Persian Journal of Acarology
Volume:9 Issue: 4, Autumn 2020

Odontoscirus iota Atyeo, 1960 is reported here for the first time from Iran. An additional description is provided for O. iota based on adult females collected from East Azerbaijan province, northwest of Iran. An updated key to the species of Odontoscirus from Iran is presented.

Aceria noxia (Trombidiformes, Eriophyidae), a new species, is described and illustrated from Amaranthus viridis (Amaranthaceae), in Brazil.

Cryptognathus scutellatus Summers & Chaudhri (Cryptognathidae) was known only from the holotype - an adult female collected from fleshy bracket fungus, Green Valley, Solano County, California, USA. Based on a recent faunistic study on raphignathoid mites of Sansa Gorge (Turkey), we found 14 females of C. scutellatus from litter and soil samples. This species was re-described and photographed here based on the Turkish specimens. This record confirms the presence and distinctiveness of C. scutellatus.

A new eriophyid species (Trombidiformes: Eriophyidae), Aceria salicariae Lotfollahi & Tajaddod sp. nov., from the Ajabshir region in southeastern East Azerbaijan Province in Iran, is described and illustrated. A key to all known eriophyoid species collected on the plants of family Lythraceae is presented. Information about their type hosts, type localities and relation to the host plant as well as remarks about available descriptions of these species are provided.

Biodiversity is an important factor in soil quality and functionality. Physical and chemical changes during agricultural operations influence on soil biodiversity. Tillage and irrigation significantly change the life of soil microorganisms. The current study was conducted in Khodabandeh County during the wheat growing season. The effect of the first treatment (two tillage systems: conventional and no-tillage systems) and the second treatment (months) in two years on the biodiversity of oribatid mites, were investigated in irrigated and rain-fed wheat farms. Twelve samples were collected randomly per each sampling time during 21 April, 5 June and 30 July 2014 and 10 May, 12 June and 31 July 2015 coinciding with tillering stage, stem elongation and harvesting. Twelve species from eight families and 12 genera were identified. Among them, Opiella nova with 24.4% relative abundance was the abundant species in 2014 and Rhinopia bipectinata with 27.5% was the abundant species in 2015. The highest value of the Shannon-Wiener diversity index was observed in the irrigated no-tillage (I-NT) system. The statistical results of the ANOVA test showed a significant difference in the Shannon-Wiener diversity index among the four systems. Shannon-Wiener diversity index in the I-NT system had a significant difference with the I-CT system (irrigated-conventional tillage). There were no significant differences between I-CT and I-NT in terms of species richness index while differences between I-NT and R-CT systems and between R-NT and R-CT systems were significant. Also, results showed that species richness index at the time of tillering stage was significantly higher than that of stem elongation. The interaction between two treatments did not show a significant difference. There was no significant difference between the two years, so the results of the two years were merged.

Mites are among the most important members of soil arthropod communities, because they are the most diverse in terms of ecological niche and behavior. Due to the sensitivity of soil mites to soil disturbance, their diversity and numbers can be used as ecological indices for assessing disturbances in ecosystems. To determine the effect of land use type on soil mite biodiversity, abundance and biodiversity indices of soil inhabiting mesostigmatic mites were evaluated at eight sites in Saman and Shahrekord, Iran, each site including two adjacent agricultural pieces of land: an orchard and a crop field. The biodiversity of mites was measured by several biodiversity indices and then compared by analysis of variance. The specimens collected belonged to 12 families, 17 genera and 24 species. The biodiversity index values calculated in different months showed that these indices were usually higher in warm months and in orchards than in cold months and crop fields. In the examined crop fields, the diversity index values were lower after harvesting, probably due to soil disturbance by agricultural machinery. There was a significant difference in the Shannon-Wiener's diversity index among different land uses. The maximum and minimum values of this index were recorded at the vine orchard (1.48) and wheat field (0.15) in an elm/wheat site at Shahrekord, respectively. The soil organic matter content was maximum in the vineyard (2.12%) and minimum in the wheat field (0.41%).

Population of the spider mite Oligonychus ununguis (Jacobi, 1905) was monitored on introduced species of coniferous plants in the Fomin Botanical Garden, Kyiv, Ukraine in 2012–2019. The mite material was collected by shaking method, fixed, mounted on slides and then processed according to standard techniques. Severity of damage (R, %) was calculated. Eight varieties of the introduced genera Pseudotsuga and Picea of coniferous plants were chosen as study objects. The pest was found on Pseudotsuga plants for the first time. It was revealed that different species and varieties of conifers differ in attractiveness as host plants for this pest species. The mite O. ununguis was the most numerous on plants of Pseudotsuga menziesii, Ps. menziesii var. viridis Franco, and Picea glauca (Moench.) Vossf. «Conica». The dependence of shoot growth parameters on pest density is strong according to the value of the coefficient of determination, R2 = 0.8781. The populations of spruce spider mites mostly increase in spring and autumn in Kyiv. In summer, the increase of air temperatures about 30–32 ℃ slowed the mite development, suppressing its density and the levels of damage on the conifers. Two species of Phytoseiidae, Typhlodromus laurae and Amblydromella inopinata and their activity in colonies of the pests on plants were observed in 2019. These predaceous mites can colonize the investigated coniferous plants together and control the O. ununguis population.

Six commercial essential oils including thyme (Thymus vulgaris), clove (Syzyium oromaticum), camphor (Cinnamomum camphora), jasmine (Jasminum officinale), banana (Musa spp.) and spearmint (Mentho spicata) were evaluated in field application against the date palm mite, Phyllotetranychus aegypticus Sayed in eight successive months, April to November 2018. All the essential oils had toxic effects on P. aegypticus. Thymus vulgaris (Lamiaceae) and S. aromaticum (Myrtaceae) showed relatively higher levels of toxicity when compared to J. officinale (Oleaceae) and Musa spp. (Musaceae) as evident through their lower effective values. However, toxicity levels exhibited by the other two oil samples, M. spicata (Lamiaceae) and C. camphora (Lauraceae) were also found enticing, as the toxicity levels of these oils were found comparatively lower. During spring period, no significant difference was found among spearmint, jasmine, banana, camphor and clove, but there was a significant difference between thyme and all other oils. During summer, there was no significant difference between “thyme and clove oils” and “camphor and spearmint”due to high temperature’s effect on the components of oils. During autumn, thyme and clove oils possessed the highest toxicity against P. aegypticus.