Four sites, the Lamto savannah, the Oumé primary forest and Oumé teak plantation (Sudanese domain) and the Taï primary forest (Guinean domain) were sampled twice (in the rainy and dry season) in Ivory Coast. During this study three hypothesis were investigated: (1) soil mite densities vary with habitat type and season; (2) soil mite densities are affected by soil physico-chemical parameters; and (3) soil mite densities vary with depth (vertical distribution) and along transects (horizontal distribution). After a 1-week extraction in Berlese-Tullgren funnels, mite densities were higher during the rainy season than during the dry season. Despite the site and the season, density generally decreased from the litter to the deep layers despite the appearance of a bimodal distribution in some sites. The seasonal effect was more marked in topsoils.Inspite of the season, the same density succession was observed: Oumé forest - Lamto savannah - Oumé teaks - Taï forest. Major taxa Oribatida and Gamasida decreased with the depth in all sites and in all seasons. Contrary to what is observed in temperate areas, the Soil Depth50 indicated that the study of topsoils may be sufficient to describe the soil mite densities in the Tropics. Physico-chemical parameters such as water content and apparent density influenced the vertical mite distribution.