The species composition of mesostigmatid mites in the soil and leaf litter was studied on the Szczeliniec Wielki plateau, which is spatially isolated from similar rocky habitats. A total of 1080 soil samples were taken from June 2004 to September 2005. The samples, including the organic horizon from the herb layer and litter from rock cracks, were collected using steel cylinders (area 40 cm2, d...

Climate warming is often more detrimental to large body sized organisms than small organisms. Yet, how such differential effects of at organismal levels affect aggregate community properties, as biomass, remains little understood. Here, using geothermally warmed sub-Arctic grassland soils, we investigate total biomass (product density and individual mass) two major groups soil microarthropods (...

In the last decades, several expeditions were organized in Europe by the researchers of the Hungarian Natural History Museum to collect snails, aquatic insects and soil animals (mites, springtails, nematodes, and earthworms). In this study, scale insect (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) specimens extracted from Hungarian Natural History Museum soil samples (2970 samples in total), all of which were coll...

Soil is a complex habitat for diverse biota. A significant challenge in teaching soil ecology is our inability to observe organisms as they live and interact in the soil. The objective of this article is to describe an interactive class project to help students visualize the sizes of different groups of soil organisms and to relate these to soil structural components. This project was carried o...

Terrestrial life in Antarctica has been described as some of the simplest on the planet, and mainly confined to soil microfaunal communities. Studies have suggested that the lack of diversity is due to extreme environmental conditions and thought to be driven by abiotic factors. In this study we investigated soil microfauna composition, abundance, and distribution in East Antarctica, and assess...

edaphic mesostigmata are important, because these feed on arthropods and other invertebrates which may affect on natural equilibrium position of oter living micro-organisms. in order to study the fauna of mesostigmatid mites, samples of soil, litter were collected from different parts of esfahan region. mites were extracted by means of berlese funnel, cleared in lactic acid and mounted with hoy...

Numerous lab and field studies have reported the potential of soil predatory mites for biological control plant-parasitic nematodes arthropods pests. Most these utilized biocontrol agents in augmentative releases, essentially controlling pest with released predators. While this may be a valid approach, we hypothesize that conservation mite predators available, suitable, accessible free-living a...

Mites of the genus Rhizoglyphus (Acari: Acaridae) are serious pests plants belonging to orders Liliales and Asparagales such as onions, garlic, lilies, tulips. Their control by synthetic pesticides is becoming problematic a result resistance development in these mites environmental health issues. New pest methods thus need be developed. This review provides an overview studies related bulb mite...

In a two-species toxicity test system survival and reproduction of both the predator Hypoaspis aculeifer (Gamasida) and the prey Folsomia fimetaria (Collembola) were studied after 21 days of residual exposure to a soil contamination of the insecticide dimethoate. Additional experiments were run to analyze which species-species and compound-species relationships determine the outcome of this two...