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Abstract
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The families Caligonellidae and Raphignathidae belong to the superfamily Raphignathoidea Kramer. This superfamily comprises about 900 species and 62 genera in 11 families. They are important as biological control agents of spider mites, eriophyid mites, and scale insects in agriculture and forestry. Raphignathidae is the oldest family in superfamily Raphignathoidea and has a worldwide distribution. To date, 19 species of the genus Raphignathus Dugès have been recorded from Iran. Members of the family Calligonellidae are small, free-living and often found in various habitats such as soil, leaf litter and bark of trees, moss, storehouses and bird nests. This family currently comprises five genera, namely: Caligonella Berlese, Coptocheles Summers & Schlinger, Molothrognathus Summers & Schlinger, Neognathus Willmann and Paraneognathus Fan. During 2016-2017, fauna of the families Calligonellidae and Raphignathidae associated with oak trees in Ilam province were studied. In this order, litter and soil samples were collected and taken to the laboratory. Mites extracted by Berlese funnel and mounted directly in Hoyer’s medium. In total 11 species, belonging to 4 genera were identified. Among them, Molothrognathus shirazicus and Raphignathus gracilis were found abundantly and highly distribution. Identified species are listed as follow: Caligonellidae: Caligonella humilis Koch, 1838; Neognathus terrestris Summers and Schlinger, 1955, Neognathus sinaei Samadpour, Khanjani & Asali-Fayaz, 2014, Neognathus ozkani Akyol and Koc, 2011; Molothrognathus azizi Ueckermann and Khanajni, 2003, Molothrognathus tumipalpus Meyer and Ueckermann, 1989, Molothrognathus shirazicus Khanjani, Bakhshi & Khanjani, 2016; Raphignathidae: Raphignathus hecmataniensis Khanjani and Ueckermann, 2003, Raphignathus gracilis Rack, 1962, Raphignathus aciculatus Fan, 2000, Raphignathus giselae Meyer and Ueckermann, 1989.
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