New Zealand has a relatively small tick fauna, with nine described and one undescribed species belonging to the genera Ornithodoros, Amblyomma, Haemaphysalis and Ixodes. Although exotic hard ticks (Ixodidae) are intercepted in New Zealand on a regular basis, the country has largely remained free of these organisms and the significant diseases that they can vector. However, professionals in the biosecurity, health and agricultural industries in New Zealand have little access to user-friendly identification tools that would enable them to accurately identify the ticks that are already established in the country or to allow recognition of newly arrived exotics. The lack of access to these materials has the potential to lead to delays in the identification of exotic tick species. This is of concern as 40–60% of exotic ticks submitted for identification by biosecurity staff in New Zealand are intercepted post border. This article presents dichotomous and polytomous keys to the eight species of hard tick that occur in New Zealand. These keys have been digitised using Lucid® and Phoenix® software and are deployed at  http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/hard_ticks/Ixodidae genera.html in a form that allows use by non-experts. By enabling non-experts to carry out basic identifications, it is hoped that professionals in the health and agricultural industries in New Zealand can play a greater role in surveillance for exotic ticks.

The tick Amblyomma romitii Tonelli-Rondelli was described from British Guiana (now Guyana) where it was collected on capybara. The range of this species includes Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, Venezuela and Brazil. In 1955, A. romitii was synonymized with Amblyomma extraoculatum Neumann; however, after reexamination of the types of these species, the taxon A. romitii was recently validated and redescribed. This paper discusses a second collection of A. romitii from the State of Pará, Brazil, half a century after having first been found there, based on specimens taken from capybara and vegetation.

Documentation is presented for 76 patronyms in 11 taxonomic classes honoring the preeminent medical entomologist Dr. Harry Hoogstraal.

Seven larval Dermacentor variabilis were found during April 2010 on a male carpenter bee, Xylocopa virginica, at Rayne, Louisiana, USA, while looking for chaetodactylid mites. One tick appeared to be partially engorged. Subsequently, 10 more carpenter bees (7 males, 3 females) were collected from the same location and examined for ticks. None were infested. The significance of this finding is discussed.

Seven species of macrochelid mites new to the Italian fauna are recorded here: Holostaspella ornata (Berlese, 1904), H. pulchella Mašán, 2003, Macrholaspis recki (Bregetova & Koroleva, 1960), Macrocheles decoloratus(C. L. Koch, 1839), M. punctoscutatus Evans & Browning, 1956, M. rotundiscutus Bregetova & Koroleva, 1960 and Neopodocinum meridionalis (Sellnick, 1931). A description of the male of Holostaspella pulchella is given here, highlighting the existence of specialised ventral structures with unknown function previously unknown in the Macrochelidae. Records also are provided for other two species previously recorded from Italy without specific locality data and missing from the Italian fauna checklist, Macrocheles mammifer Berlese, 1918 and Nothrholaspis montanus Willmann, 1951. The first documented records for Nothrholaspis tardus (C.L. Koch, 1841) (sensu Evans & Browning, 1956) from Italy definitively confirm its synonymy with Macrocheles tridentinus (G. & R. Canestrini, 1882), a species originally described from Italy. Updated and detailed data about geographical distribution and ecology are provided for each species.

A survey on phytoseiid mites in Iran revealed the occurrence of three species belonging to the genus Paragigagnathus Amitai & Grinberg, 1971. A key to distinguish species of Paragigagnathus and measurements of Iranian specimens are provided. The genus Paragigagnathus and three species, P. tamaricisAmitai & Grinberg, 1971, P. insuetus (Livshitz & Kuznetsov, 1972) and P. molestus (Kolodochka, 1989) are new records for the Phytoseiidae fauna of Iran.

Faunistic information about plant mites in the Sultanate of Oman is scarce. Within the scope of a project investigating the biological control of the coconut mite, Aceria guerreronis Keifer, a preliminary survey was conducted in the Dhofar and Muscat regions of Oman to determine possible alternative plants on which natural enemies associated with this pest might occur. During the survey, 29 mite species were found. The most prevalent phytophagous species were A. guerreronis on coconut, Calacarus flagelliseta Flechtmann, Moraes & Barbosa on papaya (both Eriophyidae) and Raoiella indica Hirst (Tenuipalpidae) on coconut and banana. Calacarus flagelliseta was found to be heavily infected by the entomopathogenic fungus Hirsutella sp. Other mites with high prevalence include the pollen-feeder Neocypholaelaps stridulans (Evans) (Ameroseiidae) and Euseius scutalis Athias-Henriot, the latter being the most numerous of the predatory Phytoseiidae. Only the phytoseiids Neoseiulus paspalivorus De Leon and Cydnoseius negevi (Swirski & Amitai) were found directly associated with A. guerreronis, underneath the perianth. They were never found on other host plants. The geographical ranges of Cheletomimus gracilis Fain, Bochkov & Corpuz-Raros (Cheyletidae), Typhlodromusdalfardicus Daneshvar (Phytoseiidae) and Nasutitarsonemus Beer & Nucifora (Tarsonemidae) are extended.

The oribatid mite genus Dolicheremaeus comprises more than 160 species. We describe a new species, Dolicheremaeus aethiopicus sp. nov., collected in soil from Bale Mountains National Park (African region, Ethiopia). This new species differs from other species by a combination of the length of prodorsal setae; morphology of rostral setae and sensilli; morphology and number of notogastral condyles and the morphology of the notogastral setae; number of epimeral setae; and the morphology of leg setae u.

The oribatid mite genus Pergalumna Grandjean, 1936 (Acari: Oribatida: Galumnidae) comprises 111 species. We describe the species Pergalumna makarovae sp. nov., collected in moss on trees from Bale Mountains National Park (southern Ethiopia). The new species is distinguishable from other species of Pergalumna by the presence of the following character states in combination: smooth surface of body, clavate sensilli, minute interlamellar setae, three pairs of rounded notogastral areae porosae and complete dorsosejugal suture.

A new species, Barbutia iranensis sp. nov., is described and illustrated from Iran. This is the first record of the family Barbutiidae in Iran.

Historical records of some species of mites of the family Eriophyidae attacking rice (Oryza sativa L.) and sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) in southeast Asia and Australia are reviewed. The names Aceriasaccharini, Aceria sacchari, Eriophyes saccharini, Aceria saccharium, and Abacarus sacchari have been applied to these mites, but the identity of the species that occur in Australia has not been definitely established. These records are subject to taxonomic and nomenclatural confusion that potentially complicates pest management and biosecurity. The causative agent of the sugarcane disease known as wart-eye has not been identified, but may be an eriophyoid mite.