Arrenurus (Micruracarus) forpicatoides Lundblad, 1941

Smit, Harry, 2010, Australian Arrenurus (Acari, Hydrachnidia) with the description of eleven new species, Zootaxa 2541, pp. 1-26 : 17-19

Arrenurus (Micruracarus) forpicatoides Lundblad, 1941

Material examined. Tasmania. 1/0/0, Macquairy River at crossing with road C522, 41° 54.472 S 147° 23.546 E, 28 March 2008. Victoria. 8/9/0, Pool near Lake Catani, Mt. Buffalo NP, 36° 44.060 S 146° 48.698 E, alt. 1300 m a.s.l., 10 March 2008; 4/2/2/, Hedditch’s Waterhole, along road Nelson-Dartmoor, 38° 0 1.540 S 141° 16.882 E, 3 April 2008. New South Wales. 3/0/0, Little Llangothlin Nature Reserve, 30° 0 5.104 S 151° 46.564 E, alt. 1353 m a.s.l., 21 November 2003.

Remarks. Arrenurus -species of the subgenus Micruracarus with a hyaline fork-shaped petiole form a complex group of species ( Smit 1999). The idiosoma of A. forpicatoides is reddish-brown and males from this study are 664–753 long and 559–628 wide. A character not reported before is that I-leg-6 and II-leg-6 have numerous long, fine setae. Moreover, the fork-shaped petiole has a small triangular extension. The idiosoma of A. queenslandicus Smit is green and males of this species have the cauda not set off from the remainder of the idiosoma, and the female has an incomplete dorsal shield. However, specimens from Emu Creek (see below) show a large variation in size and shape, some males have the cauda more or less distinctly set off from the remainder of the idiosoma. Apart from the colour, the only difference appears to be the shape of the petiole: A. forpicatoides has the petiole attached to the idiosoma with a hyaline membrane, while the petiole of A. queenslandicus is lying free because this hyaline membrane is very small. Females are more difficult to distinguish, as there is a large variation in shape of the genital plates, while the dorsal shield is either complete or incomplete (contrary to the original description). The colour of the idiosoma appears to be the only difference between females of the two species.

Distribution. Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria. Here reported for the first time from New South Wales.