Belongs within: Mesostigmata.Contains: Epicriidae, Zerconidae, Parasitidae, Eviphidoidea, Phytoseioidea, Ascidae, Ameroseiidae, Melicharidae, Rhodacaridae, Ologamasidae, Digamasellidae, Halolaelapidae, Veigaia, Gamasolaelaps, Spinturnicidae, Laelapidae, Dermanyssidae, Rhinonyssidae, Macronyssidae, Varroidae, Halarachnidae. The Gamasina are a major subdivision of the mesostigmatan mites including the majority of well-known species. In members of the subgroups Parasitidae and Dermanyssiae, the modified chelicerae of males bear specialised… Continue reading Gamasina

Two new species from the territory of Slovakia are described: Pergamasus holecovae n. sp. from the Little Carpathians and Pergamasus saxicolis n. sp. from the highest areas of the High Tatras. We now ...

Four new species of Parasitidae, originating from Romania (Carpathian Mountains), are described, i.e. Leptogamasus (L.) ojdulaensis n. sp., Leptogamasus (L.) gurghiuensis n. sp., Leptogamasus (L.) holdaensis n. sp. and Leptogamasus (L.) horribilis n. sp.

Three new species of Parasitidae are described from Austria, namely Leptogamasus (Leptogamasus) chelatus n. sp., Leptogamasus (L.) coronarius n. sp. and Leptogamasus (L.) trispinus n. sp.

This paper describes five new species of mites in the family Parasitidae from Italy, namely, Leptogamasus (Leptogamasus) bucerus n. sp., Leptogamasus (L.) cortinis n. sp., Leptogamasus (L.) silvestris n. sp. and Leptogamasus (L.) parasilvestris n. sp. from northern Italy, and Leptogamasus (L.) monteamiatus n. sp. from Tuscany.

Thrips tabaci Lindeman is one of the main insect pests of onion (Allium cepa L.) in Colombia and several other countries. Strategies for its control are currently based on the use of chemical products. In a recent survey, Gaeolaelaps aculeifer (Canestrini) and Parasitus bituberosus Karg, two soil-dwelling predatory mite species (Acari: Mesostigmata), were found associated with this crop at Boyacá department, Colombia. Given that T. tabaci spends its pre-pupal and pupal stages in the soil, this study was conducted to evaluate the predation and oviposition of G. aculeifer and P. bituberosus on these developmental stages under laboratory conditions. The predators consumed up to 6.8 ± 0.52 and 6.9 ± 0.45 T. tabaci pre-pupae/ pupae, respectively, when offered 6 –10 prey a day. The maximum oviposition rates were 4.4 ± 0.25 eggs/female/day for G. aculeifer and 6.9 ± 0.26 eggs/female/day for P. bituberosus, with a mean egg viability higher than 91% for both predators. These results suggest that the evaluated predators may affect the population of T. tabaci under field conditions, and that the conduction of complementary studies on those predators is warranted, envisioning their practical use for T. tabaci control in Colombia.

The four new species belonging to Parasitidae family, Leptogamasus (Leptogamasus) bicornis n. sp., Leptogamasus (L.) digiticornis n. sp., Leptogamasus (L.) sextus n. sp. and Leptogamasus (L.) trentinis n. sp. originating from the surroundings of Lake Garda (Lago di Garda), northern Italy, are described.

The new species belonging to Parasitidae family, Leptogamasus (Leptogamasus) bihamatus n. sp., Leptogamasus (L.) montanus n. sp. and Leptogamasus (L.) renogynialis n. sp. from southern Poland, are described. This study is the first one from a series describing new Leptogamasus species from European localities (Austria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Poland).

We report for the first time the presence of Poecilochirus mrciaki Mašán, 1999 in the South of Europe, in the Iberian peninsula and on new carrier insects. Mites were collected from carrion insects, during a decomposition experiment carried out in the natural park “Aiako Harria” (Errenteria, Gipuzkoa). Most deutonymphs were found on the body of the necrophagous beetle Necrodes littoralis (Coleoptera, Silphidae). Other species of insects in families Geotrupidae, Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) and Calliphoridae (Diptera) were also transporting mites. All carriers were colonising or visiting the pig carcasses. Sampling lasted 3 months in the summers 2009 and 2010. Most mites were sampled from bloat to advanced decay. This is also the first record of P. mrciaki phoretic on flies (Diptera).