New records of heterostigmatic mites (Acari: Heterostimatina) from dry rice cultivation of Gorgan, northern Iran.

Gorgan, is a city in northern Iran where its moderate and humid climate and fertile soil provides an appropriate condition for various arthropods and crops. Although, species diversity is relatively lower in agricultural systems than pristine ecosystems, several soil mite populations are successfully adapted to both tilled and untilled lands. Following a faunistic study of heterostigmatic mites (Acari: Prostigmata: Heterostigmatina) in dry rice cultivations in some areas of Gorgan, eight species from six genera of five families were collected and identified. For the first time we report six species for Iranian arthropod fauna as well as several new host associations. Finally, we reviewed the world distribution of the recovered mites and further provided a key to Heterostigmatina of dry rice cultivations in Gorgan city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]