Zerconid mites (Acari: Mesostigamata: Zerconidae) from Croatia with description of four new species

According to recent molecular systematic studies, the family Zerconidae belongs to suborder Monogynaspida, cohort Gamasina, and superfamily Zerconoidea (Sikora, 2014). Zerconid mites are important members of the soil fauna, colonizing various soil substrates (Karaca and Urhan, 2015a). They are free-living and mostly associated with humus, soil, decomposed litter, leaf mold, plant parts, and mosses (Urhan, 2010a). Their body lengths vary between 200 and 700 µm. These small, predatory mites feed on the eggs, larvae, and nymphs of other mites and springtails (Shereef et al., 1984;Martikainen and Huhta, 1990). Their dorsal shields are divided into two separate parts: the podonotum and opisthonotum. These mites are weakly sclerotized and their life cycle includes 4 active stages: larva, protonymph, deutonymph, and adult. The presence of zerconids in various soil substrates shows that they can be used as bioindicators for environmental changes (Sikora, 2014).The members of Zerconidae are well known from the Holarctic region (Krantz, 1978). However, in recent years there have been some locality reports from the alpine zone of Central Mexico and Taiwan (Ma et al., 2011;Ujvári, 2011aUjvári, , 2011bUjvári, , 2012. At present, approximately 40 genera, which comprise more than 400 species, are known worldwide. Only two genera, Prozercon and Zercon, and 88 species were known from Turkey until now (Karaca and Urhan, 2014, 2015b). In Turkey, the first study on zerconid mites was published by Polish acarologist Błaszak (1979) based on samples collected from the Amanos Mountains, Bolu Province, and the surrounding area, collected by Dominiak and Pawlowski. From 1992 to date, further studies about zerconids in Turkey have been made by

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confidence: 99%

Zerconid mites (Acari, Zerconidae) in İstanbul,with four new records for the Turkish fauna

Duran¹,

Urhan²

2017

“…Additionally, on the podonotum, seta j6 never reaches the margin of the podonotum, except in males. Pore po2 lies above the line connecting setae j4-s3 in our female specimens, but in the type specimen (Ujvári, 2010) it lies on the line connecting setae s2-s4. Pore po3 is located outside the line connecting s4 and s5, closer to s5 in our female specimens, but in the type specimen (Ujvári, 2010) it is between setae s5 and s6.…”

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confidence: 61%

“…Turkish specimens are 315-337/213-235 µm (females) and 261/190 µm (males). According to this information, our female specimens are approximately the same size as type specimens (Ujvári, 2010), but our male specimen is slightly smaller than type specimens (Ujvári, 2011b). Additionally, on the podonotum, seta j6 never reaches the margin of the podonotum, except in males.…”

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confidence: 68%

A new record of zerconid mites (Acari, Mesostigmata, Zerconidae)from the Thrace region of Turkey

Karaca¹,

Urhan²

2015

Zerconid mites are important members of the soil fauna, and they colonize various soil substrates. Out of the 38 genera of the family Zerconidae known from the northern hemisphere, only 3 (Prozercon, Rafas, and Zercon) are known from Turkey. According to Ujvári (2011a), the genus Rafas Blaszak, 1979, which was defined earlier on the basis of its divided sternal shield, was proposed as a junior synonym of Prozercon. The genus Prozercon is the second richest genus of Zerconidae in Turkey. So far, 23 species of this genus have been recorded from Turkey (Urhan, 2008(Urhan, , 2010(Urhan, , 2013. In this paper, we report an additional species of this genus for Turkey, namely Prozercon martae Ujvári, 2010. It has been described by Ujvári (2010Ujvári ( , 2011b on the basis of material collected from Croatia.The mites in soil and litter samples taken from the Thrace region were extracted in a Berlese funnel apparatus. They were then fixed and preserved in 75% ethanol. The examination and drawing of the mites was carried out using an Olympus BX50 microscope with DP25 camera. Morphological terminology used in the descriptions follows that of Mašán and Fenďa (2004).

“…Due to the idiosomal chaetotaxy that we seek, the new species is similar to the following species: Z. cretensis Ujvári, 2008;Z. laczii Ujvári, 2010;and Z. marinae Ivan & Călugăr, 2004, especially due to the situation of setae S 3 , J 2 , and Z 2 on the opisthonotum and the lengths of setae S 2 -S 3 .…”

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confidence: 89%

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

Duran¹,

Urhan²

2015

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),