Cosella spinicauda, Flechtmann, Carlos H. W. & Etienne, Jean, 2002

Flechtmann, Carlos H. W. & Etienne, Jean, 2002, New records of plant mites (Acari, Acaridae, Tetranychidae) from Guadeloupe and Marie Galante with descriptions of five new eriophyid species, Zootaxa 47, pp. 1-16 : 5-7

Cosella spinicauda n.sp. ( Fig. 2 )

DIAGNOSIS ­ Caudal 8­10 dorsal opisthosomal annuli microtuberculate; prodorsal shield with median line complete, partial submedian lines inside dorsal tubercles, an outwardly diagonal anterolateral line from dorsal tubercles. Accessory setae minute.

FEMALE ­ (n = 6). From front of anterior shield lobe to terminal lobes 154 (158­ 180), 59 (59­64) wide. Gnathosoma projecting downwards; basal seta 2 (2); antapical seta 3 (3­4); chelicerae 16 (16­19). Prodorsal shield with complete median line, caudally bifurcate; partial admedian line inside of dorsal tubercles; an outwardly and anteriorly diagonal line from dorsal tubercles. Shield 33 (30­35), including anterior, rounded lobe 2 (2­4). Dorsal tubercles ahead of shield rear margin, 25 (23­26) apart; scapular setae (sc) 14 (14­ 18), projecting back and diagonally centrad. Legs: tibiae I and II absent. Leg I 22 (21­24); femur 6 (6­9), femoral seta (bv) 7 (7­9); genu 3 (3), genual seta (l") 13 (13­22); tarsus 9 (8­ 9), solenidion 5 (5­6), empodium 5 (4­5), 5­rayed, dorsal seta (ft') 8 (8­13), lateral seta (ft") 15 (15­19), unguinal seta (u') 4 (3­4). Leg II 20 (19­22); femur 8 (8­9), bv 7 (6­8); genu 3 (3), l" 7 (7­10); tarsus 8 (7­8), solenidion 8 (7­8), empodium 4 (4­6), 5­rayed, ft' 5 (4­6), ft" 12 (12­19), u' 4 (3­5). Coxae I fused, spinulate; coxal seta I (1b) absent; coxal seta II (1a) 16 (16­20), 9 (9­11) apart; coxal seta III (2a) 26 (26­33), 20 (20­26) apart. Coxisternal area smooth, with a few spinules. Genitalia 19 (19­22) wide, 12 (12­14) long, epigynium with a few spines, about half as long as genitalia, posteriorly indented. Genital seta (3a) 7 (7­12). Opisthosoma evenly arched in cross section. Lateral seta (c2) 25 (24­33), on annulus 1 (1­2) from genitalia rear margin; ventral seta I (d) 29 (28­32), 33 (32­33) apart, on annulus 8 (8­10); ventral seta II (e) 12 (12­16), 19 (17­19) apart, on annulus 18 (17­19); ventral seta III (f) 15 (15­16), 19 (18­19) apart, on annulus 31 (31­33) or 6th from rear. Total ventral annuli 36 (36­38), microtuberculate. Total dorsal annuli 42 (40­45), the anterior 32 (31­35) smooth and the caudal 10 (8­11) microtuberculate. Caudal seta (h2) 41 (41­50); accessory seta (h1) minute.

MALE (n = 3) ­ Smaller than female, 136­150, 50­55 wide. Gnathosoma: basal seta 2; antapical seta 5­6; chelicerae 16­17. Prodorsal shield 27­31, including frontal lobe 2­3. Sc 17­19, 21­23 apart. Leg I 20­21; femur 7­8, bv 6­7; genu 3, l" 18­20; tarsus 8­9, solenidion 6, empodium 4, 5­rayed, ft' 11­12, ft" 17­23, u' 3­4. Leg II 18­20; femur 7­8, bv 6­8; genu 3, l" 7­17; tarsus 6­7, solenidion 6­7, empodium 5, 5­rayed, ft' 4, ft" 16­18, u' 3­4. Coxal seta II (1a) 12­14, 7­9 apart; 2a 18­20, 19­21 part. Genitalia 14­17 wide, 8­11 long, 3a 9­10. Coxisternal area smooth. Opisthosoma: c 2 23­25, on annulus 1­2; d 26­28, 26­ 29 apart, on annulus 7­8; e 12­16, 14­16 apart, on annulus 15­18; f 12­14, 15­16 apart, on annulus 28­31 or 6th from rear. Total ventral annuli 33­36, microtuberculate. Total dorsal annuli 38­40, the anterior 26­28 smooth and caudal 11­12 microtuberculate. Caudal seta (h2) 42­44; h1 minute.

TYPE MATERIAL ­ Holotype female, 35 female, 5 male paratypes, from Erythroxylon squamatum (Erythroxylaceae) , Bouillante, Pigeon, Guadeloupe, coll. J. Etienne, 6 Sept. 2001, on 9 microscopic preparations in the collection of Departamento de Entomologia, Fitopatologia e Zoologia Agrícola, Universidade de São Paulo, ESALQ, São Paulo, Brazil. One paratype slide deposited in the New Zealand Arthropod Collection.

RELATION TO HOST ­ bud distortion, wart­like galls.

ETYMOLOGY ­ The specific designation spinicauda is derived from the Latin spini = spine, thorn, and from the Latin cauda = tail, referring to the microtuberculate caudal dorsoopisthosomal annuli.

REMARKS ­ C. spinicauda is the third species with microtuberculate caudal dorsoopisthosomal annuli, together with C. cissi Keifer, 1978 and C. deleoni ( Keifer, 1956) . C. cissi has 4­rayed empodia and the median and admedian lines form four pairs of cells on the prodorsal shield, whereas in C. deleoni and C. spinicauda empodia are 5­rayed and no cells are delimited by the prodorsal shield lines. C. deleoni has complete median and admedian lines on the prodorsal shield, while in C. spinicauda only a complete median line is present. In C. deleoni the epigynium is large, covering the entire genital area and is densily spinulate; in C. spinicauda the epigynium is much shorter than the genital area and presents only a few spinules.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Cosella spinicauda n. sp. AL, anterior lateral aspect; CGF, coxigenital area of female; D, dorsal aspect of female; E, empodium; GM, genitalia of male; L 1, leg I; L 2, leg II