Oribatid mite fauna of Kocaeli City Forest (Kocaeli, Turkey)

Abstract

In this study, the oribatid mites collected from Kocaeli City Forest (Kocaeli, Turkey) between 2016-2017 were examined faunistically. In total 60 samples were collected from soil and litter. Berlese-Tullgren funnels were used for extraction of oribatid mites. Twenty-two species belonging to families Amerobelbidae, Astegistidae, Chamobatidae, Eniochthoniidae, Eremaeidae, Epilohmanniidae, Galumnidae, Gymnodamaeidae, Liacaridae, Micreremidae, Nanhermanniidae, Neoliodidae, Oppiidae, Oribatulidae, Parakalummidae, Protoribatidae, Scheloribatidae and Tectocepheidae were detected. One family (Parakalummidae), two genera (Cultroribula and Masthermannia) and four species [Allogalumna integer (Berlese, 1904), Cultroribula bicultrata (Berlese, 1905), Masthermannia mammillaris (Berlese, 1904), Neoribates (N.) bulanovae Grishina, 2009] are recorded for the first time in Turkey. Scanning electron microscopy images and geographical distributions of each species are provided.