Diversity and distribution of oribatid mites (Acari:Oribatida) in a lowland rain forest in Peru and in several environments of the Brazilians states of Amazonas, Rondônia, Roraima and Pará

We are summarizing the current state of knowledge of the diversity and distribution of oribatid mites in 26 environments in northern Brazil and of a rain forest in Peru. The published studies were mostly concentrated in Central Amazon. Only one report is a result from an agricultural polyculture. We are providing the first lists of species for savannas and for the Brazilian states of Roraima and Pará. Up to date, 146 species are definitively identified from a total of 444 taxa with 188 known genera, reinforcing the notion of a rich biodiverse area. The high number of 298 non-described species (morphospecies) clearly shows the inadequacy of the current taxonomic knowledge for the region. Most of the registers are from forest environments. In the soil from primary forests, we registered the highest diversity (54-155 species/morphospecies). Eighty-nine species were unique to primary forests, followed by 34 for savannas, 32 in trees, 10 in "igapó", 4 in caatinga, 3 in secondary forests, two in "varzea" and one in polyculture. Twenty genera were the most speciose. The species with the largest home ranges were Rostrozetes foveolatus, Scheloribates sp. A, and Galumna sp. A. Our numbers reflect the lack of taxonomists and show that the taxonomic knowledge must be improved for the region or we will continue to work with taxonomic resolution of Order or Family and a high percentage of morphospecies, which will probably be appropriate to the question being asked in each study, but not for a comparison among environments

ESPECIES INTERESANTES, PERTENECIENTES A LA SUPERFAMILIA BELBOIDEA (ACARI, ORIBATEI) RECOGIDAS EN VIZAYA Y UNA ZONA AFÍN: EPZDAMAEUS PLESIOMORPHICUS N. SP.

The species belonging to the superfamily Belboidea, collected in several ecosystems of Vizcaya and its limit with Alava and Burgos, are studied. Epidamaeus plesiomorphicus n. sp. is proposed as a new species for Science. Damaeus cf. crispatus Kulczynski is recorded for the first time in the Iberian Peninsule.Se estudian las especies pertenecientes a la superfamilia Belboidea recogidas en varios ecosistemas de Vizcaya y una zona próxima, entre Alava y Burgos. Se describe Epidamaeus plesiomorphicus n. sp. y se cita, por primera vez en la Península Ibérica, a Damaeus cf. crispatus Kulczynski

Diversity and dynamics of microarthropods from different biotopes of Las Sardinas cave (Mexico)

aBstract an ecological study of the microarthropod communities from las sardinas cave was undertaken. Four different biotopes were studied over the course of a year: bat guano, litter, soil under the chemoautotrophic bacteria colonies and as a control, plain soil without litter or guano. a total of 27,913 specimens of a total of 169 species were collected. analysis of Variance (anoVa) showed that there is a significant effect of biotope on the recorded density, and the post hoc Tukey's test showed that guano is the most different biotope with the highest value of density recorded. The interaction between season and biotope variables was not significant. In the most extreme case, 99 percent of the microarthropods in soil under chemoautotrophic bacteria were mites, mainly in the family Histiostomidae

Oribatid mites of Madagascar (Acari: Oribatida)

Around 350 Oribatid mite species are listed from Madagascar, with their synonyms and distribution data. New records are provided for 29 species from which three species are new to the fauna of Madagascar: Acrotritia reticulata (Mahunka, 1988), Malaconothrus (Malaconothrus) cf. monodactylus (Michael, 1888) and Parasuctobelba subcomplexa (Balogh & Mahunka, 1968). Notophthiracarus puylaerti Niedbała, 2001 is excluded from the fauna of Madagascar due to erroneous citation