Persian Journal of Acarology

Abstract The present study was conducted to explore the diversity of edaphic mesostigmatid fauna in Muthanga range of Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala, India during August 2022 to March 2023. The results revealed the occurrence of 21 species of mesostigmatid mites belonging to nine families. The most abundant species belonged to genus Stratiolaelaps Berlese, 1916 (relative abundance: 18.3) of the family Laelapidae. The mite diversity was measured using the Shannon-Wiener and Simpson′s diversity indices. The Shannon-Wiener index was 2.67 and Shannon equitability index was 0.88. The Simpson's diversity index was 0.08 and Simpson's dominance index was 0.92. The study also notes the influence of soil parameters like pH, soil temperature, organic carbon, total available nitrogen and soil texture on the abundance of mesostigmatid mites in the study area. A negative correlation was observed between soil pH and mite abundance (r = –0.604), whereas soil organic carbon (r = +0.358) and total nitrogen (r = +0.55) showed positive correlations with mite abundance. Soil temperature exhibited no significant relationship with mite abundance (r = +0.069). Chi-square test revealed a highly significant variation in abundance among different soil types (χ² = 329.25, df = 4, p < 0.001). The present study highlights significant association between mite abundance and soil texture, along with the positive effects of organic carbon and total nitrogen and the negative influence of soil pH, indicating that edaphic factors play a crucial role in distribution of mesostigmatid mite communities.