Chemical control of the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, depends on early monitoring of acaricide resistance. Because few bioassay methods currently used to monitor acaricide resistance in T. urticaeare easy to use or are able to detect multiple kinds of toxicity, a new bioassay is needed. A vial-leaf dipping (VLD) bioassay was developed using a 2-ml microcentrifuge tube coated with acaricide and a 1-cm-diameter leaf disc coated with acaricide. When T. truncatus females were exposed to five acaricides, LC₅₀ values indicated that the VLD bioassay was substantially more sensitive than the conventional slide-dip (SD) bioassay. The VLD bioassay was used to obtain baseline sensitivity to 10 acaricides for adult females of T. urticae. The VLD bioassay was also used to assess the resistance of six field populations of T. urticae to 10 acaricides; the results showed that the adult females of T. urticae populations had different resistance to each acaricide. All the six populations were highly resistant to abamectin and exhibited sensitivity to medium resistance for the other acaricides. It is concluded that the VLD bioassay method is sensitive and easy to use; field chemical trials for control of T. urticae in China could be conducted by the acaricides rotation except abamectin.

Wolbachia are endosymbiotic bacteria that are widely distributed in arthropods. The bacteria cause reproductive disorders and affect fitness-related traits of their hosts. The generalist predatory mite Neoseiulus cucumeris(Oudemans) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is a cosmopolitan species commonly used as a biological control agent for mites. Here we investigated the effect of Wolbachia infection in the prey, Tetranychus urticae, on predation by N. cucumeris by using both functional response tests (effect of prey egg density on predation) and choice and no-choice tests. The rate of egg consumption decreased with increasing egg density for both infected and uninfected eggs (Type II responses). In a no-choice test, N. cucumeris consumed approximately equal numbers of infected and uninfected eggs, nymphs and adults but consumed fewer infected larvae than uninfected larvae. In the first choice test, different developmental stages of T. urticae were provided, N. cucumeris preferred eggs and larvae over nymphs and adults. Furthermore, to determine how pre-infestation, developmental stages of prey and bacterial infection affect the choice of N. cucumeris, the second choice test was performed. N. cucumeris preferred pre-infested leaf discs over leaf discs that had not been infested, and had a significant preference for uninfected prey, regardless of the presence of plant tissue. These results suggest that N. cucumeris is first attracted by volatiles emitted by attacked plants and then select their preferred prey.

We studied the effect of three diets consisting of eggs and adults of two forms of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) on the rate of predation, rate of oviposition, and development of the predatory mite, Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor) (Acari: Phytoseiidae). The diet types consisted of T. urticae red form eggs/adults (type a), green form eggs/adults, (type b) and mixed red and green form eggs/adults (type c). The form of eggs did not have an effect on the rate of predation, nor did the forms of adults with the exception of more predation on mixed forms on the third day of the experiment and on both red and mixed forms on the second day. The rate of oviposition did not differ between N. californicus provided different forms of eggs as prey on the second day, but on the third day, there was a significantly higher rate of oviposition associated with diet types a, and c. There was no effect on rate of oviposition when N. californicus fed on adult prey. When T. urticaeeggs and adults were provided pairwise, N. californicus produced significantly more eggs when fed eggs of diet types a and c on both the second and third days of the experiment, while feeding on eggs and adults of the diet type b resulted in no difference in rate of oviposition. Moreover, preying on red T. urticae or on red and mixed T. urticae resulted in the slowest development of the protonymph and deutonymph stages, while the duration of larval stages were similar across all types of diets. The benefits of each diet and the capacity of N. californicusto control both forms of T. urticae are discussed.

A new species Neodermation actitis sp. nov. (Acariformes: Dermationidae) is described from the Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos (Linnaeus) (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae) in the Russian Far East using light and scanning electron microscopy. The new species differs from the closely related Neodermation belonopteri Fain, 1964 in the following features: in males, the hysteronotal shield is distinctly ornamented (vs. unornamented in N. belanopteri), setae e2 are situated on the hysteronotal shield (vs. off this shield), the external projection of the terminal membrane is triangular and subequal to the median one (vs. smaller than the median projection); in females, the postero-lateral projections of the hysteronotal shield are strongly sclerotized (vs. sclerotized as other parts of this shield. An emended diagnosis of the genus Neodermation is given. Differences in the external morphology of male and female tritonymphs of N. actitis are also described. Precopulatory mate-guarding behavior is recorded for the first time for dermationids.

An annotated checklist of the Brazilian Oripodoidea is provided. It includes 14 species from eight genera and three families. Four species, Protoribates paracapucinus, Peloribates perreti, Scheloribates (Bischeloribates)elegantulus and Haplozetes minutus, are recorded for the first time in Brazil; of these, the last species is recorded for the first time in the Neotropical region. Two new species of the family Haplozetidae are described and illustrated on the basis of adult specimens. Protoribates lemensis sp. nov. differs from all representatives of the triaunguis-group by the presence of prolamellar lines and notogastral setae of medium size. Haplozetes biheterodactylus sp. nov. is most similar to H. minimicoma Beck, 1964, however, it differs from the latter by the long interlamellar setae and bidactylous legs.

We designate the lectotype and paralectotype for Trombewingia bakeri based on two cotypes of this species deposited in the Acari Collection of the Instituto Butantan in São Paulo, Brazil (IBSP). New records of hosts and localities for this species are given here, including more details of its morphology.

Milandanielia harsitensis Adil & Sevsay sp. nov. (Acari: Microtrombidiidae) is described and illustrated based on adults. This is the third species of this genus in the world and also the first record in Turkey. A key to species of Milandanielia is provided.

Atractothrombium amirkabiri sp. nov., Ettmuelleria zahediae sp. nov. and Microtrombidium fumani sp. nov. of the subfamily Microtrombidiinae Thor, 1935 are described from Guilan province, northern Iran. Moreover, Enemothrombium culicoidium (Vercammen-Grandjean and Cochrane, 1974) of the subfamily Valgothrombiinae Gabryś, 1999 and Empitrombium makolae Sevsay & Karakurt, 2013 of the Microtrombidiidae incertae sedis are reported for the first time from Iran. All species were collected from soil samples (off host) in a forest.

A new species of the genus Schizotetranychus, Schizotetranychus iraniensis sp. nov. collected from Prunus cerasus (Rosaceae), Kerman Province, Iran., is described and illustrated, This is the first report of this genus on Prunus cerasus in Iran.

A new species of the genus Stigmaeus Koch, 1836 (Acari: Stigmaeidae), S. tolstikovi sp. nov. is described from rotten log of poplar from Western Siberia, Russia. Stigmaeus delaramae Khanjani, 2014 is recorded for the first time from Russia. Stigmaeus livschitzi Kuznetsov, 1977, S. longipilis (Canestrini, 1889), S. sphagneti (Hull, 1918), S. purpurascens Summers, 1962, and S. silvestris Khaustov, 2014 are recorded for the first time in Asian part of Russia. Stigmaeus livschitzi is redescribed based on study of type material. The key to species of the genus Stigmaeus of Russia is provided.

Spinibdella tabarii Paktinat-Saeej & Bagheri sp. nov. is described and illustrated from Amol city, Mazandaran province, Iran. Worldwide distributions and differential characters of all Spinibdella are provided.

A new species of Scissuralaelaps (Acari: Laelapidae: Iphiopsidinae), S. huberi sp. nov., is described from the millipede Acladocricus sp. (Spirobolida: Rhinocricidae) in the Philippines. The new species is close to S. bipartitus Ishikawa, which also has males with heavily sclerotised anterior and lateral margins of the peritrematal and metapodal shields.