Persian Journal of Acarology
Volume:12 Issue: 4, Autumn 2023

Females of Bakerdania tadjikistanica sp. nov. (Acari: Heterostigmata: Neopygmephoridae) are described from a soil sample collected from the mountain pasture in Tajikistan. This is the first record of the genus Bakerdania and family Neopygmephoridae in Tajikistan.

The mites of the genus Lasioseius Berlese in Iran are reviewed. New collection data on seven species of the genus are given for Guilan province in Northern Iran. Based on our observations of newly collected specimens, we confirm the synonymy of L. extremus (Daneshvar, 1987) with Lasioseius parberlesei Bhattacharyya as previously proposed by Moraes et al. (2015). In addition, we provide the first description of the male of L. parberlesei in Iran. Moreover, this paper provides a checklist for Lasioseius species recorded from Iran, with a key for identification of the species.

Specimens of Ameroseius lidiae Bregetova were found in soil from Ahwaz city, Khuzestan Province, Iran. The previously unknown male of this species is described here. Before the present study, only male of A. corbiculus (Sowerby) had been reported from Iran. A key to males of the genus Ameroseius occuring in Europe is provided.

The oribatid mite Ghilarovus humeridens Krivolutsky, 1966 (Oribatida, Zetomotrichidae), the type species of the genus originally described from Turkmenistan, is recorded in Iran for the first time. A supplementary description of this species is given with detailed illustrations based on Iranian materials. The main morphological traits of G. humeridens are summarized.

Oribatid mite communities were investigated at six sites of Machakhela National Park (West part of Georgia) in two representative habitat types: Alder (Alnus barbata) forest and mixed forest with chestnut (Castanea Sativa), beech (Fagus orientalis) and hornbeam (Carpinus sp.). A total of 81 species of Oribatid mites were identified from investigated area. One species of Oribatid mites - Ctenobelba (Caucasiobelba) urhani Baran, 2015 and subgenus Caucasiobelba Subías and Shtanchaeva, 2010 are recorded for the first time from Georgia. In the proposed publication, we also present several species of Ptyctimous mites that are omitted in the recently published annotated checklists of Georgian Oribatid mites, so the number of the moss mites registered in the country's territory increased and become 572. The results of our study clearly demonstrated the existence of the difference in the Oribatid mite diversity of the lowland forests of Adjara distributed in the protected area of the Machakhela National Park. The cluster analysis separated mite populations of alder and Colchis mixed broadleaf forests. The results of one-way ANOVA indicated that the species abundance was the most insignificant factor in comparison with the species richness, Shannon index, and evenness which had the stronger power in the separation of the mite population by the forest habitats. The results of the SIMPER analysis ranked nine species of mites responsible for the difference in the mite population diversities in the studied forest habitats. These species do not belong to the category of abundant species however they are strongly associated with each target forest habitat. Our study provides the checklist of Oribatid mites registered on study sites. It includes 81 species from 53 genera, 40 families and 27 Superfamilies.

The great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is a species that alters ecosystems significantly, mainly by depositions of guano, which changes the chemical properties of soil and can lead even to deforestation as well as have a significant impact on soil mite communities. The study was conducted on three islands: abandoned by cormorants recently (Z1), abandoned three years ago (LI) and a site without cormorants (Z2) for comparison. The species composition of island Z1 did not differ significantly from the fauna of the previously studied colonies. Many xerophilous and meadow species occurred on LI island, which was likely caused by deforestation because of cormorant activity.

We report the first record of Diplodontus semiperforatus (Walter, 1925) for Iran. Thus far, this halobiontic species was only known from the Western Mediterranean. We discuss the environmental characteristics of the sampling sites and present the first barcodes of D. semiperforatus and its sister species D. scapularis Dugès, 1834.

