A new species of zerconid mite, Zercon istanbulensis sp. nov.(Acari, Mesostigmata, Zerconidae), from İstanbul Province of Turkey

Abstract

Zerconid mites are crucial members of the soil fauna inhabiting various soil substrates. Out of 38 genera of Zerconidae described from the northern hemisphere, only 2 (Prozercon and Zercon) are known from Turkey. In previous studies, 60 species of the genus Zercon were recorded from Turkey (Urhan and Öztaş, 2013;Karaca and Urhan, 2014). Ujvári (2011) proposed the genus Rafas, which was defined by Błaszak (1979) on the basis of its divided sternal shield, as the junior synonym of Prozercon Sellnick, 1943. The family Zerconidae is estimated to comprise more than 300 species around the world. In Europe, with the exception of Turkey, systematic studies on the family Zerconidae such as those by Błaszak (1974), Mašán and Fenďa (2004), Ivan and Călugăr (2004), and Ujvári et al. (2013) continue. The number of different species of the family Zerconidae known from Europe is approximately 200. As a contribution to the knowledge of the acarine fauna of Turkey, one new species, Z. istanbulensis sp. nov., is described herein on the basis of material collected during a systematic survey of zerconid mites in İstanbul Province (Turkey).Soil and litter samples were taken from the forestlands of İstanbul Province, Turkey. These were placed in plastic bags and transferred to the laboratory. Samples were then placed in unified Berlese funnels, and mites were extracted for 5-7 days, according to the humidity of the samples. The specimens were fixed and preserved in 75% ethanol in glass bottles. They were placed in 60% lactic acid for clearing and mounted on microscope slides in glycerin medium. The examination and drawing of mites were carried out using an Olympus BX50 microscope accompanied by a DP25 camera and drawing tube. Morphological terminology used in the descriptions follows that of Sellnick (1958),