In our study of the pachylaelapid mites from Iran, a new remarkable species, Pachylaelaps (Pachylaelaps) prodigiosus sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on adult stages found in soil detritus of broadleaved deciduous forest habitats. The sperm induction system detected in females of the new species is unusual in having its tubular structures exclusively associated with coxae III instead of coxae IV, as found in all other members of the genus. An adult male of P. (P.) grandis Koroleva, 1977, a similar species with analogous sperm induction system in female, is described for the first time. A new species group in the subgenus Pachylaelaps, represented by P. (P.) grandis, P. (P.) kirghizorum Koroleva, 1977 and P. (P.) prodigiosus sp. nov., is newly constituted, and its specific characters of insemination apparatus discussed.

The morphological ontogeny of Amblydromalus limonicus is described in this paper based on laboratoryreared specimens originated from Auckland, New Zealand. Comparisons between A. limonicus and A. lailae from Australia showed that the protonymphs, deutonymphs and adults of these two species are not distinguishable, but unusual differences are present in larvae. The larvae of “A. lailae” by Schicha of Australia were incorrectly associated with other stages of A. lailae and belong to the genus Euseius. The results of this study highlight a neglected area of research in phytoseiid taxonomy: the careful descriptions of immature stages based on reared specimens.

The present study is based on oribatid mite materials (Acari, Oribatida) collected from Macao SAR, southern China during 2016 to 2018. A list of identified taxa, including 25 species from 23 genera and 14 families, is presented; of these, 11 species and 1 genus are recorded for the first time in the fauna of this country, and 1 species is recorded for the first time in the Oriental region. The taxonomic data on two species of the family Galumnidae is provided. A new species, Dimiodiogalumna ilhaverdeensis Ermilov sp. nov. is described; it differs from Dimidiogalumna comoroensis Mahunka, 1994 by the presence of four pairs of notogastral porose areas and one strium on genital plates, and the absence of ridges on anal plates. The systematic placement of Acrogalumna bipartita Aoki & Hu, 1993 is discussed, resulting in the following taxonomic proposal: Allogalumna bipartita (Aoki & Hu, 1993) comb. nov.; the supplementary description of this species is presented based on specimens from China.

It is well known that the house dust mites (HDMs) are the most common and potent inhalant allergens worldwide and the allergen immunotherapy (AIT) can efficaciously and safely ameliorate the allergic symptoms. Different formulations and routes of HDMs AIT have been achieved symptomatic improvement with mite allergic rhinitis (AR) and/or asthma. The object of the present article is to observe the efficacy and safety of oral immunotherapy (OIT) by enteric-coated capsules (EC) of Dermatophagoides farinae allergen (Df) with mite AR. A year of single blind placebo trial was applied. A total of 54 AR patients aged 25.8 in average with/without asthma and skin prick test (SPT) positive in HDMs were selected into either active or placebo groups. The OIT started with 5 days of dose rush induction, succeeded by a maintenance dose for 12 months. The efficacy of the treatment was assessed by symptomatic evaluation and laboratory in vivo and in vitro parameters of preimmunotherapy (pre-IT) and post-immunotherapy (post-IT) statistically. The patients each received a total accumulative dose of 16 715BU Df protein nitrogen, and 87.5% (21/24) subjects achieved symptomatic improvement. The post-IT symptom scores decreased (t=11.07, P<0.001); visual analog scale (VAS) decreased (t=10.68, P<0.001); number of patients required symptom-medication decreased from 23/24 to 3/24 cases (χ²=33.57, P<0.001); SPT wheal sizes of both Df and Dp significantly reduced (Df t=2.64, P=0.015 and Dp t=6.01, P<0.001); nasal provocation test (NPT) with the antigen tolerance elevated more than 3 times (χ²=9.65, P=0.008). The only unchanged parameter was the tIgE levels (P=0.07). The parameters of placebo group were changed but not significant statistically or negligible. There were no local or general adverse reactions in both groups happened in the one year course of OIT. It is concluded that the newly designed formulation and route of clinical administration by Df EC OIT with AR were comparable to that of Df sublingual IT. The new formulation is more convenient and promising approach to treat AR.

Bigger animals tend to live longer than the small ones across species, but whether body size also has a robust relationship with survival within species remains to be determined. Here, the association between body size and fitness traits was examined through two food treatments (starvation and fed ad libitum) for both virgin and mated spider mites, Tetranychus urticae. The longevity of spider mites differed significantly across treatments, with feeding ad libitum increasing the survival of both males and females, mating decreasing male survival when starved and female survival when fed ad libitum. The body size of females but not of males increased with food. For each treatment, no clear correlations between body size and longevity were found. However, female fecundity was shown to have a positive relationship with body size. These results suggested that within species, for spider mites, there is no clear association between body size and longevity, but the fecundity increased with the body size, although this association is weak.

