Presence of the mite family Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) on forest plant species of the family Fagacae

Family Phytoseiidae consists of free living, terrestrial mites that mostly feed on other mites (e.g. Tetranychidae, Tenuipalpidae, Tarsonemidae, Eriophyoidea etc.) and other arthropods such as scale insects which might be important pests of forest plant species of the family Fagaceae. Great number of samples from 7 plant species of the family Fagaceae, Castanea sativa Mill., Fagus sylvatica L., Quercus aegilops L., Quercus coccifera L., Quercus ilex L., Quercus macedonica A.DC. and Quercus pubescens Willd., from many localities of Greece were examined. This study revealed the presence of 31 phytoseiid mite species belonging to 3 subfamilies (Amblyseiinae, Phytoseiinae, Typhlodrominae), 9 genera (Amblyseius, Aristadromips, Euseius, Kampimodromus, Neoseiulella, Paraseiulus, Phytoseius, Typhlodromus, Typhloseiulus) and 2 subgenera (Anthoseius, Typhlodromus). Six of these species have already been described as new to science while Aristadromips massei (Nesbitt) is a new record for the fauna of Greece.