The type materials of oribatid mites (Acari, Oribatida) included in Tseng's collections were lost, therefore, to ensure stability in zoological nomenclature, designation of neotypes is necessary. Based on the close morphological similarity of the collected specimens of Taiwanoppia subtropica Tseng, 1982 (Oppiidae) and Muliercula chiayiensis Tseng, 1984 (Scheloribatidae) from Taiwan to the original descriptions, we designate a neotype and paraneotypes for each of these species, and redescribe and illustrate them in detail.

In this study, two new species of steganacarid mites (Oribatida: Phthiracaroidea) from Northeast China, Austrophthiracarus setiformis Liu sp. nov. and Hoplophthiracarus acuminatus Liu sp. nov., are described and illustrated. Keys to known species of Austrophthiracarus and Hoplophthiracarus from the Palaearctic Region are provided to facilitate further studies of these groups.

Two new monotypic genera and one new species, Afrodialox dimorphopalpalis n. gen. & n. sp. (Diptilomiopidae: Diptilomiopinae) and Borassia borassis (Mohanasundaram, 1981) n. gen. & n. comb. (Phytoptidae: Phytoptinae), are described from Hyphaene coriacea (Arecaceae) from South Africa. A. dimorphopalpalis n. sp. is sexually dimorphic with respect to palptarsal appendages, whereas Novophytoptus (Phytoptidae: Novophytoptinae) is sexually dimorphic with respect to empodial shape. These are rare examples of pronounced sexual dimorphism in Eriophyoidea. Three monotypic diptilomiopine genera living on palms (Dialox, Neodialox and Afrodialox n. gen.) form a putatively monophyletic group, “Dialox-like diptilomiopines” (DD). Hypotheses on the origin of this group are discussed in the context of paleobiography of palms and their phylogenetic relationships with eriophyoids from herbaceous monocots. The preferred hypothesis implies the following sequence of events: (a) South American origin of DD on attaleine palms (Areceae: Cocoseae) in the Paleocene; (b) migration to Indian Ocean, a host shift to borassoid palms (Coryphoideae: Borasseae), and divergence in India and Africa during the Eocene; and (c) human mediated introduction from Malesia to Latin America with coconut during the Pleistocene. Well-resolved deep phylogenies of Arecaceae published by botanists in recent years provide an excellent background for future cophylogenetic studies of the system Eriophyoidea-Arecaceae, inviting researchers (especially those from tropical countries with rich palm diversity) to use palm inhabiting eriophyoids as a model group for tracing steps of the evolution of Eriophyoidea on plants.

The first data on the oribatid mites of Myanmar are presented and these belong to the family Otocepheidae. A new species of the genus Eurostocepheus (Oribatida, Otocepheidae) is described from litter of disturbed primary forest of Nat Ma Taung National Park in the Chin State. Eurostocepheus (Eurostocepheus) peterjaegeri sp. nov. is morphologically most similar to E. (E.) mahunkai Mondal & Kundu, 1999, but differs by the shorter notogastral setae c and la compared to the other notogastral setae, setae la pressed to notogastral surface, well-developed lateral prodorsal carinae, smooth genital plates and by the presence of diagonal ridges on the anal plates. A supplementary description of Otocepheus (Otocepheus) heterosetiger Aoki, 1965 which was originally described from Thailand, is given in detail on the basis of specimens from Myanmar. The main morphological traits for this species are summarized.

The 65^th Medical Brigade and Medical Department Activity-Korea, in collaboration with the Migratory Birds Research Center, National Park Research Institute, conducted a migratory bird tick-borne disease surveillance program on Chilbal Island during 2016. Chilbal Island is a small, remote, uninhabited government-protected island in southwestern Jeollanam Province, Republic of Korea (ROK). Ticks were collected from nest soil and litter of the Ancient Murrelet, Synthliboramphus antiquus, using Tullgren funnels. A total of 4 Ixodes ticks (3 male Ixodes uriae and 1 female Ixodes signatus) were collected. The principal hosts of I. uriae are pelagic birds that have a largely circumpolar distribution. Ixodes signatus parasitizes other migratory birds in coastal areas of western North America and eastern Asia. This is the first report of I. uriaefrom the ROK.

