This study is part of the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative (STI) - one of the most ambitious all taxa biodiversity inventories in the world. One of the pillars in STI is to support taxonomic research on the most neglected taxonomic groups with the aim to lift the level of knowledge of biodiversity in the country. There is still a lot to be discovered, especially in the microscopic world, and this includes mites. Many aspects of mite biology and diversity are poorly known, such as species richness, abundance, distribution, lifestyle and behavior of species. Mites inhabits all sorts of aquatic, terrestrial, arboreal and parasitic habitats, nevertheless even in well-studied systems mites are often overlooked. Despite being among the smallest of arthropods, they are of medical and economical importance and may be very abundant in the ecosystems they inhabit. This thesis focuses on Parasitengona (Acariformes: Prostigmata), one of the most diverse taxa among the arachnids. It includes the aquatic Hydrachnidia (water mites) and the terrestrial Trombidia (e.g. velvet mites, chiggers). A unifying characteristic of Parasitengona is their complex life cycle of active and inactive stages, parasitic larvae and predatory deutonymphs and adults. They typically parasitize and prey on arthropods, except the chiggers which have vertebrates as hosts. The aim of this thesis is to shed light on the phylogeny and taxonomy of Parasitengona with emphasis on the Swedish fauna. To achieve this, mites were collected from different localities throughout the country between the years 2007-2016. Water mites were sampled with a hand net. Larvae of terrestrial Parasitengona were collected with sweeping nets and sorted out from malaise trap samples from the Swedish Malaise Trap Project. To collect the adults Berlese-Tullgren extractor and pitfall traps were used as well as hand collecting and sifting with litter reducer. The material collected abroad was kindly provided through collaboration.  Methods used in the papers included morphometrics, multivariate analyses, experimental rearing, DNA extraction and sequencing, Bayesian phylogenetic analyses and molecular species delimitation. In paper I and II, we combine molecular species delimitation models and morphological data to resolve taxonomical issues. This integrative taxonomic approach of combining data resulted in Piona dispersa Sokolow, 1926 as a valid species and redescriptions, new synonyms and neotypes provided for Erythraeus phalangoides (De Geer, 1778),  E. cinereus (Dugès, 1834) and E. regalis (C.L. Koch, 1837). Based on the new inventories we produce an updated and annotated checklist of 105 terrestrial Parasitengona species for Fennoscandia in paper III, and use metadata to increase the knowledge on distribution, habitat preferences, life stages and abundance. Out of these, 20 species are new findings for the region and five are potential new species for science. In paper IV, we provide a molecular phylogeny of Parasitengona based on the genes 18S, 28S and COI for 80 taxa with a sampling focus on the terrestrial lineages. Based on the results we offer a revised higher-level classification of the group. In particular the analyses supported Tanaupodoidea Thor, 1935 as a separate superfamily, but Trombiculoidea Ewing, 1929 was not monophyletic and was synonymized, along with Chyzerioidea Womersley, 1954, with Trombidioidea Leach, 1815. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p><p> </p>

Alguns táxons inseridos na série Shannoni do gênero Psathyromyia ((Diptera, Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) apresentam grande semelhança morfológica: Psathyromyia cuzquena, Pa. abonnenci, Pa. pestanai e Pa. shannoni o que têm levado a proposição de várias sinonímias e identificações errôneas. Psathyromyia shannoni apresenta vários sinônimos-júniores: Phlebotomus limai, Ph. bigeniculata, Ph. microcephala e Ph. pifanoi, e ampla distribuição geográfica, desde os Estados Unidos até a Argentina. Além destas espécies, uma afim de Pa. pestanai, ainda não descrita, foi encontrada no Vale do Ribeira. O objetivo foi discutir o status taxonômico e distribuição geográfica das espécies do complexo. Foram realizados estudos morfológicos e morfométricos de espécimes depositados em coleções e obtidos em coletas no alto e baixo Vale do Ribeira e Serra da Cantareira no Estado de São Paulo. Os espécimes foram analisados de forma individual, ignorando a identificação inicial contida na etiqueta de cada lâmina. Posteriormente