Guatemalozetes atypicus, Mahunka, 2006

Mahunka, S., 2006, Oribatid Mites (Acari: Oribatida) From Venezuela, Ii. New Or Rare Species From Montane Forests, Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 52 (3), pp. 271-286 : 283-285

Guatemalozetes atypicus sp. n.

( Figs 28–32 )

Diagnosis: Rostral apex with small teeth, or irregularly undulate. Lamellae wide, completely fused with each other, without separate apices. A distinct, curved tutorium present. Dorsosejugal suture undulate, pteromorphae triangular. Ten pairs of short notogastral setae and 3 pairs of minute sacculi or indistinct porose areas present. Discidium and custodiumm well developed. Anogenital setal formula 6–1–2–3. Legs monodactylous.

Material examined: Holotype: Estado Mérida. Secondary mesic forest N of Mérida town, on the ridge above the district of Maria Norrte , at 1800 m alt. Litter. 27 March, 1997. Coll. S. & T . PÓCS (No. 9741) . Four paratypes from the same sample. Holotype (1704-HO-05) and 3 paratypes (1704-PO-05): HNHM , 1 paratype: MHNG .

Measurements: Length of body: 301–319 µm, width of body: 144–154 µm.

Prodorsum: Rostrum divided, mostly tripartite ( Fig. 29 ), or with some teeth. Lamellae large, their anterior part completely fused, no line between them ( Fig. 28 ). Lamellar setae arising on their distal end, lamellar cusps absent. Interlamellar region long, it basal part, near the dorsosejugal suture, with a pair of very short interlamellar setae. Rostral and lamellar setae also simple, comparatively short, setae le shorter than setae ro.

Notogaster: Dorsosejugal suture distinct, sometimes weakly undulate. Pteromorphae immovable. Ten pairs of thin, simple notogastral setae and 3 pairs of hardly observable, minute sacculi or pori present. Posterior notogastral tectum divided, its parts overlapping.

Lateral part of podosoma ( Fig. 32 ): Tutorium short, with curved, sharply pointed apex, narrowing distally. Rostral seta inserted far from it, on a small tubercle. Pedotectum 1 large, convex distally. Circumpedal carina gradually narrowing, not reaching to the lateral margin of the ventral plate ( Fig. 29 ).

Ventral parts ( Fig. 29 ): Infracapitulum triangular medially. Epimeral region distinctly framed by longitudinal lines. Apodemes and epimeral borders characteristic, bo. sej. and bo. 3 fused medially and compose a transversal structure in front of the genital aperture, bo. 4 absent. Epimeral setal formula 3–1–3–3. All setae simple, setiform, comparatively short. Setae 1c arising near pedotectum 1. Discidium and custodium well-developed ( Fig. 30 ). Anogenital setal formula 6–1–2–3. Anal plates framed by a crest, adanal setae arising on it. All setae of this region short and simple.

Legs: All legs monodactylous. Femur of leg IV with wide blade-like formation basally.

Remarks: On the basis of the form of the body and the sensillus, the movable pteromorphae, the anogenital setal formula, the setation of the legs and the form of the palp tarsus and its setation the new taxa is relegable to the family Ceratozetidae JACOT, 1925 . From the heretofore known species it is well distinguishable by the wide lamellae, the shape of the tutorium and the form of the epimeral borders and apodemes. This combination of features is unknown in the family.

Etymology: Named after the atypical form of the rostral apex, which is undulate and bears small teeth.

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Acknowledgements – This work was partly supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA numbers T38319 and T45889). I should like to thank the organisers and collectors of the collecting trip (Dr. TAMÁS PÓCS and Dr. CSABA CSUZDI) and as collectors also Mr. DÁVID MURÁNYI. I am most grateful to Dr. NIKOLAJ SCHARFF (Copenhagen), who kindly loaned me the holotype of Arcozetes bicuspidatus HAMMER, 1958 , much promoting my work thereby. I should also like to thank Dr. LAJOS ZOMBORI for reviewing the English text of my paper and for the translation of some paragraphs.

Figures

Figs 28–32. Guatemalozetes atypicus sp. n. 28 = body in dorsal view, 29 = rostrum in frontal view, 30 = body in ventral view, 31 = genital region, 32 = lateral part of the podosoma in lateral view