Study on the Mite fauna of a natural pasture interseeded with Lolium perenne

Α three year’s study on the acarofauna in a natural pasture interseeded with Lolium perenne, in County Ioannina, Greece, resulted in detection of 169 taxa. The most frequent and dominant taxa were: Peloptulus sp., immature stages of Cryptostigmata, Scheloribates sp1, Scheloribates sp2, Steneotarsonemus konoi, Tarsonemus lacustris, Cyta sp., Asca bicornis and Tyrophagus longrior. Significant differences of the total acari population was detected among the three years. The highest populations occurred during the first year. The study of seasonal fluctuation of the most dominant taxa for the three years were: immature stages of Cryptostigmata developed higher population densities during autumn and winder. The adult Cryptostigmata developed higher densities during winter. The taxon Steneotarsonemus konoi developed higher population densities during summer and autumn while taxa Asca bicornis and Cyta sp. during autumn and winter.