Macrocheles merdarius ( Berlese, 1889 )

Farahi, Sara, Shishehbor, Parviz & Nemati, Alireza, 2018, Some mesostigmatic mites (Acari: Parasitiformes) of Khuzestan province, southwestern Iran, Persian Journal of Acarology 7 (4), pp. 323-344 : 330-331

Macrocheles merdarius ( Berlese, 1889)

Holostaspis merdarius – Berlese (1889): 1.

Macrocheles merdarius – Hyatt and Emberson (1988): 113.

Distribution and habitats in Iran – Provinces of Azerbaijan-e Sharghi (soil of orchards), Fars (stored onion, soil of citrus orchards, manure, soil and leaf-litter, soil and decayed plants associated with conifers, foliage, soil, leaf-litter, weeds and soil of apple trees), Tehran (soil, leaf-litter, decomposing organic matter, manure, unidentified scarab beetles), Markazi (soil), Isfahan (soil of fruit orchards), Sistan va Baluchestan (soil), Alborz (compost), Guilan (stored rice, rice dust and debris, soil), Mazandaran (soil), Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari (dung), Golestan (soil, E. gibbosus , P. olivieri , O. cinctella , cow and sheep manure), Zanjan (soil) Kerman (soil, cow, sheep and poultry manure) Azerbaijan-e Gharbi (soil of sunflower fields, soil and plant debris of apple orchards), Khorasan-e Shomali (soil of farms, gardens and manures) Golestan ( P. olivieri ) Khorasan-e Razavi ( O. cinctealla ) ( Kazemi and Rajaei 2013), Khorasan-e Razavi (stored food products), Lorestan (orchard, oak forest, ant nest and manure), Khorasan-e Shomali (associated with Onthophagus sp. and Xylocopa sp.), Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari (soil), Isfahan (empty pastures and vineyards), Qom (soil, dung, compost and plant-litters of crops, lawns, shrubs and trees in farms, forests, orchards and parks) and North East of Iran (stored food products) ( Nemati et al. 2018). This is new to the Khuzestan province fauna.

Material examined – Seven females, Bavi, Mollasani, 31° 35' 31" N, 48° 53' 10" E, 27 m a.s.l., 8 April 2015 (sheep manure), eight females, 16 September 2015 (cow manure), eleven females, 22 November 2015 (buffalo manure); seven females, three males, Ahvaz, dairy farm at Shahid Chamran University campus, 32° 17' 59" N, 48° 39' 39" E, 15 m a.s.l., 24 April 2015 (buffalo manure), six females, four males, 27 October 2015 (cow manure), nine females, 29 May 2016 (cow manure); six females, Ahvaz, Gavmish Abad, 31° 17' 34.77" N, 48° 40' 05.05" E, 15 m a.s.l., 26 May 2015 (cow manure); four females, four males, Ahvaz, Daghagheleh, 31° 23' 31" N, 48° 41' 28" E, 20 m, 30 November 2015 (cow manure); five females, two males, Ahvaz, Jassaniyeh-ye Bozorg, 31°25'55" N, 48° 44' 41" E, 22 m a.s.l., 30 November 2015 (cow manure); six female, Hamidieh, Gambue, 31° 23' 59" N, 48° 31' 21" E, 16 m a.s.l., 11 December 2015 (cow manure); 12 females, Hamidieh, 31° 28' 39" N, 48° 26' 44" E, 29 m a.s.l., 12 December 2015 (sheep manure), four females, 22 April 2016 (buffalo manure); seven females, Shushtar, Arab Hassan, 31° 49' 44" N, 48° 53' 55" E, 30 m a.s.l., 2 March 2016 (cow manure); six females, Ahvaz, Alhaei, 31° 39' 20" N, 48° 35' 26" E, 31 m a.s.l., 29 April 2016 (cow manure); four females, three males, Shush, Seyyed Abbas, 31° 49' 49" N, 48° 23' 21" E, 40 m a.s.l., 2 May 2016 (cow manure), six females, 25 May 2017 (cow manure); 8 females, Shush , Abdolkhan , 31° 52' 29" N, 48° 20' 30" E, 43 m a.s.l., 6 May 2016 (cow manure); nine females, Shushtar , Band-e Qir , 31° 39' 10" N, 48° 53' 09" E, 26 m a.s.l., 13 May 2016 (cow manure); ten females, Ahvaz , Ebadeh , 31° 26' 14" N, 48° 45' 07" E, 20 m a.s.l., 16 June 2016 (sheep manure); four females, three males, Hamidieh , Pich-e Seyyed Jaber , 31° 27' 34" N, 48° 25' 26" E, 21 m a.s.l., 20 October 2016 (buffalo manure); six females, four males, Hamidieh , Tarrahiyeh , 31° 25' 21" N, 48° 23' 21" E, 18 m a.s.l., 20 October 2016 (buffalo manure); eleven females, Bavi , Veys , 31° 28' 56" N, 48° 52' 41" E, 24 m a.s.l., 23 October 2016 (cow manure), six females, 28 April 2017 (cow manure); ten females, four males, Ahvaz , Gavmish Abad , 31° 17' 34.77" N, 48° 40' 05.05" E, 15 m a.s.l., 13 November 2016 (buffalo manure); five females, Bavi , Gabir , 31° 26' 34" N, 48° 45' 17" E, 20 m a.s.l., 27 October 2016 (cow manure); eight females, Ahvaz , Nabi-ye Akram village , 31° 26' 15" N, 48° 45' 11" E, 18 m a.s.l., 3 March 2017 (poultry manure); eight females, Bavi , Shajaraat , 31° 30' 40" N, 48° 54' 27" E, 22 m a.s.l., 13 May 2017 (cow manure); six females, four males, Bavi, Naddafieh, 31° 36' 20" N, 48° 52' 59" E, 27 m a.s.l., 2 June 2017 (sheep manure) .

Note – Characters of the Iranian specimens agreed with data presented in Hyatt and Emberson (1988).