The ontogenetic stages of a tenuipapid mite, Aegyptobia exarata Livchitz & Mitrofanov, 1967, recently discovered from Artemisia sp. (Asteraceae) in Shanxi province of China are redescribed with detailed illustrations. The ontogenetic changes in idiosomal and leg chaetotaxy are discussed.

The morphological ontogeny of Achipteria magna (Sellnick, 1928) is described and illustrated. The adult of this species has many morphological characters of Achipteria Berlese, 1885, such as long and wide lamellae, fused in the medial part, long anterior pteromorphic projections, and 10 pairs of notogastral setae, with longer c₂ and la. However, this species has many fine pores on the notogaster and a pair of saccules S1, instead of four pairs of saccules or porose areas that occur in most species of Achipteria. In A. magna, anteroventral apophysis on genua I and II is present, genu IV is longer than tibia IV, seta bv″ on femur II is longer than seta d, seta v″ on this segment is more than twice longer than seta bv″, seta l′ on femur III is short and leg claws are smooth. The juveniles of this species are stocky, with the prodorsal setae minute or short and smooth. The gastronotal setae of the larva are short or of medium size, thick and barbed, except for minute c₂, c₃ and h₃. In the nymphs, all setae are thick and barbed, but c₂ and c₃ are shorter than c₁, and p₂ and p₃ are shorter than p₁. The morphological ontogeny of A. magna is compared with some congeners, and Pseudachipteria Travé, 1960 and Campachipteria Aoki, 1995 are considered junior synonyms of Achipteria. The ecology and some biological parameters of A. magna are also investigated.

In this paper, we described one new genus Babus gen. nov. from the subfamily of Diptilomiopinae by characters as below: scapular setae (sc) placed ahead of the rear shield margin, anterolateral setae on coxisternum I (1b) absent, tarsal empodium divided, legs with six segment, basiventral femoral setae (bv) and antaxial genual setae (l″) on leg II absent. Two new species, Babus chukrasium sp. nov. collected from Chukrasia tatularis A. Juss. and Babus anisatae sp. nov. from Clausena anisata (Willd.) Hook. f. ex Benth. were herein described. In addition, another new species Trimeroptes chaetophori sp. nov. collected from Rubus chaetophorus Card. was also described and illustrated from the same subfamily. All of new species described here are vagrants on the under surfaces of leaves, and no damage was observed.

The genus Marantelophus (Acari: Erythraeidae) is reported for the first time from China. Marantelophus dubifurcatus sp. nov. is described based on larvae parasitic on Cacopsylla sp. (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) and Psocoptera collected from southwest China. An updated key to the species of Marantelophus around the world is presented.

The oribatid mite taxa (Acari, Oribatida), superfamily Oripodoidea, families Scheloribatidae and Caloppiidae, genera Scheloribates Berlese, 1908 and Zetorchella Berlese, 1916, and the species Zetorchella orbiculata (Wen & Zhao, 1994), are recorded in Myanmar for the first time. Two new oripodoid species are described: Scheloribates natmaensis sp. nov. (Scheloribatidae) is most similar to S. yamaeensis Nakamura, Hashimoto, Nishi, Nakamura & Fujikawa, 2015, but differs by the larger body size, narrowly triangular rostrum, clavate, rounded distally bothridial setae and longitudinal stria on the notogaster; Zetorchella taungensis sp. nov. (Caloppiidae) is most similar to Z. nortoni Ermilov, Sidorchuk & Rybalov, 2010, but differs by the larger body size, longer notogastral setae, bothridial setae shorter than humeral notogastral setae c and notogastral setae c and p₁ similar in length.

