Cereal seed mites associated with warehouses of Golestan province

Some mites species feed on cereal seeds and cause significant economic damage by reduction their quantitative and qualitative value. In 2006, to identify grain seed mites in Golestan province, sample were taken from 8 warehouses in 5 cities, located in 5 cities including Gorgan, Mino-Dasht, Bandar Turkmen, Gonbad and Agh-Qala. In total, 192 samples and sub-samples of wheat, barley and corn seeds were collected. In this sampling, 21 species from 17 genera and 10 families were identified, of which 13 species belonged to the Astigmatina group in the Sarcoptiformes order, 7 species belonged to the Prostigmata suborder and Trombidiformes order, and one species belonged to the Mesostigmata order. Lepidoglyphus destructor (Schrank), Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Shrank) and Acarus siro L. with 42.2%, 15.4% and 12% abundance respectively, have the most relative abundance among the pest mites. Among the predatory mites, Cheyletus malaccensis Oudemans (13.4%) was the most abundant. About 66.6% of all samples were infected with mites. The frequency of mites in wheat, corn and barley seeds were respectively, 61.4%, 20.8% and 17.7%. The highest number of mites was observed in Agh-Qala Talaii warehouses (40%). The average number of mites per kilogram of sampling materials was 10.