Cosmolaelaps michaeli ( Huhta & Karg, 2010 )

Khalili-Moghadam, A. & Saboori, A., 2015, Some mesostigmatic mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) associated with ants in Shahrekord region, Iran, Ecologica Montenegrina 2 (4), pp. 315-326 : 317

Cosmolaelaps michaeli ( Huhta & Karg, 2010)

Hypoaspis (Cosmolaelaps) michaeli Huhta & Karg 2010: 329 .

Cosmolaelaps michaeli .— Moriera et al. 2014: 319.

Collection data. Females (n = 15) and males (n = 4) of Cosmolaelaps michaeli were collected from soil of ant nests, Tapinoma sp. (Hym.: Formicidae ) in Saman city (32° 30' 29" N, 50° 54' 57" E, 2015 m a.s.l.), 28.03.2014 and Shahrekord city (32° 19' 39" N, 50° 51' 35" E, 2206 m a.s.l.), 25.04.2014.

Notes. Five of the specimens collected were heteromorphic males. Those are similar in general characters with ordinary males, but the most distinctive difference between them is the strong outgrowth shaft-like appendage in the ventrianal region of the holoventral shield, and strong legs IV with two spur-like appendages on internal side of its tarsus ( Fig. 7). The shaft-like appendage is attached to the posterior part of opisthogastric region, extended anteriorly between coxa IV, and its tip lies between two small swollen knobs near coxa IV ( Fig. 8). In some specimens the tip of this appendage is free ( Fig. 7) and detached from the knob-like swellings. One specimen lacks the shaft-like appendage, but the two small knob-like swellings are present ( Fig. 9). The function of this shaft-like appendage is unknown. In this study, we report the normal and heteromorphic males of Cosmolaelaps michaeli for the first time. Also, the species is reported for the first time from Iran. Heteromorphic males have been reported for Cosmolaelaps vacua by Hirschmann et al. (1969) and Gwiazdowicz (2004), and for Cosmolaelaps cuneifer by Wiśniewski (1982). The heteromorphic male of C. vacua , which is similar to our specimens, were reported from Poland by Gwiazdowicz (2004). The Iranian specimens of C. michaeli were compared with materials of this species in Görlitz museum (Görlitz, Germany) by A. Nemati (University of Shahrekord, Shahrekord, Iran).