Dave Walter has more than 30 years experience in the study of mites in Australia, the United States, and Canada and is an author of numerous research papers, book chapters, books, interactive keys, and webpages on mite ecology, behaviour, systematics and identification. He is especially interested in the roles that mites play in biological diversity in the soil and in the canopy of rainforests and in the interactions of mites with plants and animals. Dave was formerly a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland and a Senior Research Scientist at Colorado State University. Currently, Dave is a scientist at the Royal Alberta Museum where he is responsible for taxonomic advice and mite identifications for the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, Editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Acarology, and an Adjunct Professor at both the University of Alberta and the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

Heather Proctor is a native of Alberta, Canada, where she spent many hours of her childhood collecting and watching freshwater invertebrates. Her undergraduate thesis research at the University of Alberta focused on the diversity of Albertan water mites, and was followed by an M.Sc. (U. Calgary) and Ph.D. (U.Toronto) on the predatory and reproductive biology of these fascinating animals. She has held academic positions at Queen's University in Ontario, Griffith University in Queensland, and the University of Alberta where she is now a professor. Her acarological research interests have expanded to include mites associated with birds and soil as well as water.

Aimed at the general naturalist and other non-experts

Ideal for students and researchers unfamiliar with mites

Lavishly illustrated with drawings and electron micrographs

The only introductory book on mite behaviour and ecology in English

Preface to the second edition.- 1. What good are mites?.- 2. The origin of mites: fossil history and relationships.- 3. Systematic and morphological survey.- 4. Life cycles, development and size.- 5. Sex and celibacy.- 6. Mites in soil & litter systems.- 7. Acari underwater, or, why did mites take the plunge?.- 8. Mites on Plants.- 9. Animals as habitats.- 10. Mites that cause and transmit disease.- 11. Mites & biological diversity.- 12. Mites as models.