Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics (IJAB) Vol.13, No.2, 159-170, 2017 ISSN: 1735-434X (print); 2423-4222 (online) DOI: 10.22067/ijab.v13i2.58396 *Corresponding Author: y.karimpour@urmia.ac.ir ©2017 FERDOWSI UNIVERSITY OF MASHHAD, IRAN A faunistic study on laelapid mites in Urmia, Iran Kavianpour, M. 1 , Karimpour, Y. 1 , Nemati, A. 2 , Mirfakhraei, S. 1 1 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran. 2 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran. (Received: 13 August 2017; Accepted: 20 October 2017) Based on this survey 23 species of family Laelapidae have been identified which two species of them are reported as new record for Iranian mites fauna, that are marked with an asterisk. The list of identified genera and species is as follows: Laelapidae: Gaeolaelaps aculeifer (Canestrini, 1884); G. oreithyiae (Walter and Oliver, 1989); G. angustus (Karg, 1965); G. kargi (Costa, 1968); G. nolli (Karg, 1962); G. khajooii Kazemi, Rajaei and Beaulieu, 2014; Pneumolaelaps (Hypoaspisella) linteyini (Samsinak, 1964); P. (H.) berlesei (Hirschmann, 1969);Cosmolaelaps vacua (Michael, 1891); C. lutegiensis (Shcherbak, 1971); C. malakutsilus* Rosario, 1981; C. ornatus (Berlese,1903); C. angustiscutatus (Willmann, 1951); Laelaspis astronomicus (C. L. Koch, 1839); L. equitans (Michael, 1891); Ololaelaps sellnicki* Bregetova and Koroleva, 1964; Euandrolaelaps karawaiewi (Berlese, 1903); Hypoaspis larvicolus Joharchi and Halliday, 2011; Pogonolaelaps canestrinii (Berlese, 1903); Gymnolaelaps artavilensis Joharchi and Halliday, 2013; Pseudoparasitus dentatus (Halbert, 1920); Androlaelaps casalis (Berlese, 1887); A. shealsi (Costa, 1968). Key words: Iran, Mesostigmata, mite, new record, soil, taxonomy. INTRODUCTION Most species of free-living Mesostigmata are edaphic and occur exclusively in various soils however some of them are known from a wide range of habitats. Part of these mites are free-living predators in soil and litter, on the soil surface or on plants (Beaulieu and Weeks, 2007; Koehler, 1999; Zhang, 2003). Some soil and litter Mesostigmata are considered beneficial because they feed on arthropods and other invertebrates (Krantz, 2009). These mites are commonplace in greenhouses and are of economic importance. Predatory mites of Mesostigmata attack pest mites and other pests in greenhouses (Zhang, 2003). The order Mesostigmata is divided into three suborders such as Sejida, Trigynaspida and Monogynaspida and it has approximately 70 families that are grouped in 26 superfamilies. Suborder Monogynaspida is the largest and most specious of the three suborders of Mesostigmata. The suborder is considered to comprise 18 superfamilies, which are relegated to five cohorts. Cohort Gamasina comprises most of the described species of Mesostigmata and include the most familiar families of soil predators, biocontrol agents, and vertebrate parasites ( Lindquist et al., 2009). The family Laelapidae increased in the size with around 90 known genera and more than 1300 species (Beaulieu et al., 2011).These mites are predators living in the soil-litter column or in the nests of vertebrates or invertebrates, paraphages of arthropods, and facultative or obligatory parasites of mammals (Lindquist et al., 2009). Some investigations on Gamasina mites fauna have been made in Iran during recent decades. Since Kazemi and Rajaei (2013) and Nemati et al. (2012a, 2012b, 2013), some genera and species have been recorded as new species and records from Iran. In this research we introduce