Determination of mites feeding on aphids in the park and green areas of Aydin city

This study was carried out to determine the mites that feed on aphids in the park and green areas in Aydın city between March 2019 and June 2020. As a result of this study, a total of 17 species belonging to the genera Allothrombium, Balaustium, Curteria, Erythraeus (Erythraeus), Erythraeus (Zaracarus) and Lassania were identified. A total of four species, one from Erythraeus (Erythraeus) and three from Erythraeus (Zaracarus), are new species for the world fauna and identification studies of these species are continued. Nine species, Allothrombium clavatum Saboori, Pešić & Hakimitabar, 2010, A. polikarpi Haitlinger, 2006, A. scilianum Haitlinger, 2012 (Trombidiidae), Erythraeus (Erythraeus) phalangoides (De Geer, 1778), E. (E.) uhadi Kamran & Alatawi, 2014, Erythraeus (Zaracarus) coleopterus Mortazavi, Hajiqanbar & Saboori, 2012, E. (Z.) iranicus Saboori & Akrami, 2001, E. (Z.) kurdistaniensis Khanjani & Ueckermann, 2005 (Erythraeidae) and Lassenia novoseljensis Haitlinger & Šundić, 2015 (Tanaupodidae), are new records of Turkish fauna. The larvae obtained in this study were fed as ectoparasites on many different aphid species (Aphis (Aphis) craccivora Koch, 1854, Aphis (A.) nerii Boyer de Fonscolombe, 1841, Aulacorthum (Aulacorthum) solani (Kaltenbach, 1843), Brachycaudus (Appelia) tragopogonis (Kaltenbach, 1843), Hyalopterus pruni (Geoffroy, 1762), Hyperomyzus (Hyperomyzus) lactucae (Linnaeus, 1758), Macrosiphoniella (Macrosiphoniella) sanborni (Gillette, 1908), Myzus (Nectarosiphon) persicae (Sulzer, 1776), Uroleucon (Uroleucon) sonchi (Linnaeus, 1767), Uroleucon (Uromelan) aeneum (Hille Ris Lambers, 1939) (Hemiptera: Aphididae)). Future studies should be conducted to determine the effectiveness of these mite species on aphids and whether they can be used in biological control.