Documentation is presented for 292 common names of ticks authored by Dr. Harry Hoogstraal, the twentieth century's preeminent authority on ticks and tick-borne diseases.

We examined the interaction between phytophagous and predaceous mites in Valencia orange (Citrus sinensis) orchards at different altitudes in the Taquari Valley, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Mites were sampled monthly from February 2005 to January 2006 in three citrus agroecosystems: Arvorezinha, Encantado and Taquari. For each agroecosystem, twelve leaves were taken from each of ten citrus plants, plus ten fruits and leaves from five associated plants found in citrus orchards. Predaceous species considered important were Agistemus floridanus Gonzalez (Stigmaeidae), Euseius ho (De Leon) (Phytoseiidae) and Pronematus anconai Baker (Iolinidae). Other predators found were Iphiseiodes zuluagai Denmark & Muma (Phytoseiidae), in Taquari and Homeopronematus sp. (Iolinidae), Parapronematus sp. (Iolinidae), Neoseiulus tunus (DeLeon) (Phytoseiidae) and Typhlodromips cananeiensis Gondim Jr. & Moraes (Phytoseiidae), in Encantado. The most frequent phytophagous mites were Brevipalpus phoenicis (Geijskes) (Tenuipalpidae), Lorryia formosa Cooreman (Tydeidae), Lorryia sp. (Tydeidae), Tegolophus brunneus Flechtmann (Eriophyidae) and Tetranychus mexicanus (McGregor) (Tetranychidae). Other phytophages were Eutetranychus banksi (McGregor) (Tetranychidae) in Taquari and Phyllocoptruta oleivora (Ashmead) (Eriophyidae) in Arvorezinha. The predator A. floridanus had the strongest correlation to the presence of common phytophagous mites, followed by P. anconai that seemed to be associated with eriophyid and tetranychid mites. The least number of predators occurred in Arvorezinha, where mowing and phytosanitary treatments were frequent. The associated plants Thelypteris dentata (Forssk.) E.P. St. John and Solidago chilensis Meyen had the largest abundance of predatory mites. However, Ageratum conyzoides L. had the highest diversity of predatory mites.

Host specialization has contributed to the high diversity of laelapine mites associated with Neotropical rodents, but the lack of taxonomic development at the species-level has confounded study of the coevolutionary history of both host and ectoparasite groups. Morphometric comparisons of presumptive polyxenous laelapine species infesting a diverse assemblage of palustrine rodents in Paraguay clearly reveal that each host species is infested by a morphologically distinct mite population. The nominal taxa Laelaps manguinhosi, Gigantolaelaps goyanensis, and G. mattogrossensis may be composites of morphologically distinct but similar species with narrower host preferences. These results suggest that laelapine mites are primarily monoxenous, and that numerous currently unrecognized species may be discerned by standard morphometric techniques.

Tetranychus okinawanus Ehara have recently been found in Taiwan. To date they have only been collected by the authors from several locations in the counties of Pingtung, Taitung, and Hualien and from one spot in Nantou County by Takafuji, all from non-crop plants. The authors examined the specific characteristics and made sketches of the leg chaetotaxy, the palpal terminal of both sexes and the male aedeagus. Collection records and observations of body color variations as well as a list of natural enemies are also provided. The ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region of this mite was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. The sequences are extremely rich in AT content (67.7%), and are identical among the tested individuals and identical to the neucleotide sequence of the ITS2 region of Tetranychus okinawanus reported from Japan.

A new species of oribatid mite, Schalleriella vietnamica sp. nov., is proposed and described from dark loamy soil of a lagerstroemia forest in Cat Tien National Park (southern Vietnam). This represents the first finding of Schalleriella in the Oriental region. The genus currently comprises only the type species, Schalleriella grabouwensis, from which S. vietnamica differs by the morphology of the lamellar apices and rostral setae and by the presence of an interlamellar tubercle, longitudinal notogastral lines and areoles in the anogenital region. A new generic diagnosis of Schalleriella is presented.

A new species of eriophyoid mite is described, Catachela acaciae sp. nov., from Acacia farnesiana (L.) Willd. (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae), and one new record for Cuba is reported: Diptilomiopus pamithus (Boczek & Chandrapatya, 1989) on Mangifera indica L. (Anacardiaceae).

A new species of Stigmaeus Koch (Acari: Stigmaeidae), Stigmaeus marandiensis sp. nov. is described and illustrated from soil in apple orchards at Marand, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. A key to all known species from Iran of the genus Stigmaeus is also provided.

Five species of the water mite family Torrenticolidae: Torrenticola flangia Wiles, 1997, T. longipalpis Wiles 1997, Monatractides parviventris (K. Viets, 1935), M. plumosa (Wiles, 1989), M. longiventris (K. Viets, 1939) are reported from Sulawesi, Indonesia, and one new Monatractides species is described: M. sulawesiensis sp. nov.