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The morphological ontogeny of Oribatella reticulata Berlese, 1916 is described and illustrated. The nymphs of this species are apopheredermous, i.e. they carry the exuvial scalps of previous instar...

In this work, the larva and tritonymph of Oribatella palustris, an Antarctic and Subantarctic species of the Neotropical region are investigated along with supplementary re-description of adults. Comparative characteristics of juveniles of Oribatellidae, especially larvae and tritonymphs, are given based on this study and available literature sources; keys for identification of larvae and tritonymphs of Oribatella are also presented. Previous record of Oribatella palustris from a tropical island of Mexico is questioned.

Two new species of oribatid mites, Oribatella paraumaetluisorum sp. n. and Taiwanoppia nepalica sp. n., are described from Nepal. The genera Oribatella and Taiwanoppia are recorded from this country for the first time.

A total of 12 species of oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) are reported from Beauchene Island, including two new species. Furcobates lewissmithi n. sp. and Oribatella blocki n. sp. are described and figured.

The oribatid mite genus Oribatella includes over 100 named species, none of which shows distinct sexual dimorphism in the octotaxic system of dermal glands. We propose a new species of this genus, Oribatella canadensis sp, nov., collected from dry soil habitats in western Canada, that shows distinct dimorphism in these dermal glands, the first record of this dimorphism in the Oribatelloidea. The posterior pair of glands in males, but not females, is enlarged and associated with a shallow, medial pit-tubercle complex, and is generally similar to convergent dimorphisms in some genera of Mochlozetidae (Oripodoidea), Mycobatidae (Ceratozetoidea) and Galumnidae (Galumnoidea). We describe this species based on adult and nymphal stages, and expand the diagnosis of the genus to accommodate the newly described immatures. We review the expression of sexual dimorphism in brachypyline oribatid mites and discuss its association with periodically dry habitats.

We propose a new species of the oribatid mite genus Fenestrobates (Oribatellidae), F. marauni sp. nov., based on adult specimens from Ecuador. The type species, F. capucinus Balogh and Mahunka, 1969 from Bolivia, is redescribed. We confirm the recombination of two species from the Russian Far East, F. rossicus Krivolutsky, 1974 from the Primorsky Region, and F. vicinus Ryabinin, 1975 from the Khabarovsk Region, as Oribatella rossicus (Krivolutsky) and O. vicinus (Ryabinin), and we give revised diagnoses for each. We present a new diagnosis for Fenestrobates and argue for its recognition as a genus distinct from Oribatella on the basis of the apomorphic development of a large, pouch-like depression positioned ventrally between pedotectum I and the lateral body wall, and absence of small ridges anteriorly on the notogaster. Based on these changes and new information, we give a revised diagnosis for Oribatellidae and provide a key to included genera.

In North America, species diversity in the oribatid family Oribatellidae is primarily in the genus Oribatella Banks, but the genera Adoribatella Woolley, Ferolocella Grabowski , Joelia Oudemans and Ophidiotrichus Grandjean are also represented. I provide detailed diagnoses for these genera and the previously described species, Adoribatella punctata Woolley, known from Colorado and Oregon, USA, and Alberta, Canada, Ferolocella tessalata Berlese known from Missouri, Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia, Wisconsin, Ohio, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas, USA, and Ophidiotrichus exastus Woolley, known from North Carolina, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee and Georgia, USA. I describe Joelia appalachia sp. nov. , based on adult specimens, from West Virginia. A key is given to distinguish adults of these genera from those of Oribatella. Character states shared by adults of Oribatellidae are discussed, the synonymy of Gendzella Kuliev with Ferolocella is rejected, and arguments are presented for movement of Adoribatella from Oribatellidae to the Ceratozetoidea.