Oribatid mite (Acari: Oribatida) associated with bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in Iran, with a review on Paraleius leontonychus (Berlese) and a list of bark beetles in association with this species

During investigations on mites associated with fruit and pine trees bark beetles in Alborz and Tehran provinces, six species of oribatid mites, belonging to five families, were found and identified during two periods of time, 2001–2002 and 2006–2010. The species and their families are as follows: Paraleius leontonychus (Hemileiidae), Oribatula (Zygoribatula) skrjabini and Oribatula sp. (Oribatulidae), Scheloribates sp. nr. Fusifer (Scheloribatidae), Tectocepheus velatus (Tectocepheidae), and Xenillus sp. (Xenillidae). This is likely the first report of O. (Z.) skrjabini in association with bark beetles. In this paper, the ecological aspects and behavioral relationships with all related bark beetle species and distribution of P. leontonychus are reviewed and discussed, as well as notes on the other oribatid species collected from the scolytines’ galleries in Iran.