Mesostigmata

Fossil mesostigmatid mites are extremely rare. Inclusions assignable to the tortoise mites (Mesostigmata, Uropodina) are described here for the first time from Eocene (ca. 44–49 Ma) Baltic amber. This is the oldest record of Uropodina and documents the first unequivocal amber examples potentially assignable to the extant genus Uroobovella Berlese, 1903 (Uropodoidea: Urodinychidae). Further mites in the same amber pieces are tentatively assigned to Microgynioidea (Microgyniina) and Ascidae (Gamasina), both potentially representing the oldest records of their respective superfamily and family groups. This new material also preserves behavioural ecology in the form of phoretic deutonymphs attached to their carriers via a characteristic anal pedicel. These deutonymphs in amber are intimately associated with longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), probably belonging to the extinct species Nothorhina granulicollis Zang, 1905. Modern uropodines have been recorded phoretic on species b...

Representatives of the mesostigmatid mite subfamily Arctoseiinae (Acari: Mesostigmata: Gamasina: Ascidae) held in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin are documented. This material stems from the extensive Wolfgang Karg collection and originates primarily from (eastern) Germany, as well as Sweden, Chile and New Caledonia in the Pacific. Here, we record seventeen Arctoseiine species in Berlin, including type material of the following seven species: Arctoseius brevichelis Karg, 1969, A. dendrophilus Karg, 1969, A. pristinus Karg, 1962, A. resinae Karg, 1969, A. sessiluncus Karg, 1965, Zerconopsis apodius Karg, 1969 and Iphidozercon validus Karg, 1996.

In this paper, a new species of the genus Laelaspis Berlese, L. angustiseta sp. nov.­­­­ is described based on morphological characters of the adult female specimens collected in association with Tapinoma erraticum (Latreille) and Tapinoma simrothi Krausse (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari Province, Iran.

Raubmilben sind häufige Vertreter der Spinnentiere, die im Boden oder Höhlensystemen leben. Als Fossilien sind sie mit weltweit nur vier beschriebenen Arten extrem selten. Ein überraschender Fund aus dem Siegener Bergland, der in einem Nachlass aufgetaucht ist, gehört zu einer Raubmilbe vermutlich aus der Familie Parasitidae und ist in Aragonit konserviert. Leider ist eine genauere Altersbestimmung kaum möglich. Wahrschienlich ist die Raubmilbe subfossil und wurde vom nassen Kalksinter eingeschlossen.