Review of Damaeus (Acari: Oribatida: Damaeidae) from Crimea with description of two new cave-dwelling species

Two new species of Damaeus (Oribatida: Damaeidae)— D. kovali sp. nov. and D. kizilkobensis sp. nov. —are described from Crimean caves. Both new species are specialized cave-dwelling mites (eutroglophiles), without acquiring any obvious troglomorphic features in their morphology. Damaeus kovali sp. nov. undergoes its entire development cycle in caves, and we describe the morphology of all juvenile stages.

If D. kizilkobensis sp. nov. also completes its ontogenetic development in caves is unknown, but according to Lebedinsky (1900), Damaeus nymphs were found in the same cave as the adults. Both species inhabit different caves located far from each other and they have not previously been found in other terrestrial habitats. The type material of two other epigeic (non-cave) species known from Crimea — D. tauricus and D. echinopus —is reexamined.