title: Proctolaelaps euserratus, an ecologically unusual melicharid mite (Acari, Mesostigmata) associated with animal and human decomposition.
abstract: Proctolaelaps euserratus Karg, 1994 (Acari, Mesostigmata, Melicharidae), exclusivelly known from the Galápagos Islands till now, is newly reported from decaying matter of animal and human decomposition in various countries of Europe (Slovakia, Spain, United Kingdom). In consequence of high levels of necrophilia, the species is considered to be ecologically unusual among the other melicharids, which are primary associated with other than necrophilic habitats, such as galleries of subcorticolous beetles, bumble bee nests, flowers, etc. Proctolaelaps euserratus is reviewed, morphologically re-described (with first diagnostic characters for males), and considered as a new potential marker for later stages of decomposition, namely butyric fermentation and dry decomposition as classified in modern concepts of forensic acarology.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845-06, Bratislava, Slovakia, Peter.Masan@savba.sk.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mašán
authors.forename: Maria Alejandra
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Perotti
authors.forename: Marta Inés
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Saloña-Bordas
authors.forename: Henk Ronald
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Braig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D006801:Humans; D008925:Mites / Q000502:physiology*; D011156:Population Density