| abstract | The catalogue provides systematic information and collates biological and ecological references on species of the acariform mite suborder Oribatida known from North America. Despite the importance of oribatid mites in decomposition processes, this is the first such synthesis in over 75 years. The catalogue deals with 1177 species and subspecies in 329 genera, representing 108 families and 44 superfamilies. The geographical region covered is roughly the Nearctic Realm, excluding Greenland, Mexico, and oceanic islands. Fossil species are included, but quarantine interceptions are omitted. Also not treated are 16 species, listed in the literature as cosmopolitan or American, but whose occurrence in Canada and continental United States has not been confirmed. The systematic arrangement of higher taxa is compiled from many sources, but primarily expresses a functional compromise between the concepts of Grandjean and Balogh. |