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Abstract Background Eriophyoid mites (Eriophyoidea) are among the largest groups in the Acariformes; they are strictly phytophagous. The higher-level phylogeny of eriophyoid mites, however, remains unresolved due to the limited number of available morphological characters—some of them are homoplastic. Nevertheless, the eriophyoid mites sequenced to date showed highly variable mitochondrial (mt) gene orders, which could potentially be useful for resolving the higher-level phylogenetic relationships. Results Here, we sequenced and compared the complete mt genomes of 153 eriophyoid mite species, which showed 54 patterns of rearranged mt gene orders relative to that of the hypothetical ancestor of arthropods. The shared derived mt gene clusters support the monophyly of eriophyoid mites (Eriophyoidea) as a whole and the monophylies of six clades within Eriophyoidea. These monophyletic groups and their relationships were largely supported in the phylogenetic trees inferred from mt genome sequences as well. Our molecular dating results showed that Eriophyoidea originated in the Triassic and diversified in the Cretaceous, coinciding with the diversification of angiosperms. Conclusions This study reveals multiple molecular synapomorphies (i.e. shared derived mt gene clusters) at different levels (i.e. family, subfamily or tribe level) from the complete mt genomes of 153 eriophyoid mite species. We demonstrated the use of derived mt gene clusters in unveiling the higher-level phylogeny of eriophyoid mites, and underlines the origin of these mites and their co-diversification with angiosperms.

Eriophyoid mites from Qinghai Province, northwestern China were studied herein. Up to now, only six species have been reported from Qinghai Province. In field surveys, 17 eriophyoid mite species were collected, among which nine species were found new to science. The new species and their host plants are listed as follows: Acaphyllisa tuberculumae sp. n. on Populus sp. (Salicaceae); Proiectus xiningensis sp. n. on Pinus sp. (Pinaceae); Phyllocoptes beishaniensis sp. n. on Spiraea mongolica Maxim. (Rosaceae); Tetra pruniana sp. n. on Prunus tomentosa Thunb. (Rosaceae) Rupr. (Berberidaceae); Tetra pyriana sp. n. on Pyrus calleryana Decne. (Rosaceae); Tetra simonia sp. n. on Populus simonii Carr. (Salicaceae); Diptacus berberinus sp. n. on Berberis amurensis Rupr. (Berberidaceae); Diptacus mengdaensis sp. n. on Lonicera elisae Franch. (Caprifoliaceae); Rhyncaphytoptus spinus sp. n. on Lonicera rupicola Hook. f. et Thoms. (Caprifoliaceae). Aculops ulmi Hong & Xue, 2005 was re-described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eriophyoid mites (Acari: Eriophyoidea) in Phyllocoptruta are reviewed. Two new species of Phyllocoptruta from Shaanxi Province, China, are described and illustrated: Phyllocoptruta huayangiana n. sp. on Rosa sericea Lindl. subsp, omeiensisi (Rolfe) A. V. Roberts (Rosaceae) and Phyllocoptruta clematoclethra n. sp. on Clematoclethra sp. Maxim. (Actinidiaceae). The new species described herein are vagrants on the undersurface of host leaves, causing no apparent injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]