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André, H.M.

acarology, soil fauna, parasitology, evolution

Are there real endogeic species in temperate forest mites?

The determinants of mite diversity in soil and the reasons why so many species coexist are poorly understood. There is evidence that niche differentiation (i.e. microhabitat complexity) in the litter layers of forest floors is important, however, little is known for deeper horizons since mite density and diversity in deeper soil layers have been rarely studied. In order to address this dearth of information, we collected microarthropods from both the forest floor and the mineral soil to a depth of 1m in two deciduous forest locations. The density exceeded 8
105 microarthropodsm2 in one location, and a number of individuals were collected from deep in the soil. No species was exclusively living in mineral horizons. Measurements of porosity spectrum, pH, water content, total C and total N were made at each depth and related to mite diversity and species richness. Meso- and microporosity were strongly correlated with species distribution while macroporosity and pH were correlated to density and species richness.

Rediscovery of the genus Pseudotydeus (Acari: Tydeoidea), with description of the adult using digital imaging

This paper describes the adult female of the genus Pseudotydeus Baker & Delfinado 1974 and confirms that the genus belongs to the Ereynetidae. The description is based on a new species collected from a Belgian cave (“Nou-Maulin”, Rochefort). For the first time, a mite is described with microscope photographs instead of traditional line drawings. The two methods are compared. A new typology is proposed for sensilli clusters and a key to the genera of the Ereynetinae is provided.