Mite fauna of family Cunaxidae (Acari) from Punjab, Pakistan

Mites of the family Cunaxidae are distributed throughout the world. These mites are of great economic importance as biological control agents. A thorough Survey of different climatic regions of Punjab was carried out for collection of cunaxid mites from plants, stored grains, soil and debris. Collection was done by sieve method and Berlese s funnel method. The mites collected were stored in 70% alcohol containing a few drops of glycerine. Permanent slides were prepared by using Hoyer s medium. The drawings were made with the help of an ocular grid. Forty nine species belonging to 8 genera have been described in this manuscript- 14 species of genus Cunaxa, 4 of genus Dactyloscirus, 7 of genus Armascirus, 5 of genus Coleoscirus, 5 of genus Pseudobonzia, 5 of genus Cunaxoides, 8 of genus Pulaeus and one species of genus Neocunaxoides have been described. Genera Cunaxoides and Neocunaxoides have been reported for the first time from Pakistan. Comprehensive keys of these genera and all the known species of each genus from Pakistan have been given.