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Abstract
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Many species of the superfamily Raphignathoidea Kramer (Acari: Prostigmata) are predators of spider and eriophyoid mites and scale insects in agriculture and forestry (Gerson et al., 2003). Raphignathidae is the oldest family in superfamily Raphignathoidea and belongs to the Trombidiformes (Walter et al., 2009). They are predaceous mites and can be found underneath tree bark, in lichens, moss, leaf litter, pigeon nest and intestine of wedded seal, in soil, on a wide range of plants and in house dusts (Fan & Yin, 2000, Khanjani & Ueckermann 2003). This family are easily recognized by the fused cheliceral bases, forming a stylophore, cervical peritremes not embedded in dorsal surface of stylophore and confluent coxae. Members of the genus Raphignathus Dugés, 1834 are mostly active in soil and feed on the small arthropods so they can be considered as beneficial control agents in soil, in decreasing phytophagous arthropods. In order to study the family Raphignathidae in Shiraz, mites were extracted from soil using a Berlese-Tullgren funnel. Specimens were cleared in Nesbittʼs fluid, mounted in Hoyer’s medium and examined at 1000×magnification under an Olympus BX41 phase contrast microscope. In this study, three species, belonging to one genus were identified, namely: R. gracilis(Rack,1962); R. giselaeMeyer et Ueckemann, 1989; R. hecmataniensisKhanjani et Ueckermann, 2003.
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