Berlesezetes auxiliaris (GRANDJEAN, 1936)

Mahunka, S., 2005, Oribatid Mites (Acari: Oribatida) From Venezuela, I. Microzetid Species, Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 51 (4), pp. 287-311 : 291

Berlesezetes auxiliaris (GRANDJEAN, 1936)

Examined material: Venezuela, Estado Mérida. Secondary mesic forest N of Mérida town, on the ridge above the district of Santa Maria Norte , at 1,800 m. alt. Litter. March 27, 1997. Coll. S. & T. PÓCS (No. 9741) .

The series of specimens found in Venezuela this time are nearly identical with the ones that GRANDJEAN described and drew. The only difference is that the striped fore-and-aft sculpture on the ventral side is quite faint on the animals collected this time compared to the drawings. Also, in the epimeral region there are a lot less lines on the newly acquired animals. However, these differences could be attributed to imperfect drawings.

Many authors believe in this species circumtropical distribution. I was fortunate that this time I had the chance to analyze not only Venezuelan specimens but paratypes (there are two specimens in the HNHM’s collection) of the Berlesezetes africanus (BALOGH, 1958) species and another, possibly new species from Africa. These species are different from the ones from Venezuela, therefore data that points to their circumtropical trait is questionable .