Epicrius schusteri Błaszak & Alberti, 1989

Án, Peter Ma Ò, 2008, The family Epicriidae in Slovakia: annotated faunal synopsis and description of a new species of Epicrius (Acari, Mesostigmata, Epicriidae), Zootaxa 1880, pp. 48-68 : 58

Epicrius schusteri Błaszak & Alberti, 1989

Epicrius schusteri Błaszak & Alberti, 1989: 67 ; Karg, 1993: 244.

not Epicrius schusteri (= Epicrius tauricus Bregetova, 1977 ).— Krumpál et al., 1998: 55.

Published data. See “Misidentification and dubious data from Slovakia ”.

New data. 1 Ψ, 2 ɗɗ – 2/1; 4 ΨΨ, 1 ɗ – 3/1; 1 ɗ – 12/1; 5 ΨΨ, 5 ɗɗ – 12/2; 3 ɗɗ, 1 DN – 12/3; 1 Ψ, 1 ɗ – 12/ 4; 3 ΨΨ – 20/2; 3 ΨΨ, 1 DN – 20/3; 3 ΨΨ, 1 ɗ – 20/4; 1 ɗ – 20/6; 3 ΨΨ, 1 ɗ – 22/1.

Ecology. Silvicolous species discontinuously distributed in southern parts of Slovakia ( Fig. 1 ), and relatively common in some mountains of the south-west (Malé Karpaty Mts., Považský Inovec Mts.). It primarily inhabits mesophilous forested stands in low highlands at altitudes between 210 and 700 m ( Fig. 2 ). Its occurrence was recorded in leaf litter of various mixed deciduous forests, especially with oak and beech. It probably originates from refuges in South-West Europe.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Known distribution of epicriid species in Slovakia (dotted area represents Pannonian flora distribution).

FIGURE 2. Distribution of relative abundance and frequency of the most common epicriids in dependence on altitude in Slovakia. Explanations: white bar – relative abundance, black bar – relative frequency.