مشخصات پژوهش

During field surveys of eriophyoid mites in Northeast of Iran (Razavi Khorasan province) in 2023, one new species belonging to the tribe Anthocoptini (Acari: Eriophyoidea: Eriophyidae: Phyllocoptinae) was discovered, described and illustrated herein. It is Heterotergum dargazii sp. nov. associated with Teucrium polium L. (Lamiaceae). No visible symptom was observed in host plant. Up to now, no species of the genus Heterotergum have been reported on Lamiaceae plants worldwide. The new species was compared with all Heterotergum species that was morphologically more similar to Heterotergum munduleae Meyer, 1992 and Heterotergum sariensis Ranjbar-Varandi, Haddad Irani-Nejad et Lotfollahi, 2022.