Abstract
A soil is not a pile of dirt but is a transformer – a body that organizes raw materials into tissues that become the mother to all organic life. In the soil ecosystem, different species of viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, mites, nematodes and worms are found. Both Parasitiformes and Acariformes mites are found in different types of soils and cropping conditions. Parasitiformes mites found in soil include both Ixodida (ticks) and Mesostigmata; Uropodida mites, Gamasina mites; and Acariformes mites belong to Astigmata, Oribatida, Endeostigmata and Prostigmata. Gamasina mites. They are important predators of nematodes and are inhabitants of ground litter in top layer of soil. The presence of several genera of these mites is considered as good indicators of habitat and soil condition. More than 10,300 species of oribatid mites in 177 different families are common inhabitants of soil. These mites are the world’s most numerous arthropods living in soil, and their diversity in forest soil can reach hundreds of thousands of individuals per square metre. Oribatid mites are considered as important component of soil decomposers; and their abundance, species composition and diversity in a particular habitat serve as good indicators of soil health. Some species of oribatid mite family Oribatulidae are quantitatively the most significant as intermediate hosts. Oribatid mites, Scheloribates laevigatus, are the most frequently found with natural cysticercoid infestation of Moniezia (M. benedeni and M. expansa).
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Dhooria, M.S. (2016). Soil Mites. In: Fundamentals of Applied Acarology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1594-6_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1594-6_10
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