Faunistic and ecological research on the water mites of the Apennines (Italy). The Genus Torrenticola Piersig (Acari, Acttnedidae, Torrenticolidae).

Faunistic and ecological data on the distribution of the genus Torrenticola in the Apennines (Italy) are reported. Thirteen species were collected; the species T. similis, T. lativalvata, T. brevirostris, T. ungeri and T. amplexa are new to Italian fauna. The study of dimensional characters generated some morphological indices with discriminant values at the species-level, and consequently in the synonymization of four species. A differential distribution of the species between the Abruzzian and Calabrian sectors of the Apennines, was also found. The river typology and the availability of peculiar microhabitats, were assumed to be important factors in explaining the geographical distributiion of these species in the Mediterranean basin.