Phthiracarus is the second largest genus of ptyctimous mites with nearly cosmopolitan distribution. In the present study, two new species, Phthiracarus cristatus sp. nov. and Phthiracarus brevicarinatus sp. nov., are described from Northeast China. An identification key to all known Chinese species of the genus Phthiracarus is provided.

The present study is based on oribatid mite material (Acari, Oribatida) collected from six localities in Ethiopia during 2013. A list of identified taxa, including 60 species from 45 genera and 30 families, is provided; of these, eight species are recorded in the fauna of this country for the first time, and one species is recorded in the Ethiopian region for the first time. A new species of the genus Wallworkoppia (Oppiidae) is described from litter and fallen leaves in a Juniperus forest; W. tetraciliata Ermilov sp. nov. differs from W. secata (Mahunka, 1999), W. parasensilla (Mahunka, 1999), W. tuberosa (Mahunka, 1988) and W. vibrissa (Mahunka, 1983) by the rounded rostrum (versus tripartite rostrum). An identification key to known species of Wallworkoppia is updated.

Ticks are vectors for a number of important human and animal pathogens. In this study, Corynebacterium lactis was isolated from Amblyomma testudinarium Koch tick sampled from wild boar in Malaysia. Imaging with transmission electron microscope and complete genome sequencing were performed for C. lactis which shared similar morphology to other Corynebacterium species and was susceptible to most of the commonly used antibiotics. The draft genome revealed a total length of 2,568,615 bp with G C content of 64.3%. This is the first description of C. lactis isolation from ticks, raising the possibility that ticks could be a vector for this emerging pathogen of companion animals.

Notwithstanding the advantageous traits of Typhlodromus bagdasarjani Wainstein and Arutunjan to feed on alternative food such as pollen ensuring the long-term control of greenhouses pests, the nutritional ecology and the role of this predator in biological pest control are rarely addressed. In the current study, the predator's development and reproduction on three food sources including Tetranychus urticae Koch, almond pollen, as well as T. urticae almond pollen; and the no food condition were evaluated. Additionally, all diets were tested on both artificial and leaf-based substrates to assess the potential host plant effects on the predator's performance. Although all larvae on both rearing substrates successfully developed into protonymphal stage, they did not succeed to reach the next stage. Development of T. bagdasarjani was shorter, both female and male, on artificial substrate mainly feeding on almond pollen. Females feeding on almond pollen and almond pollen T. urticae on artificial substrates had the highest intrinsic and finite rate of increase as well as oviposition rate. Consequently, almond pollen could be used as a conservation management tool to support the early buildup of pre-established natural populations of T. bagdasarjani in open field crops.

Oribatid mites are mainly terrestrial animals, but some are aquatic, including all species of the genus Hydrozetes (Hydrozetidae). They have often been recorded in abundance on the water's surface, while their presence in the benthic zone is poorly documented. A litterbag experiment was carried out in Coutos Lake, a shallow temporary lake in Southeast Brazil, in order to study the ecology and biology of Hydrozetes paulista. This mite species greatly dominated the benthic invertebrate community (82%), and at the end of the experiment it reached a density (652 individuals per 1 g of dry substrate) higher than that ever previously reported before for any Hydrozetes species. This density was correlated with some water parameters, stronger with conductivity, and less with temperature. The adults dominated in the stage structure (constituting over 80% of sample population), but the participation of the juveniles increased with the time. Larvae were first noticed on 25^th day of experiment and after that were present for the rest of the season. During the course of this experiment, mite fecundity and body size decreased. This species is known as bisexual, but we observed only females in the 5354 adults we collected.

Population size can be very small in the newly invaded/introduced site or front edge of population expansion where mates are difficult to find. This scenario can lead to extinction of a local population in many animal species. However, when it happens to a haplodiploid animal, individual virgin females may adjust their strategies to produce sons of greater reproductive success such as higher mating success and fertility, which may help increase the chance of establishment. Here we investigated how maternal mating status affected sons' reproductive success in a haplodiploid spider mite, Tetranychus ludeni Zacher, a cosmopolitan pest of many crops. We show that virgin females laid significantly larger eggs than mated females, giving rise to larger deutonymphs and adults, but mating status of mothers had no influence on mating success and longevity of their sons. We provide the first empirical evidence in a haplodiploid mite that virgin mothers adjusted their resource allocations to yield sons that produced more daughters at a higher rate.

Two new species of the family Oribotritiidae (Acari, Oribatida) from China are described: Indotritia spindleformis sp. nov. from the Hechi, Guangxi Province, and Indotritia bifurcata sp. nov. from the Qiongzhong, Hainan Province. An identification key to Chinese species of Indotritia is presented.