Contribution to the knowledge of oribatid mites (Acari, Oribatida) of Vanuatu

An annotated checklist of oribatid mites (Acari, Oribatida) collected from Vanuatu is provided, which includes 37 species from 30 genera and 19 families. All these taxa are recorded in Vanuatu for the first time; of these, 11 species and 3 genera are recorded in the Australian region for the first time. A new species of the genus Mixacarus (Lohmanniidae) is described and illustrated on the basis of adult specimens. Mixacarus (Mixacarus) vanuatuensis sp. nov. is morphologically most similar to M. (M.) quadrifasciatus Balakrishnan, 1986 from India, but differs from the latter by the presence of 10 transverse bands on notogaster, prodorsal and notogastral setae smooth or only serrate in medio-basal parts and lamellar and interlamellar setae similar in length to rostral and both pairs of exobothridial setae.