Edaphic mesostigmatid mites are of great importance for feeding arthropods and other invertebrates’ beings that may affect the life of humans and other animals. In order to study the fauna of edaphic laelapid mites in Shiraz County (Fars Province) during 2015-2017, soil samples were collected from different places and mites separated using Berlese funnels, cleared in Lactic acid at 55 °C and mounted in Hoyer’s medium. As a result of this research, 19 species of 10 genera from this family were collected and identified.
Androlaelaps casalis (Berlese, 1887), Androlaelaps fenilis (Megnin, 1958), Cosmolaelaps luttegiensis (Shcherbak, 1971), C. vacua (Micheal, 1981), Euandrolaelaps karawaiewi (Berlese, 1903), Gaeolaelaps aculeifer (Canestrini, 1883), G. iranicus Kavianpour & Nemati, 2013, G. kargi (Costa, 1968), G. minor (Costa, 1968), G. oreithyiae (Walter & Oliver, 1989), G. queenslandicus (Womersley, 1956), Gymnolaelaps myrmophila (Micheal, 1891), Gymnolaelaps obscuroides (Costa, 1968), Laelaspis kamalii Joharchi & Halliday, 2012, Ololaelaps mooiensis Ryke, 1962, Pneumolaelaps asperatus (Berlese, 1904), P. lubrica (Voigts & Oudemans, 1904), Pogonolaelaps canestrinii (Berlese, 1904), Stratiolaelaps miles (Berlese, 1892).
Dominant species determination was done in two different fields with different cultivation practices: alfalfa field and pear orchard. The largest number of species collected is from August, September and October for both sampling area. The highest Shannon-Weiner and Simpson indices for Cosmolaelaps vacua were calculated as 1.649 and 3.676 respectively in the alfalfa, and for Gaeolaelaps minor as 2.051 and 3.284 respectively in the pear orchard. The values of index in pear garden was higher than alfalfa farm. All species are deposited in Acarological Laboratory of Shiraz University.