The coconut mite, Aceria guerreronis Keifer (Acari: Eriophyidae), is a major pest of coconut plantations. In Brazil, the control of A. guerreronis, when accomplished, is heavily dependent on applications of conventional acaricides, which further increases the risks associated with pest resistance, hazards to human health and environmental contamination. Therefore, the development of alternatives to the chemical control concerns outlined above is urgently needed. Here, we assessed the composition, toxicity and repellent activities of cottonseed oil to A. guerreronis and its naturally occurring predator Typhlodromus ornatus Denmark & Muma (Acari: Phytoseiidae). Our results revealed that the major compounds in cottonseed oil were linoleic and oleic acids, which have been shown to be bioactive against pests. Concentration-mortality bioassays revealed that A. guerreronis (LC₅₀ = 0.65 µL/cm²) was more susceptible to cottonseed oil than its predator (LC₅₀= 5.11 µL/cm²). Similarly, as demonstrated for the conventional acaricides (i.e., abamectin, azadirachtin, espirodiclofen, and fenpyroximate), cottonseed oil was shown to repel A. guerreronis and its predator. Overall, our findings support the use of cottonseed oil as a desirable tool to be integrated in management programs aimed at controlling A. guerreronis.

Paraschizogynium plumachela sp. nov., collected from passalid, tiger, and stag beetles (Coleoptera: Passalidae, Carabidae: Cicindelinae, Lucanidae) in China, is described. This is the second species of the genus Paraschizogynium Hunter & Rosario, 1987, and the first record of Schizogyniidae from China. The genus is redefined based on this new species. Paraschizogynium plumachela sp. nov. can be separated from Paraschizogynium odontokeri Hunter & Rosario, 1987 by having an entire dorsal shield covering most of the dorsum, setae Z5 at least four times as long as setae s2, latigynal shields abutting each other anteriorly and each bearing two pairs of setae, a triangular mesogynal shield, two pairs of simple setae on integument of posterior margin of venter, three types of excrescences (one weakly sclerotized finger-like, one membranous feather-like and one coral-like) sub-distal on movable digit, deutosternal groove with four rows of fine denticles in female and three rows in male, and male hypostome dimorphic (hypostomal setae hp1 large, thumb-like, with one pair of seta-like spurs at base; hp2 tiny; hp3 hyaline, lobe-like).

Neoseiulus californicus and N. cucumeris are both potential candidates for the biological control of key pests in China. Whereas N. californicus has mainly been used to control spider mites, N. cucumeris has been released for the control of thrips and spider mites. To understand the potential of the combined use of N. californicus and N. cucumeris to suppress outbreaks of Tetranychus urticae, the predatory performance of these Neoseiulus species against different stages of T. urticae, either separately or in combination, was evaluated by assessing their functional responses in the laboratory. The values of the attack rate coefficient (α) of N. californicus to each stage of T. urticae exceeded those of N. cucumeris, whereas the handling time (T_h) of N. californicus was longer than that of N. cucumeris, except when attacking the larvae of T. urticae. Especially at the higher prey densities, N. cucumeris consumed more eggs per day than N. californicus, whereas N. californicus consumed more larvae. Both predators killed similar numbers of nymphs at each density when tested singly. The searching efficiency of the Neoseiulus species decreased with increasing prey densities, and for all stages of T. urticae, the searching efficiency of the Neoseiulus species tested singly was lower than when they were tested together. The study indicates the potential of mixed releases of N. californicus and N. cucumeris for the management of spider mite infestations.

Two new species of oribatid mites of the superfamily Ameroidea (Acari, Oribatida) are described from the Philippines. Heterobelba quezonica sp. nov. (Heterobelbidae) is most similar to H. stellifera stellifera Okayama, 1980 and H. stellifera formosana Aoki, 1990, but differs by the pointed median tooth of the rostrum and exuvial setae Elp, Elm, Ep₂ being clearly longer than the other setae. Oxyamerus isabelaensis sp. nov. (Oxyameridae) is most similar to O. hauserorum Mahunka, 1987, but differs by having bifurcate notogastral setae and adanal setae ad₂, short lamellar setae and phylliform aggenital setae. Revised generic diagnoses of Heterobelba and Oxyamerus are presented.