Theodoros I. Stathakisis

The genus Mediolata Canestrini (Raphignathoidea: Stigmaeidae), comprising predominantly predatory mites, is recorded from Greece for the first time. This study reports the presence of four species—Mediolata pini Canestrini, M. polinae Kuznetsov, M. aegyptiaca (Zaher and Soliman), and M. granaria González-Rodríguez—collected from a wide range of habitats and host plants across the country. Detailed redescriptions are provided for each species, along with distribution data and ecological notes. Taxonomic inconsistencies in prior literature, including misidentifications and synonymies, are discussed. Additionally, a revised key to all valid adult species of the genus Mediolata is presented

A new tenuipalpid mite species, Cenopalpus lusitanicus sp. nov. (Acari: Prostigmata: Tenuipalpidae), is described and illustrated based on female, male, deutonymph, protonymph and larva specimens collected from Alnus lusitanica Vít, Douda et Mandák (Fagales; Betulaceae) in Southern Portugal. Morphological descriptions are complemented with molecular data derived from mtDNA COI gene sequences. Additionally, we report four new records of Cenopalpus for the Portuguese fauna: Cenopalpus hederae Papaioannou-Souliotis, C. adventicious Ueckermann and Ripka, C. lineola (Canestrini et Fanzago) and C. wainsteini (Livschitz et Mitrofanov). Moreover, we review the literature dealing with Cenopalpus mites in Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira archipelagos), compiling the available information on their distribution, hosts, and pest potential, and including information obtained by verifying slides in the acarological collection of the Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária (INIAV, Portugal). Overall, we now register eight species of Cenopalpus for mainland Portugal and one for Madeira Island, contributing to the characterization of this genus in south–western Europe.

Mite assemblages are integral components of forest ecosystems, yet their seasonal dynamics in moss microhabitats remain poorly understood. We investigated moss-dwelling mites in a peri-urban Mediterranean forest in Greece across three sampling periods (March, May, July 2020), analyzing 150 random samples. Diversity was assessed using Hill numbers, rarefaction, and β-diversity partitioning, while Indicator Species Analysis identified taxa linked to specific months. Functional structure was further examined through trophic guilds. Results revealed strong temporal shifts: richness peaked in March, whereas May and July harbored distinct assemblages with unique indicator taxa. Functional analyses indicated seasonal changes in trophic guild representation, reflecting resource-driven dynamics. These findings highlight the importance of moss microhabitats as reservoirs of mite diversity and underscore the need for temporal perspectives in Mediterranean forest biodiversity research.

Cover cropping is increasingly recognized as a biodiversity-friendly practice in Mediterranean agriculture. However, its impact on ground-dwelling arthropods in olive groves remains insufficiently studied. This study assesses the effects of two perennial cover crops, tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) and white clover (Trifolium repens) on the abundance, community composition, and functional diversity of ground-dwelling arthropods in a traditional olive grove in Crete, Greece. From April to September 2023, arthropods were sampled bi-weekly using pitfall traps and classified by taxonomic identity and functional traits, with particular focus on spiders (Araneae) and ground beetles (Carabidae). Cover cropping significantly increased total arthropod abundance compared to a control, with clover favoring omnivores and saprophages, and fescue promoting predatory taxa. Fescue plots exhibited the highest abundance of spiders and carabids, as well as greater carabid species richness and functional diversity. Although spider beta diversity differed across treatments, their functional diversity remained unchanged. Our findings indicate that perennial cover crops, especially fescue, enhance ground predator diversity and may contribute to natural pest regulation in Mediterranean olive groves, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional management.

Νatural compounds such as lactic, acetic, formic, and oxalic acid and thymol are currently registered for use against Varroa destructor in apiaries in Europe. Complex botanical extracts are yet to be authorized, despite their beneficial ecofriendly profile and advantages in terms of resistance management. This study examined the fumigant activity of the essential oil (EO) of oregano, clove, lavender, dittany, bay laurel, sweet orange, peppermint, blue gum, and lemon balm against V. destructor in laboratory bioassays (Petri dishes). The most effective EOs were those of Origanum vulgare, Syzygium aromaticum, and Origanum dictamnus. These three EOs yielded 33.75% carvacrol, 58.64% eugenol, and 69.77% carvacrol and exhibited significant activity from 18 h of exposure to 0.0013 μL/cm until 48 h of exposure to 0.0068 μL/cm³. Origanum vulgare’s first calculated LC₅₀ value was 0.003 μL/cm³ after 24 h of mites’ exposure to EO vapors. The LC₅₀ values stabilized for oregano, clove, and dittany at 0.001, 0.002, and 0.002 μL/cm³ of 24 h exposure, respectively. This first indication of fumigant miticidal activity in Petri dishes is a promising first step before scaling up to field experiments.

