Revision of the Australian Ascidae (Acarina : Mesostigmata)

Abstract

Ascid mites are an important component of the predatory meiofauna in soil, onvegetation, and in association with other animals, yet the Australian fauna isalmost unknown. At least 15 genera of ascid mites occur in Australia, of which14 genera and 26 species are treated in this paper. Four of these genera(Gamasellodes, Hoploseius,Platyseius,Xenoseius) are hererecorded from Australia for the first time. Six new species are described[Antennoseius(Antennoseius)lobochelus, sp.nov., Arctoseius memnon, sp. nov.,Gamasellodes plaire, sp. nov.,Platyseius cupensis, sp.nov., Xenoseius elizae, sp. nov., andZerconopsis pristis, sp. nov.], and six otherspecies are reported from Australia for the first time[Arctoseius semiscissus(Berlese),Gamasellodes rectiventris Lindquist,Proctolaelaps aurora(Vitzthum),Proctolaelaps bickleyi(Bram), Proctolaelaps lobatus De Leon, andProtogamasellus massula (Athias-Henriot)].Proctolaelaps nesbitti (Womersley) is removed fromsynonymy with P. pygmaeus (MÜller). Lectotypes aredesignated for Proctolaelaps antennatusKarg andP. australis Stone.P. antennatushas wrongly been recorded from Australia, and is known only from New Zealand.The first observations of feeding behaviour of mites in the generaIphidozercon, Xenoseius andZerconopsis confirm that nematophagy is prevalent amongsoil Ascidae. Keys to the world genera and Australian species areprovided.Protogamasellopsis Evans and Purvis istransferred to the Rhodacaridae, TangarorellusLuxton toan unspecified family in the Rhodacaroidea, andLindquistoseius Genis, Loots & Ryke to theOlogamasidae. OrolaelapsDeLeon is removed from synonymywith Melichares Hering. The following new synonymies areproposed: Arctoseius bicuspidatus Willmann, 1949 andArctoseius limburgensis Nesbitt, 1954 =Arctoseius semiscissus (Berlese, 1892);Cheiroseius (Posttrematus) Karg,1981 = EpiseiusHull,1918;Iphidozercon californicus Chant,1963,Leioseius (Arctoseius)elegans Bernhard, 1963 andIphidozercon variolatus Ishikawa, 1969=Iphidozercon corticalisEvans, 1958;Garmania longipilis Chant, 1958=Proctolaelaps aurora(Vitzthum, 1925);Proctolaelaps lewisi Garman & McGregor, 1956= P. utahensis Chant, 1958;Lasioseius convivavar.laevisternus Berlese, 1916a =Proctolaelaps pygmaeus(MÜller,1859);Neojordensia lativentris Karg, 1982 =Africoseius areolatus Krantz, 1962.

A new mite species of the genus Lasioseius (Acari: Gamasina: Ascidae) from central Europe

“…All measurements in micrometers (µm) used in the text and figures were taken from slide-mounted specimens with stage calibrated ocular micrometer. The anatomical nomenclature and morphological features of specimens in this paper follow the classification by Evans (1958Evans ( , 1963 suggested for the family Ascidae, later used and completed by Lindquist & Evans (1965) and Halliday et al (1998). The differential diagnosis of the species reflects the key for the genus Lasioseius given by Christian & Karg (2006).…”

“…These authors placed the genus Lasioseius in the family Podocinidae, taking into account Karg's classification of Mesostigmata (Karg 1965(Karg , 1993. While the position of the genus Lasioseius in the family (Ascidae or Podocinidae) is still disputable, the majority of acarologists prefer the more complex family-level classification suggested by Halliday et al (1998) based on wider set of characteristics supported by the information on leg chaetotaxy (Evans 1963). Despite of different understanding of classification of family-level characteristics, the morphological features and the classification of the genus Lasioseius is clear for most of the acarologists.…”

“…Authors classified this genus among different families (Evans 1958;Karg 1993). According Halliday et al (1998) Lasioseius belongs to the most morphologically disparate genus of the family Ascidae. Furthermore, this genus includes highly ecologically variable species (Bregetova 1977;Karg 1980Karg , 1993, some of them common in the soil.…”

First Record of <i>Protogamasellus mica</i> (Athias-Henriot) (Acari: Mesostigmata: Ascidae) from Japan, with a Description of the Male

“…Distribution. This species has been recorded from North Africa (Athias-Henriot, 1961), Europe (Evans, 1982), Russia (Ghilarov and Bregetova, 1977), the U.S.A. (Walter and Kaplan, 1990), Australia (Halliday et al, 1998), Brazil (Mineiro et al, 2009), and Iran (Kazemi and Rajaei, 2013) as P. mica. Additionally, the species has been recorded from Europe, Asia, and South Africa under the name P. primitivus (Karg, 1962(Karg, , 2007Genis et al, 1967).…”

“…The present species is identified as a member of the genus Protogamasellus by the following diagnostic characters: (1) podonotal shield with transverse line at level of setae z6; (2) opisthonotal shield with similar transverse line at level of setae J1; (3) paranal setae inserted closer to anterior margin of anus than posterior margin; (4) genu IV with 8 setae; and (5) tibia IV with 9 setae (Halliday et al, 1998). …”