Department of Integrative Biology

The first investigations of the mite fauna of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, are reported. Fourteen species have been found. Uropoda orbicularis (Muller) (Uropodidae) and Scarabaspis inexpectatus (Oudemans) (Eviphididae) are newly recorded for North America, Macrocheles nemerdarius Krantz and Whitaker (Macrochelidae) is newly recorded for Canada, and Trichoribates striatus Hammer (Ceratozetidae) is recorded for the first time south of the subarctic zone. Colonization, dispersal, and the zoogeographic origins of the fauna are discussed in the context of the biological, geological, and human history of the island.