Studies on the moss mites of Snowdonia. 3. Pen-y-Gadair, Cader Idris, with a comparison of the moss mite faunas of selected montane localities in the British Isles (Acari: Oribatida)

A list of moss mite species from the summit of Pen-y-Gadair, Cader Idris, Snowdonia National Park is presented, annotated with particular reference to their status as upland species. A comparison is made of the moss mite fauna of selected montane localities in the British Isles and it is concluded that certain communities have been able to subsist on the higher mountain peaks during and since the Ice Ages but that the communities now recorded from the lower peaks developed after the retreat of the ice and may have begun to supplement or supplant the relict fauna.