Taxonomy of Eriophyoid mites(Eriophyoidea:Acari)of South Bengal, India

Eriophyoid mites are very small-sized, obligatory phytophagous arachnidan arthropods. Many eriophyoids are plant pests or potential pests, besides a few are known as vectors. Consolidated compendium of eriophyoid mites from South Bengal districts of West Bengal (here mentioned as South Bengal), India is lacking although several surveys and studies at district levels were conducted in recent pasts and sporadic reports on their species diversities are available. To achieve these objectives several field trips in different districts have been conducted during 2015-2017 and all previously reported and described species from the area have been studied. After the completion of this work, it is revealed that 140 species of eriophyoids are found in South Bengal and these species belong to 51 genera, 2 families, 6 subfamilies and 10 tribes of eriophyoids infesting 113 host plants under 47 families. Of these species of eriophyoids, 26 are in the subfamily Eriophyinae, 76 in Phyllocoptinae,19 in Diptilomiopinae, 3 in Rhyncaphytoptinae and 8 each in Nothopodinae and Cecidophyinae. Maximum numbers of species (20) are found under the genus Aceria Keifer.