A new mite species Schizocoptes daberti sp. n. (Acariformes: Chirodiscidae) from Chrysochloris stuhlmanni Matsche (Afrosoricida: Chrysochloridae) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

Abstract:A new mite species Schizocoptes daberti sp. n. (Acariformes: Chirodiscidae) from Chrysochloris stuhlmanni Matsche (Afrosoricida: Chrysochloridae) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is described. It differs from the closely related species S. conjugatus Lawrence, 1944 in both sexes by distance si-si at least twice longer than si-se (vs these distances are subequal in S. conjugatus); in females by setae cp 30-40 µm long (vs about 65 µm long), and in males by the very weakly sclerotised posterior parts of the hysteronotal shield (vs strongly sclerotised), setae d1 situated anterior to the hysteronotal shield (vs at the hysteronotal shield), and by opened coxal fields III (vs closed). An amended generic diagnosis, including description of immature stages, and a key to named species of Schizocoptes Lawrence, 1944 are provided. Keywords: acari, Africa, fur-mites, golden-moles, parasitology, systematics, identification keyMites of the family Chirodiscidae Trouessart, 1892 (Acariformes: Sarcoptoidea) are permanent ectoparasites inhabiting the fur of mammals belonging to seven placental and marsupial orders. These mites are highly host-specific being mono-or stenoxenous parasites. To date more than 230 species in 26 genera and four chirodiscid subfamilies have been described (Bochkov 2010). The subfamily Schizocoptinae consists of two species of the genus Schizocoptes Lawrence, 1944 associated with golden moles (Afrosoricida: Chrysochloridae) in Africa (Fain 1971). The external morphology of these mites, especially of their gnathosoma and legs I and II, has been only superficially described, and homology of leg setae of Schizocoptes with those of other Psoroptidia has not been confirmed. Here, I present an amended diagnosis of the subfamily Schizocoptinae based on investigation of type and freshly collected specimens using light and scanning electron microscopy, together with a key to all three species. MATERIALS AND METHODSMites were collected by the author from fur of ethanol preserved hosts with fine forceps under a dissection microscope, placed in 96% ethanol and then mounted in Hoyer's medium according to standard methods (Evans 1992).Drawings were made with a Leica microscope equipped with differential interference contrast optics and a camera lucida. Morphological structures of mites were also examined with a Quanta 250 scanning electron microscope. For SEM imaging mites were placed in hexamethyldisilazane for 10 minutes, dried and then sputter-coated with platinum. In the description below, the idiosomal setation by Griffiths et al. (1990) is followed with modifications for coxal setae (Norton 1998). Leg setation follows Grandjean (1939). All measurements are in micrometres (μm) and were taken as follows: body length = length from an imaginary line drawn between the palpal apices to the posterior margin of the body; idiosomal width = lateral width at the level of setae cp; length of dorsal shields = maximum length, measured along the median line of the shields; length of the posterior legs = leng...