foram separados em grupos de morfoespécie e após esse processo, foram feitas medidas as quais foram submetidas à análise de variância. A análise possibilitou revalidar as quatro espécies consideradas sinônimos júniores de Pa. shannoni e um sinônimojúnior foi proposto. Uma espécie nova é descrita e um táxon afim de Pa. microcephala foi identificado. Portanto, o complexo Shannoni passou a ter a seguinte composição: Pa. abonnenci, Pa. shannoni, Pa. microcephala stat. rev.; comb. nov., Pa. pifanoi stat. rev.; comb. nov., Pa. bigeniculata stat. rev.; comb. nov., Pa. limai stat. rev.; comb. nov. (Pa. pestanai syn. nov.) e Psathyromyia sp. nov. Psathyromyia cuzquena possivelmente é sinônimo-júnior de Pa. pifanoi, no entanto, mais estudos são necessários. O táxon que ocorre no baixo Vale do Ribeira corresponde a Pa. limai, e no alto Vale do Ribeira, pertence à nova espécie. O táxon afim de Pa. microcephala ocorre nas regiões Sul e Sudeste do Brasil, Argentina e Colômbia. A ampla distribuição de Pa. shannoni, em parte, corresponde a de Pa. bigeniculata, Pa. abonnenci, Pa. limai e Pa. aff. microcephala. O desconhecimento do atual local de depósito do tipo de Pa. microcephala e a descrição sucinta dos holótipo não possibilitam a sua diferenciação do táxon afim desta espécie. Estudos de espécimes da localidade-tipo de Pa. microcephala são necessários para definição do status de Pa. aff. microcephala. Uma chave para a identificação de machos e fêmeas das espécies do complexo Shannoni é apresentada / Some taxa included in the Shannoni series and Psathyromyia genus (Diptera, Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) show great morphological similarity: Psathyromyia cuzquena, Pa. abonnenci, Pa. pestanai and Pa. shannoni have led to misidentifications. Psathyromyia shannoni has several synonyms-junior: Phlebotomus limai, Ph. bigeniculata, Ph. microcephala and Ph. pifanoi, and wide geographic distribution, from the United States to Argentina. Besides these species, a similar of Pa. pestanai, not yet described, was found in the Ribeira Valley. The objective was to discuss the taxonomic status and the geographic distribution of the complex species. Morphological and morphometric studies were conducted from specimens deposited in collections and collected in the upper and lower Ribeira Valley and Serra da Cantareira in São Paulo State, Brazil. The specimens were analyzed individually, ignoring the initial identification on the label of each slide. Later they were separated into groups of morphospecies and after this process, measures were made to perform variance analysis. The analysis allowed to revalidate the four species considered junior synonyms of Pa. shannoni and one other junior synonyms was proposed. A new species is described and a similar taxa to Pa. microcephala was identified. Therefore, the complex Shannoni now has the following composition: Pa. abonnenci, Pa. shannoni, Pa. microcephala stat. rev.; comb. nov., Pa. pifanoi stat. rev.; comb. nov., Pa. bigeniculata stat. rev.; comb. nov., Pa. limai stat. rev.; comb. nov. (Pa. pestanai syn. nov.) and Psathyromyia sp. nov. Psathyromyia cuzquena is possibly a junior synonym of Pa. pifanoi, however, more studies are needed. The taxon that occurs at the lower part of the Ribeira Valley corresponds to Pa. limai, and that occurring at the upper Ribeira Valley belongs to a Psathyromyia sp. nov. A taxon similar to Pa. microcephala was identified in the South and Southeast of Brazil, Argentina and Colômbia. The wide distribution of Pa. shannoni partly corresponds to Pa. bigeniculata, Pa. abonnenci, Pa. limai and Pa. aff. microcephala. The unawareness of the local where the type of Pa. microcephala is deposited and its succinct description, does not allow distinguish it than Pa. aff. microcephala. Studies of specimens from the type-locality of Pa. microcephala are needed to define the status of Pa. aff. microcephala. A male and female identification key for the species of the Shannoni complex is presented

