Joshuella striata Wallwork, 1972

Walter, David Evans, 2009, Genera of Gymnodamaeidae (Acari: Oribatida: Plateremaeoidea) of Canada, with notes on some nomenclatorial problems, Zootaxa 2206, pp. 23-44 : 37

Joshuella striata Wallwork, 1972

Material examined: USA, CALIFORNIA: female, Tehama County, 2 miles NE Dales, 2.xii.1991, ex sifted buckeye litter, D.S. Chandler, in CNC.

Comments: Paschoal (1983c) stated that the holotype of J. bicentenaria is a male, but the slide labelled ‘holotype’ in OSAL is a female and possibly represents a paratype. Joshuella is a distinctive genus of three species known from grasslands in western North America and can be differentiated from other genera by the parallel longitudinal cerotegumental ridges with large pustules on the notogaster ( Fig. 22 ) and the 6 pairs of genital setae. The species are differentiated in the key below.

Figures

FIGURES 22 – 31. J oshuella agrosticula Paschoal, 1983, Alberta, Canada. 22, Dorsal view (arrow points to longitudinal notogastral ridge), scale bar = 0.05 mm; 23, Ventral view (arrow points to anogenital bridge), scale bar = 0.05 mm; 24, Posterior notogaster showing 4 pairs of setae, scale bar = 10 μm; 25, Notogastral pustules, scale bar = 1 μm; 26, Tritonymph with stacked scalps, scale bar = 0.05 mm. Pleodamaeus plokosus (Woolley & Higgins, 1973), South Dakota, USA. 27, Dorsal habitus, scale bar = 0.1 mm; 28, Notogastral pustule, scale bar = 1 μm; 29, Tubercular patch (arrow) on median anterior rim of notogaster, scale bar = 10 μm; 30, Light micrograph showing tubercular patch and median prodorsal tubercle. Pleodamaeus sp., Alberta, Canada. 31, Anterior notogaster and prodorsum showing acuminate pedotectum II (arrow), scale bar = 0.05 mm.