The objectives of this study were to investigate the population fluctuation of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) on three Capsicum annuum L. (Solanaceae) cultivars (red delta star, yellow delta star and chili omega 62). Experimental trials were carried out under high plastic-net house conditions during two seasons, 2021–2022 and 2022–2023. The feeding effects of T. urticae on some biochemical compounds of C. annuum were estimated. Densities of egg and mobile stages on the three test cultivars increased gradually from initial count in March 15th and reached peak at last week of November of two seasons, except densities of eggs on red delta reached peak at last week of October. In both growing seasons, the highest population densities of T. urticae were observed on red delta star, while the lowest densities were on chili omega 62. Correlation coefficient of T. urticae densities levels with total carotenoids, carbohydrates and proteins of tested C. annuum cultivars showed positive relationship and a reverse one with total lipids, chlorophyll, phenolic, flavonoids and alkaloids compounds.

The sweet pepper, an important export ‎crop in Egypt, has been recently invaded by the two-spotted spider mite (TSSM) in parallel with other insect pests that have the potential to reduce its yield. This study aimed to determine the susceptibility of two sweet pepper cultivars (cv. Mazurka and Cannon) to TSSM infestation. In addition, it aimed to investigate how the cultivar as well as the growing season, might affect the population fluctuations of the pests along with the host plant resistance. Also, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities were determined to distinguish between the two cultivars after natural infestation. The TSSM was identified as the primary pest that invaded both cultivars during the two examined growing seasons. In addition to the TSSM, three insect pests (Bemisia tabaci, Frankliniella occidentalis, and Myzus persicae) and four predators (Neoseiulus cucumeris, Phytoseiulus persimilis, Scolothrips longicornis, and Orius laevigatus) were identified. The cv. Cannon was found to have the highest density of TSSM, B. tabaci, and M. persicae than cv. Mazurka demonstrated the highest density of P. persimilis and O. laevigatus. Our findings also revealed that the winter-spring season was highly significant in antioxidant enzyme activities than the summer-fall season. Due to the high chlorophyll and phenol contents, and antioxidant enzyme activity in its leaves, the Mazurka cultivar was more resistant to TSSM and other insect pest infestations. The population density of the two-spotted spider mite and the associated pests change based on season and/or cultivar.

Applying reduced doses of pesticides has advantages such as resistance management, environmental pollution reduction, and control costs. Very few studies show that passing the water used for pesticide applications through a magnetic field can improve the pesticides' efficiency. In this study, the effect of a magnetic field on the acaricidal activity of spirodiclofen was evaluated against Tetranychus urticae. Treatments included distilled water and well water for preparing the suspensions after passing through a constant magnetic field of 0.42 Tesla. Furthermore, additional treatments were made by passing the prepared suspensions through the magnetic field. Mites were counted right before the sprays on days 7, 14, and 21. The treatment efficiencies were calculated by using the Henderson-Tilton formula. Except for 2 of 12 cases in which the efficiencies were negative, in the rest of the experiments, the magnetic field enhanced the efficiency of the studied acaricide. The highest values were recorded for two treatments including magnetizing the mixture of well water and acaricide treatment and magnetized distilled water plus acaricide treatment between days 7 to 21 (approximately 77 %). This study suggests the usefulness of magnetic fields as an environmental-friendly method to increase the effectiveness of the studied plant protection agent.

During our parasitological studies on ticks in nests of the sand martin (Riparia riparia L., 1758) in Vladimirskaya oblast, we noticed that among 6982 collected Ixodes lividus, Koch 1844 larvae, one was observed with abnormal appearance and the presence of two anal pores. Teratological changes are rare phenomena in ticks. The most predominant abnormality documented in ticks is gynandromorphism (i.e., individus with both male and female tissues). There are also other types of morphological abnormalities, such as asymmetry, bifurcation, fusion of adanal plates and festoons, atrophy or lack of one or two legs. The present study represents the first study of morphological abnormalities (ie, teratology) in I. lividus and the reported finding is a first for this tick species.