Oribatid Mites of the Families Scheloribatidae and Oripodidae (Acari: Oribatida) from Babeldaob Island of Palau

We found five species of oribatid mites belonging to the families Scheloribatidae and Oripodidae from Babeldaob Island of Palau Republic, which is an island country located in the western Pacific Ocean. Two new species, Euscheloribates olszanowskiisp. nov. and Oripoda minusculasp. nov. are described from litter and soil of the primary and secondary forests in Palau, and supplementary descriptions of three hitherto known species, Perscheloribates benguetensis (Corpuz-Raros, 1980), Protoripoda insularis Balogh, 1970 and Scheloribates praeincisus (Berlese, 1910) are provided. Following the descriptions and comparisons, we discuss aspects of the taxonomy, distribution and habitat ecology of all studied species.