A faunistic study and population fluctuations of mites associated with stored wheat in Tehran region, Iran

In order to carry out a faunistic study on mites and their abundance in stored wheat in Tehran, Karaj and Varamin, mite samples were collected from stored wheat, straw and dust in silos, flour-mills and mills during spring ۲۰۰۵. Twenty-five species belonging to ۱۱ families and three orders including Astigmata, Prostigmata and Mesostigmata were identified, of which five species, viz. Aleuroglyphus ovatus (Troupeau), Tyrolichus casei (Oudemans), Acarophenax tribolii (Newstead & Duvall), Cheyletus eruditus (Schrank) and Erythraeus garmsaricus Saboori et al., are newly recorded from wheat stores of Tehran province. The most abundant predator and pest mites were Acaropsellina sollers (Kuzin) (Cheyletidae) and Acarus siro (L.) (Acaridae), respectively. The highest observed number of mites was, in sequence: Tehran Silo, Ard-Iran flour-mill and Jafar Joshaghani mill.