PERSIAN JOURNAL OF ACAROLOGY
Year:2016 | Volume:5 | Issue:4 |Papers Count:9

Invasive alien pest species can have economic impact on the ecosystem and target crops, and sometimes lead to change a cropping system (Pena 2013). Kurdistan is the most important province of strawberry production in Iran. Paros, Queen Elisa, Camarosa, Selva, Ventana, Aromas and local variety named Kurdistan are the main strawberry varieties that are cultivated for fruit or plantlet production. The plantlet production is a big business for local nurseries, and propagated plantlets are distributed over the country (Iran). New diseases and pests have been emerging since new cultivars have been introduced in strawberry fields of the region.Phytonemus pallidus(Banks) (family Tarsonemidae) is a very important pest on greenhouse plants but also causes serious losses in outdoor cultivations including strawberry farms worldwide. They feed and lay egg on new folded leaves and subsequently move to younger ones, as leaves get older and expand. Infested plants bear sterile blooms and become stunted or may even die (Mass 1987).

The honeybee, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), is one of the most economically important insects because of long providing humans with honey and beeswax. In addition to honey production, honeybees are the principal species used for crop pollination worldwide (Free 1993). The pollination services of honeybees in the United States have been estimated to worth $14.6 billion in 2000 (Morse and Caldrone 2000). The honeybees have been recently used as vectors of beneficial pathogens to control those plant pathogenic pests that are associated with plant flowers (Shafir et al. 2006). Honey production and pollination of honeybees are negatively influenced by a variety of pests and diseases (Romeh 2009). The Varroa mite, Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman (Acari: Varroidae), is probably the most important parasite of A. mellifera, causing tremendous damage to honey bees and great economic loss to the beekeeping industry. Parasitism by V. destructor may results in the loss of adult weight, severe wing deformations and reduced longevity of worker and drone honey bees (De Jong et al. 1982). Sever infestation can lead to reduced worker bee populations and collapse of untreated colonies, not only due to mite infestation, but also as a result of secondary viral, bacterial and fungal infestations (Hung et al. 1996).

An additional description of Oribella fujikawae Mahunka, 1982 is provided based on specimens collected from the northwest of Iran. An identification key to the known species of the genus Oribella is given.

A spider mite of the genus Mixonychus is reported for the first time from the Americas; a new species, Mixonychus (Bakerina) citraeus sp. nov. is described based on specimens from Citrus in Colombia. It is suggested that the new species be considered of quarantine concern for Brazil and Venezuela and, may be, other neighbouring countries of Colombia (Ecuador and Peru).

A new species of the genus Stigmaeus, S. brasiliensis sp. nov. is described based on females, males and deutonymphs, collected from the São Paulo state, Brazil.

A new species of the genus Molothrognathus, M. shirazicus sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on the females collected from soil under desert poplar and oriental arborvitae in Shiraz, Fars province, Iran.

A new pachylaelapid mite species, Pachyseius angustoides Babaeian & Masan sp. nov., is described and illustrated, based on adult females found in leaf litter habitat in southwestern part of Iran (Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province). The new species is morphologically compared with the most closely related congeneric species, Pachyseius angustus Hyatt, 1956, and an updated list of the world fauna of the genus is provided.

An annotated checklist of oribatid mite taxa from Bethuadahari Wildlife Sanctuary of West Bengal, India, is presented on the basis of a faunistic survey carried out inside the sanctuary from January, 2011 to December, 2012. A total of 44 oribatid species, belonging to 37 genera in 24 families, have been identified. The present study has also documented nine species as the new records from India. The most frequent species of this sanctuary are Protoribates (P.) magnus (Aoki, 1982), Lamellobates (L.) molecula (Berlese, 1916), Perscheloribates (P.) albialatus (Hammer, 1961), Lamellobates (Paralamellobates) bengalensis Bhaduri & Raychaudhuri, 1968, Tectocepheus velatus sarekensis Tragardh, 1910, Multioppia radiata Hammer, 1961, and Hoplophorella cuculata (Ewing, 1909). Additionally, the most species rich families of the study area are Oppiidae Sellnick, 1937 and Scheloribatidae Grandjean, 1933.

Lycoriella auripila Winnertz (Diptera: Sciaridae) is one of the most serious pests of mushroom cultures, Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Imbach. Damage of this pest can result in substantial yield losses directly and indirectly. Gaeolaelaps aculeifer Canestrini as a predator suppresses population of soil-dwelling pests e.g. mites, nematodes and fungi, and todays it has been considered as a commercial biological control agent against eggs and larvae of sciarid flies. Prey preference of natural enemies is one of the components of predation that should be taken into account to choose the exact releasing time against appropriate prey stages. In this study, the prey preference and predation rate of G. aculeifer were investigated at 23±1 °C, 60±5% R.H. and a photoperiod of 0: 24 (L: D) h under laboratory conditions. Results showed that life stages of prey influenced prey preference, as females of G. aculeifer killed 5.66±0.33 and 2.33±0.21 of 2nd and 3rd instar larvae of L. auripila respectively. Accordingly, Manly's index of preference was 0.697±0.0377 and 0.303±0.0377, respectively. This difference might be attributed to prey size difference between 2nd (1.36±0.08 mm) and 3rd (2.52±0.10 mm) sciarid larval instars. Moreover, in terms of obtained results, proper timing of releasing predatory mite reduces sciarid fly population efficiently. It has been recommended that releasing of G. aculeifer females prior to emergence of 3rd instar larvae of L. auripila would suppress the sciarid flies population densities in mushroom production.