based on published data. Cardinium was reported in 45 mite species, representing 3 orders and 14 families. Some Cardinium strains can influence their mite hosts' reproduction via two strategies: cytoplasmic incompatibility and feminization. The phylogeny of the examined mites was well resolved based on the 18S rRNA gene, whereas Cardinium phylogeny was not completely concordant with its associated host phylogeny, raising the possibility that horizontal transmission of Cardinium has occurred among species. In addition, Cardinium phylogeny was associated with the ecology of the hosts. Cardinium cooperating with other endosymbionts influences the ecology and evolution of its host.