<p <strong>Eriophyoid mite fauna (Acari: Eriophyoidea) of Maragheh county in Iran</strong></p>

Mites of the superfamily Eriophyoidea Nalepa, 1898 (Acari: Acarifomes) are obligate plant parasites with high host specialization and are the second most important group of mites causing damage to agricultural crops after the superfamily Tetranychoidea Donnadieu (Krantz and Walter 2009, Lindquist et al. 1996). Mites of this superfamily, with a global distribution, are known as bud mites, blister mites, erinose mites, rust mites and four-legged mites, and are included in three families: Eriophyidae Nalepa, Diptilomiopidae Keifer and Phytoptidae Murray. These mites feed on all aerial parts of annual, biennial and perennial plants except the roots. Members of this superfamily account for more than 60% of herbivorous mites (Li et al. 2023). In addition to the direct damage caused by eriophyoid mites to agricultural crops, their ability to transmit plant viruses and their potential as biological control agents for some weeds is of great importance (Oldfield 2005). Therefore, because of their high importance, the eriophyoid mite fauna was surveyed in 15 locations of Maragheh county, East Azerbaijan province, Northwest of Iran, in summers 2023 and 2024 (Table 1). Eriophyoid mites were recovered from the plant material by means of a modified washing method developed by Lotfollahi and Masoudi-Rad (2024). The collected specimens were slide mounted according to Lotfollahi and Masoudi-Rad (2024). All morphological measurements were taken using an Olympus BX53 microscope, through a phase contrast 100x oil immersion objective at 1,000 magnification, according to Amrine and Manson (1996) as modified by de Lillo et al. (2010). Counting of dorsal, ventral and coxigenital semiannuli follows Lotfollahi and Masoudi-Rad (2024). The genera classification follows Amrine et al. (2003) and comparisons were also made with new genera described since that publication. Host plant names and their synonymies are in accordance with "The World Flora Online" (2025). In total two families, three subfamilies, four tribes, 10 genera and 14 species were collected and identified, and here the information about the collected specimens is provided. In this study, the highest number of mite specimens belonged to Calepitrimerus baileyi Keifer, 1938 and the lowest number belonged to the cynodonis Abou-Awad & Nasr, 1983. The examined materials are deposited at the Acarology Laboratory, Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz (Iran).