The number of phytoseiid mite species varied greatly according to the geographical zones in Keyna. In the upper highlands (2400–4400m) 22 species were recorded, 44 in the lower highlands (1800–2400m), 57 in the midlands (800–1800m) and 25 in the lowlands (0–800m). The predacious mites Euseius kenyae (Swirski & Ragusa) and E. albizzae (Swirski & Ragusa) were common in Zones I, II and III and not reported in Zone IV. In contrast, E. minutisetus Moraes & McMurtry was common in zone IV and not recorded in the other three zones. The maximum number of Neoseiulus species were collected from upper highlands (Zone I), indicating some adaptation to adverse conditions. Similar adaptation were reported for largoensis species group as they were common in the mangrove localities (Zone IV) and rare in others. Some species had no distinct patterns of distribution and were almost sampled form every zone (e.g. Transeius Chant & McMurtry, Typhlodromus Scheuten and Typhlodromips De Leon).

Between March 2004 and July 2005, the mites associated with whole wheat, flour and sweepings (residue from, for example, the floor, equipment and the outside of sacks) in 16 flour mills in the Karaj region of the Tehran Province of Iran were surveyed. Sampling was carried out in the spring (March, April and May), summer (June, July and August) and early autumn (September and October). Mites were found in five of the mills. Nine species were recorded, namely, Acarus farris Oudemans, A. siro Linnaeus, Tyrophagus longior (Gervais), T. putrescentiae (Schrank), Lepidoglyphus destructor (Schrank), Androlaelaps casalis (Berlese), Rhysotritia ardua (C. L. Koch), Acaropsellina sollers (Kuzin) and Cheyletus carnifex Zachvatkin. Mites were found in 94% of the sweeping samples, 68.57% of the flour samples and 53.3% of the whole wheat samples.

An understanding of the sublethal effects of pesticide residues on phytoseiid mites is important to successful augmentation and conservation programs. We assessed the residual and sublethal effects of four concentrations of fenpyroximate (LC₅, LC₁₀, LC₂₀ and LC₃₀) and three concentrations of abamectin (LC₁₀, LC₂₀ and LC₃₀) on prey consumption rates of exposed females of Phytoseius plumifer (Canestrini & Fanzago) and their offspring when fed Tetranychus urticae Koch. Prey consumption of female mites was strongly affected by treatment with all concentrations of the two acaricides. Throughout the study, females exposed to fenpyroximate showed a more extreme reduction in prey consumption than those exposed to abamectin. In contrast, abamectin affected the prey consumption of the subsequent generation of females to a greater extent than fenpyroximate. Of the subsequent generation, total protonymphal and total nymphal prey consumption were adversely affected by both acaricide treatments at the highest concentration. Deutonymph prey consumption of fenpyroximate exposed females was reduced, but not of abamectin exposed ones. Total nymphal offspring prey consumption did not significantly differ between the two acaricide treatments. In conclusion, use of either acaricide decreased the predation rate of P. plumifer, and this effect should be considered when designing integrated management programs.

The effect of host plant varieties of peach, Prunus persica L. Batsch, and nectarine, P. persica var. nectarina Maxim, on the biological parameters of the hawthorn spider mite, Amphitetranychus viennensis (Zacher), was investigated in the laboratory at 25±1°C, 60±10% RH and 16L: 8D photoperiod. Duration of each life stage, longevity, reproduction, the intrinsic rate of natural increase (r_m), net reproductive rate (R₀), mean generation time (T), doubling time (Dt), and finite rate of increase (λ) of A. viennensis on six varieties were calculated. Differences in fertility life table parameters of the spider mite among six varieties were analyzed using pseudovalues, which were produced by jackknife re-sampling. Hawthorn spider mite displayed the best performance on middle and late season ripening varieties for both peach and nectarine due to its short developmental period (10.98 and 10.77 days for middle season ripening varieties and 11.27 and 10.82 days late season ripening varieties), longer adult longevity, higher reproduction (52.05, 45.13, 36.04, and 30.98 eggs per female, respectively), and intrinsic rate of natural increase (0.199, 0.193, 0.188, and 0.186 females/female/day, respectively). The poorest performance was measured on early season ripening varieties. The implication of the varied population performance is discussed.

Ixodes paranaensis is a little-known tick species recently described from specimens collected in Quatro Barras, State of Paraná, southern Brazil. The present report describes the collection of three males and three females of I. paranaensis from a quartzite cave (Gruta dos Fugitivos) in the municipality of Santa Rita de Ibitipoca, State of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. This new record extends the known distribution of I. paranaensis and clarifies our knowledge of the male, which was originally described from a single deformed specimen.

The family Ixodorhynchidae consists of snake ectoparasites found worldwide. This study synonymizes Ixodorhynchoides Johnston with Ixobioides Fonseca and fully describes and figures Ixobioides truncatus comb. nov. A key to world genera of ixodorhynchids and all species of Ixobioides is also provided.

Steneotarsonemus (Steneotarsonemus) saccharum sp. nov. is described and illustrated from adult females and males, and collected from Saccharum officinarum L. in Guangdong, China.

Tetra indiciva sp. nov., from Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack. (Rutaceae), orange jasmine, from Brazil is described and figured, from females, males, nymphs and larvae. Considerations on morphological characters in relation to the confection of microscopic preparations and their strength in keys and descriptions are presented.

A new larval sand-mite Shunsennia (Parashunsennia) weni sp. nov. parasitic on Cricetulus longicaudatus from Huangzhong County, Qinghai Province, China was described. This is the third sand-mite species of the genus Shunsennia subgenus Parashunsennia recorded in Qinghai province; the other two are S.(P.) marmota Wen et Ma, 1997 and S.(P.) furcoseta Yang et al., 1998.