Proprioseiopsis cf. umidus Karg, 1989

Faraji, Farid & Hoekstra, Paul H., 2021, Some new species records of the predatory mite family Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from The Netherlands, Soil Organisms 93 (1), pp. 35-57 : 45

Proprioseiopsis cf. umidus Karg, 1989

( Fig. 7 : A–D)

Female– One specimen measured.

Idiosomal setal pattern: 10A:8E/JV–3:ZV.

Dorsal idiosoma ( Fig. 7A ) – Dorsal shield oval smooth 345 long and 240 wide at j 6 level, with 18 pairs of dorsal setae (r 3 and R 1 included); dorsal shield setae smooth, except for Z 4, Z 5, slightly serrated; lengths j 1 20, j 3 40, j 4, j 5, z 5, 5–6, j 6 8, J 5 7, z 2 17, z 4 24, Z 1 8, Z 4 85, Z 5 93, s 4 66, S 2 9, S 4 12, S5 16; setae r 3 17 and R 1 11 on lateral integument; dorsal shield with 7 pairs of solenostomes (gd 1, gd 2, gd 4, gd 5, gd 6, gd 8, gd 9) and 14 pairs of small poroids. Setae z 4 longer than z 2.

Peritreme – Extending well beyond setae j 1 ( Fig. 7A ).

Ventral idiosoma ( Fig. 7B ) – Sternal shield smooth but with fine punctation wider than long, posterior margin slightly concave, smooth at the central area with some lateral striae, 58 long, 84 wide at level of setae ST 2, three pairs of setae and two pairs of pores (iv 1 and iv 2), ST 1 28, ST 2 28, ST 3 25; distances between ST 1 –ST 3 60, ST 1 –ST 1 49 and ST 2 –ST 2 68; metasternal setae ST 4 24 and a pair of pores (iv 3) on small platelets; genital shield smooth with fine punctation, width at widest point 81, ST 5 25; two pairs of metapodal shields, primary 21 long and accessory 13 long; ventrianal shield shield-shaped ( Fig. 7B ), with some striae and fine punctation, length 107, width at level of setae ZV 2, 112, and width at level of paranal setae 79; with three pairs of preanal setae (JV 1 21, JV 2 20, ZV 2 20); four pairs of setae surrounding ventrianal shield on integument (JV 4 13, JV 5 46, ZV 1 17, ZV 3 13), six pairs of pores and one pair of small platelets surrounding ventrianal shield. Ventrianal shield with a pair of small round pores posteromesad to JV 2, distance between these pores 41.

Spermatheca – Calyx saccular 15–17 long, 6 in diameter at the middle part of the calyx; atrium inserted at the base of the calyx ( Fig. 7C ).

Chelicera – Digits are closed but it seems to have a fixed digit with 9–10 teeth and a pilus dentilis; movable digit with 2 teeth.

Legs – Leg IV ( Fig. 7D ) with three pointed macrosetae, SgeIV 59, StiIV 55, StIV 57; lengths of macrosetae on other legs: SgeIII 30, SgeII 29; leg I with no recognizable macrosetae; length of legs from the base of coxae to the tip of claws: leg I 361, leg II 290, leg III 280, leg IV 366; chaetotactic formulae of genua and tibiae I–II–III–IV with 10 (2-2/1, 2/1-2) – 8 (2-2/1, 2/0-1) – 7 (1-2/1, 2/0-1) – 7 (1-2/0, 2/1-1) and 10 (2-2/1, 2/1-2) – 7 (1-1/1, 2/1-1) – 7 (1-1/1, 2/1-1) – 6 (1-1/1, 2/0-1) setae respectively.

Distribution – Finland, Germany, Russia and The Netherlands (this study).

Specimen examined – One female, 28 July 2010, unidentified weeds from a grassland, Sinderhoeve , near Renkum, The Netherlands (51°59’52.9”N 5°45’15.9”E), collector: Frank Bakker.

Remarks – Following the key for Propriosiopsis species provided by Karg (1993), this species would be identified as P. umidus by having the fixed digit of chelicera multidentate, z 2 shorter than j 1 and Z 5 less than half of dorsal shield’s width. Our specimen however shows clearly that z 4 (24) is longer than z 2 (17), while in P. umidus z 4 is shorter than z 2. Seta s 4 in our specimen is much shorter than that of P. umidus (51–52 vs 80–90). This finding might represent a new species, but pending collection of more material, we avoid describing it as a new species.

Figures

Figure 7. Proprioseiopsis cf.umidus Karg (Female): (A) Idiosoma, dorsal view; (B) Idiosoma, ventral view; (C) Spermatheca; (D) Leg IV.