Macrocheles subbadius (Berlese, 1904)

Distinguishing characters of female. All dorsal setae smooth and needle-like, except setae j1 which are smooth and robust. Ventral setae also smooth and needle-like, sternal shield ornamented with small pits. Ventrianal shield pentagonal with three pairs of needle-like setae anterior to anal opening (Figure 1, A & B).

Notes. This is the species most frequently collected from the bodies of stable flies. This association was reported from Hungary (Erős & Mahunka 1971), France (Niogret et al. 2008), Slovakia (Mašán 2003), Israel (Mumcuoglu & Braverman 2010), United Kingdom (McGarry & Baker 1997) and Canada (Beresford & Sutcliffe 2009). Macrocheles subbadius is a coprophilous detriticole species and a typical phoretic mite, which does not parasitize the stable fly, but use it only for transportation between different habitats (like dung pads, compost heaps etc.).