Abstract:
In September 2009, specimens ofIps sexdentatuswere captured using black cross vane traps in an old stand ofPinus halepensisMiller at Dekani in the submediterranean ecological region of Slovenia. Twenty-four per cent of them carried phoretic mites, and six taxa of mites were collected directly from their bodies:Cercoleipus coelonotus, Dendrolaelaps quadrisetus,Histiostoma ovalis,Trichouropoda polytricha,Uroobovella variansandVulgarogamasus lyriformis.All of these species are documented here for the first time as associated with the six-spined engraver beetle in Slovenia. BothD. quadrisetusandV. lyriformisare predatory on bark beetle eggs and larvae and could be useful in biological control programmes. Moreover,H. ovalismay be an important vector of fungal spores of ophiostomatoid pathogenic fungi.