Nusret Ayyildiz

Descriptions of two new species and a newly recorded species of Eustigmaeus from Turkey (Acari: Stigmaeidae)

Abstract Eustigmaeus is one of the largest genera of the Stigmaeidae and contains more than eighty species. Two new species, Eustigmaeus erciyesiensis, ex moss, from Erciyes Mountain (2230m) and Eustigmaeus sculptus, ex soil and litter under different plants, are described from Erzurum, Elazig, Bingöl, Kirikkale and Gümüshane, Turkey. Another species, E. ioanninensis Kapaxidi & Papadoulis, originally found in Greece, is recorded for the Turkish fauna and re-described. A key to the species known from Turkey is provided.

Mites of the family Oppiidae (Acari, Oribatida) from Turkey

Two new oppiid species (Gressittoppia luxtoni, Anomaloppia ozkani) and one new subspecies (Graptoppia sundensis acuta) are described from Turkish soils, and two known species are recorded for the first time. The genera Gressittoppia, Anomaloppia and Graptoppia are redefined and keys provided to the known species.

Setal losses in the dorsal hysterosoma of Plateremaeoidea (Acari: Oribatida) in the light of ontogenetic studies

The Plateremaeoidea demonstrate highly differentiated patterns of dorsal setae on the hysterosoma because these setae are lost in protonymph and adult. Setal loss in protonymph always starts with setae of d-series, and occurs in order, continuing to the l-series and h-series. For example, Aleurodamaeus setosus (Berlese, 1883) and Al. africanus Pletzen, 1963 lose setae of d-series in protonymph, and eight pairs in adult (c-series, l-series, h 2, h 3), so four pairs of setae remain (h 1, p-series). Arthrodamaeus reticulatus (Berlese, 1910), Gymnodamaeus bicostatus (C. L. Koch, 1836) and Jacotella neonominata Subías, 2004 lose also setae la and lm in protonymph, and four pairs (c-series, lp), five pairs (c-series, lp, h 3) and six pairs (c-series, lp, h 2, h 3) in adults, respectively, so six pairs (h-, p-series), five pairs (h 1, h 2, p-series) and four pairs of setae (h 1, p-series) remain, respectively. Licnodamaeus costula Grandjean, 1931 loses additionally seta lp, and Licnobelba latiflabellata (Paoli, 1908) also lose seta h 2 in protonymph, and setae of c-series in adults, so six pairs of setae (h-series, p-series) remain in the former species, and four pairs (h 1, p-series) in the latter species. Morphological characters of juveniles and adults of eight species of Plateremaeoidea are compared.

Morphometric analysis of oppiid mites (Acari, Oribatida) collected from Turkey.

In order to assess the relationship between the oppiid mite species (Acari, Oribatida) collected from Turkey, traditional and geometric morphometric methods were used. We have taken photographs of 128 specimens belonging to 11 species from six subfamilies of Oppiidae. These photographs were digitized and 17 interval measurements were taken for traditional morphometric analysis, and 20 landmarks were recognized on the ventral surface of each specimen for geometric morphometric analysis. The effectiveness to separate taxa was compared between the two morphometric analyses. In both dendrograms Oppia nitens formed a single cluster, Oxyoppia ilicaensis was singled out from the remaining nine species, which were clustered together. Two species, Lauroppia fallax and Rhinoppia obsoleta, clustered together implying a very close relationship.

Mites of the genus Raphignathus (Acari: Raphignathidae) from Turkey

Abstract Two new species, R.fani sp. nov., and R. kuznetzovi sp. nov., are described from Turkey, and a species, R. collegiatus, is a new record for the Turkish fauna. Turkish Raphignathus is reviewed and specimens given under the name ofR. hirtellus Athias‐Henriot, 1961 are transferred to R. kuznetzovi sp. nov. described on our specimens. A key to the known species for Turkey is provided and illustrations are also given.

New species of Eustigmaeus Berlese, 1910 (Acari: Stigmaeidae) from Turkey

Two new species of Eustigmaeus from Turkey, E. bali and E. turcicus, are described and illustrated.

Mites of the genus Favognathus (Acari: Cryptognathidae) from Erzurum Province, Turkey

Abstract Four species of the genus Favognathus Luxton, 1973 (Acari: Cryptognathidae), collected in Erzurum Province, Turkey, included two new species. These are Favognathus orbiculatus (Livshitz, 1974), F. cucurbita (Berlese, 1916), F. amygdalus n. sp. and F. acaciae n. sp. Morphological characters, habitat and distribution for each species are given. A key to the species of Favognathus from Turkey is provided.

Two species of raphigntahoid mites from Turkey: Eupalopsellus olandicus Sellnick, 1949 (Acari: Eupalopsellidae) and Mediolata petilus sp. nov. (Acari: Stigmaeidae)

Abstract On the basis of specimens collected from Ağri, Erzincan and Erzurum provinces, Turkey, descriptions and illustrations of Eupalopsellus olandicus Sellnick, 1949, the first Turkish record of the raphignathoid mite family Eupalopsellidae, and Mediolata petilus sp. nov., a new stigmaeid mite (resembles M. pentascuta (Zaher & Gomaa 1978) comb. nov. ) of the highly differentiated genus Mediolata Canestrini (Stigmaeidae), are given. It is the first report of the genus Mediolata Canestrini from Turkey. nov.

Updated Checklist of Ground Spiders (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) of Turkey, with Zoogeographical and Faunistic Remarks

Abstract This faunistic list of ground spider fauna from Turkey includes published records and original data. Eleven species are new to Turkish araneofauna. With this study, a total of 107 species belonging to 26 genera of Gnaphosidae have been recorded from Turkey until the present time. For each species zoogeographical distribution is given. A zoogeographical classification is constructed according to the current distribution of species. The largest groups are those of the widely distributed Palearctic and Europian-Asian.

Epimerellidae (Acari, Oribatida), a new mite family

A new family (Epimerellidae) and a new genus (Enisella) are characterized. Keys are provided to the families of the Oppioidea and to the genera and species of the new family.