| Oribatid mites (Acari: Sarcoptiformes: Oribatida) fauna of South Khorasan province, Iran |
| Paper ID : 1099-IPCA4 (R1) |
| Authors |
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Fatemeh Ordouni *1, Sara Ramroodi2, Mohammad Ali Akrami3 1Department of Plant Protection College of Agriculture University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran 2Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran 3Department of Plant Protection, School of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran |
| Abstract |
| Oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida), that known as moss mites and beetle mites are a suborder of mites, belong to the order Sarcoptiformes. Their body size varies from 0.2 to 1.4 millimeters. Oribatid mites generally have low metabolic rates, slow development and low fecundity. These mites are one of the most abundant and important groups of soil arthropods and play an important role in the decomposition of decaying plant materials, soil formation and rotation, ultimately soil fertility. During 2019-2020, in order to study the diversity of oribatid mites in South Khorasan province, soil samples were collected from different habitates (forest, agriculture and pasture) of this region. The specimens were isolated using the Berlese funnels, and after clarification in the lactophenol solution, microscopic slides were prepared using the Hoyer’s medium. The slides were placed in an oven at 45°C for 40 days. All specimens were deposited in the Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Zabol University, Iran. In this study, 13 species from 11 genera, belonging to 11 families were identified and all of them are recorded for the first time from South Khorasan province as there were no previous investigations performed here. Based on our results, Cosmochthoniidae & Microzetidae (each with two species) are the families with highest number of species. It seems that there is a rich fauna of oribatid mites in South Khorasan province and needs to more extensive researchs and further taxonomical surveys. List of species are as follows: Aphelacaridae: Aphelacarus acarinus acarinus (Berlese, 1910); Brachychthoniidae: Sellnickochthonius immaculatus (Forsslund, 1942); Sphaerochthoniidae: Sphaerochthonius splendidus (Berlese, 1904); Cosmochthoniidae: Cosmochthonius (Cosmochthonius) lanatus (Michael, 1885); C. (Cosmochthonius) asiaticus Gordeeva, 1980; Haplochthoniidae: Haplochthonius (Haplochthonius) simplex (Willmann, 1930); Phthiracaridae: Atropacarus (Atropacarus) striculus (C. L. Koch, 1835); Euphthiracaridae: Acrotritia ardua (Koch, 1841); Gymnodamaeidae: Jacotella frondeus (Kulijev, 1979); Damaeidae: Belba (Belba) sculpta Mihelčič, 1957; Microzetidae: Berlesezetes aegypticus (Bayoumi, 1977); B. brazilozetoides Balogh & Mahunka, 1981; Scheloribatidae: Scheloribates (Scheloribates) fimbriatus Thor, 1930. |
| Keywords |
| Oribatida, moss mites, new record, eastern Iran |
| Status: Abstract Accepted (Poster Presentation) |