Bruce Halliday

This paper reports on 10 species, 10 genera and 1 family of mites that are recorded in the iNaturalist database but otherwise not recorded from Australia. They include five species of plant parasites in the family Eriophyidae that may be economically important pests. These records are not supported by formal records in refereed publications but should be included in future studies of the mite fauna of Australia.

Scientific activity never constitutes a finished body of knowledge; on the contrary, each new answer constantly expands the field of knowledge by giving rise to deeper and more comprehensive questions. In this respect, science is a universe of research that expands as it progresses and whose boundaries can never be fully defined. In this article, the rhetoric of "science is an infinite frontier" is examined through the field of acarology. In the text, the microscopic nature of mites, their complex relationships within the ecosystem, and their biodiversity, are combined with concepts from the philosophy of science, and it is argued that acarology constitutes both a metaphorical and practical "infinite frontier" field in modern science. Thus, acarology is positioned as a good example of the unending horizon of science, revealing how epistemic openness and disciplinary plurality continuously redefine the boundaries of biological knowledges.

This paper reviews the available information on 67 species of mites (Mesostigmata) from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It includes translation and interpretation of data from two papers in the little-known North Korean journal Saengmurhak, including descriptions of 19 new species and four new genera. The families included are Parasitidae, Veigaiidae, Ologamasidae, Macrochelidae, Pachylaelapidae, Phytoseiidae, Haemogamasidae, Laelapidae, Macronyssidae, Dermanyssidae, and Spinturnicidae. The purpose of the paper is to draw attention to this little-known Korean work so it can be incorporated into international studies of these families.

Databases of information on the taxonomy, geographic distribution, and habitat of mites in the families Ologamasidae and Rhodacaridae are now freely available online. They provide data on 473 species of Ologamasidae and 162 species of Rhodacaridae. Most species of Ologamasidae were described from the Neotropical (33%) and Australasian (29%) ecozones. Most species of Rhodacaridae were described from the Afrotropical (36%) and Palaearctic (34%) ecozones. More than 75% of species in both families were described from specimens collected from soil.

We present a brief discussion of the evolution of our knowledge about the mites in the order Mesostigmata, with an account of the early history of their classification, factors that influenced this process, the difficulties faced by the pioneer taxonomists, the contributions made by successive individuals, and the development of the modern taxonomic concepts. The discussion highlights the Phytoseiidae, for their significant positive effect as biological control agents of pest organisms. In addition, suggestions are presented for the continued progress in the ultimate use of mites for biological control, especially of plant pests.

A draft assembly of the rainforest tree Rhodamnia argentea Benth. (malletwood, Myrtaceae) revealed contaminating DNA sequences that most closely matched those from mites in the family Eriophyidae. Eriophyoid mites are plant parasites that often induce galls or other deformities on their host plants. They are notable for their small size (averaging 200 μm), distinctive four-legged body structure, and heavily streamlined genomes, which are among the smallest known of all arthropods. Contaminating mite sequences were assembled into a high-quality gapless telomere-to-telomere nuclear genome. The entire genome was assembled on two fully contiguous chromosomes, capped with a novel TTTGG or TTTGGTGTTGG telomere sequence, and exhibited clear signs of genome reduction (34.5 Mbp total length, 68.6% arachnid Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Ortholog completeness). Phylogenomic analysis confirmed that this genome is that of a previously unsequenced eriophyoid mite. Despite its unknown identity, this complete nuclear genome provides a valuable resource to investigate invertebrate genome reduction.

This paper records new locality data for six species of ectoparasitic mites and ticks from bats in Ethiopia – Spinturnix scotophili, Spinturnix faini, Spinturnix semilunaris, Chelanyssus aethiopicus, Ixodes simplex, Carios vespertilionis. Five new host-parasite associations are recorded – Spinturnix scotophili on Myotis bocagei; Spinturnix faini on Miniopterus cf. arenarius; Spinturnix semilunaris on Miniopterus arenarius; Ixodes simplex on Rhinolophus landeri; Carios vespertilionis on Mops midas.

This study reviews some species of mites in the family Pachylaelapidae from Türkiye. Onchodellus marginatus sp. nov. and Pachylaelaps (Longipachylaelaps) vermiger sp. nov. are described as new species. Olopachys (Olopachys) caucasicus Koroleva, 1976, and Pachylaelaps (Pachylaelaps) imitans Berlese, 1920 are re-described on the basis of newly-collected specimens.

We describe a new genus in the mite family Laelapidae from Slovakia, Ochaechulla gen. nov., to accommodate a new species, Ochaechulla spinturniciformis sp. nov., based on females collected from under loose tree bark that probably served as a bat roost. The new genus is characterized by a specific idiosomal setation with the loss of some setae on the dorsal shield and opisthogastric region, hypotrichy of the legs, an unusual arrangement of the ventral shields and legs on the idiosoma, and strongly shortened peritremes. Its thick dorsal setae, modified body shape, and strong reddish-brown sclerotization most closely resemble the ectoparasites of small mammals in the genus Laelaps C. L. Koch, although its unique combination of features clearly distinguishes it from them and any other dermanyssoids. The radial arrangement of the legs around the margin of the idiosoma is similar to the genus Spinturnix von Heyden.

The mite Ophionyssus natricis (Gervais, 1844) (Macronyssidae) is a widespread ectoparasite of reptiles and a vector of some important veterinary diseases. This paper reviews the geographic distribution and host range of O. natricis and the available information about its clinical significance. Some incorrect identifications and host records are also identified. The snake mite has been collected from 144 species of reptiles, mostly snakes, as well as one amphibian and three species of mammals. It has been recorded in 36 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Australia. Its geographic range has undoubtedly been extended by human activities. Our records of O. natricis on the lizards Darevskia brauneri (Méhely, 1909) and Ophisops elegans Ménétries 1832, and on the snake Telescopus fallax Fleischmann, 1831, are new host records.