In a two-year experiment, we examined whether increasing plant diversity in the margins of processing tomato fields could attract pollinators and natural enemies of pests compared to weed flora, and questioned the effect on crop yield. Two plant mixtures sown in winter (WM) and spring (SM) were compared with weed vegetation along a tomato crop (CT) and an adjacent irrigation channel (CC). Flower cover was higher in the sown mixtures than the weedy margins, and brought in more visits of pollinating bees (including potential tomato pollinators) than the latter. Flowering species were mainly Eruca vesicaria (WM, SM), Coriandrum sativum and Lathyrus sativus (WM), Fagopyron esculentum and Phacelia tanacetifolia (SM), and Ammi majus, Rapistrum rugosum (CC, CT). Parasitoids (Eulophidae, Braconidae, Scelionidae) were more abundant in the sown and CC margins compared to the CT margin, while the abundance of predators (Aeolothripidae, Orius sp., Thomisidae) was similar among all types of margins. Fruit weight was higher in the field with the sown margins, while pest incidence in the crop was not affected by the margin type. Our findings provide new insights into the contribution of managed and existing field margins in attracting beneficial arthropods, and their implications on yield.

The present study deals with the rediscovery of Tauriobia insueta Livshitz and Mitrofanov, 1967 a rare neotrichous spider mite species. It was originally described from pink rock-rose (Cistus creticus L., Cistaceae) in Ukraine. In the present work, the species is recorded for the first time from Greece and redescribed based on material collected from the same host plant. The immature stages are also described and the ontogenetic development of chaetotaxy is discussed. Additionally, a key to genera and subgenera of the tribe Hystrichonychini Pritchard and Baker, 1955 is provided.

Insect dependency of apple crop for pollination vary in different cultivars. The cv. ‘Delicious Pilafa Tripoleos’, is a Protected Designation of Origin apple of Greece, which lacks information on self-compatibility and needs for insect pollination for commercial fruit production. Here, the effect of wind, free (wind and insects), honeybee, free with at least one visit from a bumblebee and hand pollination was examined on fruit set and fruit characteristics. Also, the effect of flowering patches as a practice to attract pollinators in the apple orchards, on fruit quality characteristics was studied. A pollinizer apple variety and insect pollinators are necessary for successful pollination of ‘Delicious Pilafa Tripoleos’ since hand pollination with pollen of the same cv., and wind pollination resulted in very low fruit set. Single flower visits by honeybees could give fruit set, however, free pollination with at least one visit of B. terrestris resulted in higher fruit set compared to the other pollination treatments. Free pollination resulted in more fruits with higher number of seeds than wind pollination (only one fruit obtained). Apples produced from flowers adjacent to the flowering mixture patches had significantly higher skin firmness and lower total soluble solids at harvest (both desirable traits for ‘Delicious Pilafa Tripoleos’), compared to fruits from trees in naturally occurring groundcover.

Many previous descriptions of Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) species lack some important morphological characteristics including the number of dorsal solenotomes (gland pores). However, the importance of the presence or absence of a single pair of solenostomes to identify two distinct species in some phytoseiid genera, such as Kampimodromus Nesbitt and Neoseiulus Hughes has previously been confirmed by molecular studies in several cases. Neoseiulus marginatus (Wainstein) was originally described from Kazakhstan, a country located in Central Asia, based on the specimens collected from herbaceous plants. It was subsequently reported and redescribed from a series of Western Palearctic countries. However, the material first redescribed from Crimea and thereafter from Armenia, Greece, Israel, and Turkey, by having gd5 solenostomes, is distinct from the original N. marginatus described by Wainstein. Indeed, our examinations of its type specimens confirmed that gd5 pores are consistently absent in the type series of N. marginatus. Therefore, this species is redescribed and illustrated based on the female lectotype. In addition, N. pseudomarginatus sp. nov., a widely distributed species in the Western Palearctic countries, which has seven pairs of solenostomes is described as a new taxon for science. Furthermore, our examinations of the type specimens of N. polyporus (Wainstein) indicated that it should be considered as a junior synonym of N. marginatus, as already suggested in earlier studies.