Persian Journal of Acarology
Volume:3 Issue: 2, Spring 2014

This paper presents information on the Iranian halacarid fauna providing the first record of the genus Rhombognathus from the Gulf of Oman. Two species of the genus Rhombognathus are described from the Iranian coast, viz. Rhombognathus scutulatus Bartsch 1983 and R. iranius sp. nov.

A new species of the genus Stigmaeus, S. hashtrudiensis Bagheri & Maleki sp. nov., collected from soil and rotten leaves under apple, is described and illustrated.

A new species of the genus Eryngiopus, E. hamedanicus Khanjani, Mohammadi & Nazari sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on females collected from soil under pear trees, Negarkhaton Village, Famenin town, Hamedan province, Iran.

In this study, on the basis of specimens collected from Kütahya, the characteristics and distribution of Eustigmaeus dogani, which is a new record for the Turkish fauna, are given.

On the basis of specimens collected from Iran, the characteristics of Paraneognathus wangae, which is a new record for the Iranian fauna, are given and a key to all known species of Paraneognathus is also provided.

Brown mite, Bryobia rubrioculus Scheuten, is one of the most important pests of apple trees in western Iran. Development and fecundity of this mite were studied on apple at five constant temperatures (20, 22.5, 25, 27.5 and 30°C), 60 ± 5% RH and a photoperiod of 16:8 h (L: D). The developmental time of immature stages ranged from 39.65 ± 0.96 days at 20°C to 18.18 ± 0.47 days at 30°C. The lower temperature threshold (t) and thermal constant (k) of the immature stages were estimated to be 12.9°C and 279.7 degree days (DD), respectively. The average adult longevity of females was determined to be 16.75 ± 1.14 days at 20°C to 8.58 ± 0.38 days at 30°C. The highest and lowest mean number of eggs per female during adult life was 4.79 ± 1.36 and 3.75 ± 1.49 at 30 and 20°C, respectively. The results of this study can be used to predict the development and population dynamics of B. rubrioculus.