| abstract | The present paper is Part III of my investigations into the oribatid fauna of New Zealand. A hundred species are mentioned here, mainly within the genus Oppia and the group Galumnoidea. Through all the investigations (Parts I-III) the number of species of oribatids recorded from New Zealand has risen from 7 to 312. On the basis of these it has been tried to givean account of the origin of the oribatid fauna of New Zealand, as well as its connexion with the oribatid fauna of South America. 39 species have a wide distribution over large regions of the earth. They must be assumed to have existed before New Zealand became an isolated area. Their age can be estimated at about 100 million years. 17 species are common to New Zealand and South America. Some of these, within the genus Trimalaconothrus, show some special morphological characters which suggest Transantarctic relationships. The number of presumably endemic species consitute 82 percent. This percentage is lower than the percentage of insects and must be due to the fact that a number of New Zealand oribatids arose before the connexion between New Zealand and south America was finally boken off. |