Alguns táxons inseridos na série Shannoni do gênero Psathyromyia ((Diptera, Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) apresentam grande semelhança morfológica: Psathyromyia cuzquena, Pa. abonnenci, Pa. pestanai e Pa. shannoni o que têm levado a proposição de várias sinonímias e identificações errôneas. Psathyromyia shannoni apresenta vários sinônimos-júniores: Phlebotomus limai, Ph. bigeniculata, Ph. microcephala e Ph. pifanoi, e ampla distribuição geográfica, desde os Estados Unidos até a Argentina. Além destas espécies, uma afim de Pa. pestanai, ainda não descrita, foi encontrada no Vale do Ribeira. O objetivo foi discutir o status taxonômico e distribuição geográfica das espécies do complexo. Foram realizados estudos morfológicos e morfométricos de espécimes depositados em coleções e obtidos em coletas no alto e baixo Vale do Ribeira e Serra da Cantareira no Estado de São Paulo. Os espécimes foram analisados de forma individual, ignorando a identificação inicial contida na etiqueta de cada lâmina. Posteriormente foram separados em grupos de morfoespécie e após esse processo, foram feitas medidas as quais foram submetidas à análise de variância. A análise possibilitou revalidar as quatro espécies consideradas sinônimos júniores de Pa. shannoni e um sinônimojúnior foi proposto. Uma espécie nova é descrita e um táxon afim de Pa. microcephala foi identificado. Portanto, o complexo Shannoni passou a ter a seguinte composição: Pa. abonnenci, Pa. shannoni, Pa. microcephala stat. rev.; comb. nov., Pa. pifanoi stat. rev.; comb. nov., Pa. bigeniculata stat. rev.; comb. nov., Pa. limai stat. rev.; comb. nov. (Pa. pestanai syn. nov.) e Psathyromyia sp. nov. Psathyromyia cuzquena possivelmente é sinônimo-júnior de Pa. pifanoi, no entanto, mais estudos são necessários. O táxon que ocorre no baixo Vale do Ribeira corresponde a Pa. limai, e no alto Vale do Ribeira, pertence à nova espécie. O táxon afim de Pa. microcephala ocorre nas regiões Sul e Sudeste do Brasil, Argentina e Colômbia. A ampla distribuição de Pa. shannoni, em parte, corresponde a de Pa. bigeniculata, Pa. abonnenci, Pa. limai e Pa. aff. microcephala. O desconhecimento do atual local de depósito do tipo de Pa. microcephala e a descrição sucinta dos holótipo não possibilitam a sua diferenciação do táxon afim desta espécie. Estudos de espécimes da localidade-tipo de Pa. microcephala são necessários para definição do status de Pa. aff. microcephala. Uma chave para a identificação de machos e fêmeas das espécies do complexo Shannoni é apresentada / Some taxa included in the Shannoni series and Psathyromyia genus (Diptera, Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) show great morphological similarity: Psathyromyia cuzquena, Pa. abonnenci, Pa. pestanai and Pa. shannoni have led to misidentifications. Psathyromyia shannoni has several synonyms-junior: Phlebotomus limai, Ph. bigeniculata, Ph. microcephala and Ph. pifanoi, and wide geographic distribution, from the United States to Argentina. Besides these species, a similar of Pa. pestanai, not yet described, was found in the Ribeira Valley. The objective was to discuss the taxonomic status and the geographic distribution of the complex species. Morphological and morphometric studies were conducted from specimens deposited in collections and collected in the upper and lower Ribeira Valley and Serra da Cantareira in São Paulo State, Brazil. The specimens were analyzed individually, ignoring the initial identification on the label of each slide. Later they were separated into groups of morphospecies and after this process, measures were made to perform variance analysis. The analysis allowed to revalidate the four species considered junior synonyms of Pa. shannoni and one other junior synonyms was proposed. A new species is described and a similar taxa to Pa. microcephala was identified. Therefore, the complex Shannoni now has the following composition: Pa. abonnenci, Pa. shannoni, Pa. microcephala stat. rev.; comb. nov., Pa. pifanoi stat. rev.; comb. nov., Pa. bigeniculata stat. rev.; comb. nov., Pa. limai stat. rev.; comb. nov. (Pa. pestanai syn. nov.) and Psathyromyia sp. nov. Psathyromyia cuzquena is possibly a junior synonym of Pa. pifanoi, however, more studies are needed. The taxon that occurs at the lower part of the Ribeira Valley corresponds to Pa. limai, and that occurring at the upper Ribeira Valley belongs to a Psathyromyia sp. nov. A taxon similar to Pa. microcephala was identified in the South and Southeast of Brazil, Argentina and Colômbia. The wide distribution of Pa. shannoni partly corresponds to Pa. bigeniculata, Pa. abonnenci, Pa. limai and Pa. aff. microcephala. The unawareness of the local where the type of Pa. microcephala is deposited and its succinct description, does not allow distinguish it than Pa. aff. microcephala. Studies of specimens from the type-locality of Pa. microcephala are needed to define the status of Pa. aff. microcephala. A male and female identification key for the species of the Shannoni complex is presented