Afroleius crassus, Coetzee, 2013

Coetzee, L., 2013, New Species Of The Genus Afroleius Mahunka, 1984 (Acari, Oribatida, Mycobatidae) From South Africa, Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 59 (4), pp. 307-319 : 308-312

Afroleius crassus sp. n.

(Figs 1–7)

Diagnosis – Notogastralsurfacereticulate, prodorsalandventralsurfac- esfoveate; lateralandposteriormarginsofnotogasterundulate; octotaxicsystemconsistingofsacculeswithwideopenings; bothridialsetaclavate, stalk short; rostralsetaveryshort; lamellarsetalong, roughened, curvingmedially; interlamellarsetaminute; notogastralsetaeminute; lateralnotogastralprofile wedge- shaped; prominentdorsaldensontarsiIandII; distalendofgenuI antiaxiallywithprominentdorsalandventralcusps; distalendofgenuIIan- tiaxiallywithprominentlateralcusp.

Dimensions – Holotype (female): Length 330 μm, width 230 μm. Paratypes: Females (n = 2): Length 324 μm (311–338 μm), width 222 μm (213–236 μm). Males (n = 7): Length 299 μm (284–316 μm), width 206 μm (196–218 μm).

Prodorsum (Figs 1 & 2) – Rostrumroundedindorsalview, rostralprofiledeeplyin- dentedinlateralview; prodorsalsurfacefoveate, foveaebecomingsmallerandfractioned towardsposteriorborderofprodorsum; lamella (L) wide, extendingoverlateralmargin ofprodorsum; rostralseta (ro) (ventrallyvisible) short, (~ 16 μm) roughened, insertedat anteriorapexoftutorium; lamellarseta (le) long (~ 32 μm), roughened, curvedmedially; interlamellarseta (in) minute (~ 7 μm); bothridiumsmall, openingdirectedventrally; head ofbothridialseta (bo) clavate, granular, surfaceroughened, lengthofbothridialstalkmore orlessaslongasbothridialhead.

Notogaster (Figs 1 & 2) – Surfacereticulate; mediallyslightlyelevated, marginally depressed, postero- lateralmargindeeplyundulate; octotaxicsystemconsistingofsaccules, openingsofsacculessurroundedbythickintegument; tenpairsofminute (~ 7 μm) notogastralsetaepresent; lyrifissure im clearlyvisible; opisthosomalgland gla small, situ- atedclosetosaccule S 1; inlateralviewposteriorpartofnotogastermuchhigherthananteriorpart.

Podosomaandgnathosoma (Figs 2 & 3) – Surfaceofmentumfoveate, foveaefading posteriorly; genalnotch (gn) present; genaltoothverybroad, short; axillarysacculeshort; epimeralsetaeminute; epimeralsurfacefoveate; epimeralseta 1c absent; tutorium (tu) narrow, anteriorsurfacebelow tu finelygranulate; pedotectumI (pdI) large, wide, surface foveate; pedotectumII (pdII) small.

Ventralplate (Fig. 3) – Surfaceofgenitalandanalplatesfaintlyfoveate, ventralplate mediallywithlargefoveae, marginallywithsmallerfoveae; regionposteriortoanalplates granulate; iad situatedlaterallyofanalplates; ad 1–2 insertedposteriorlytoanalplate, ad 3 insertedmedio- laterallytoanalplate, posteriorto iad; postanalporoseareasmall, round; preanalorganofmediumlength.

Legs (Figs 4–7) – Setalformula (trochantertotarsus, famulusincluded): LegI 1–5–3– 4–20; LegII 1–5–3–4–15; LegIII 2–2–1–3–15; LegIV 1–2–2–3–12. Solenidialformula (genu to tarsus): Leg I 1–2–2; Leg II 1–1–2; Leg III 1–1–0; Leg IV 0–1–0.

Legsrelativelyshort; dorsalintegumentoftarsiI, IIandIVandtibiaeI, IIandIV thick; poroseareasonfemoraI-IVnarrow, situatedpostero- dorsally; poroseareasontro- chantersIIIandIVsituatedparaxially. LegI: Sharplypointedcurveddenspresentondorsalsideoftarsusproximaltotectalsetae; antiaxialfastigialseta (ft ”) veryshortandthin; famulus (ε) minute; distalendofgenuantiaxiallywithdorsalandventralcusps (indicated byarrows). LegII: Tarsusshort, broad; sharplypointedcurveddenspresentondorsalside oftarsusproximaltotectalsetae; distalendofgenuantiaxiallywithventralcusp (indicated byarrow). LegIII: Allsetaesmooth. LegIV: Dorsalsurfaceoftarsusandtibiauneven; tarsusantiaxiallywithdiagonaltectumrunningfrominsertionof ft” toproximo- ventralbase ofsegment; femurventrallywithwideflange; dorsalseta (d) onfemurthick, roughened, allothersetaesmooth.

Materialexamined: Holotype (female) ( NMB 2099.32.1) ( Fig. 18 ) andnineparatypes (twofemales, sevenmales) ( NMB 2099.32.2) – Winklespruit 30°07’S 30°50’E, 7 March 1982 (C. M. Engelbrecht), soilandplantdebrisfromurbanenvironment.

Additionalmaterial : IndianOceancoastalbelt – Soilandlittersamplesfromtemper- ateforests, riverineforests, thicketsandurbanenvironmentscollectedatMtunzini (WaterlooEstate) (28°59’S 31°44’E) , VernonCrookesNatureReserve (30°16’S 30°35’E), Mapelane (28°22’S 32°23’E) , St. Lucia ( Mission Rocks ) (28°15’S 32°30’E) , Cape Vidal (28°6’S 32°33’E) , Dukuduku (28°20’S 32°18’E) , Charter’s Creek (28°22’S 32°24’E) , Oribi Gorge (30°41’S 30°16’E)

Figs 1–3. Afroleiuscrassus sp. n.: 1 = dorsalaspect, 2 = lateralaspect, 3 = ventralaspect. Scale bar 100 μm.

Scottburgh (30°16’S 30°44’E), Umkomaas (30°14’S 30°46’E), Margate (30°2’S 30°22’E), Palm Beach (31°03’S 30°14’E). Northernmistbeltforests – Lydenburg (25°08’S 30°32’E).

Figs 4–7. Afroleius crassus sp. n.: 4 = leg I, right side, antiaxial aspect, 5 = leg II, right side, antiaxialaspect, 6 = legIII, leftside, antiaxialaspect, 7 = legIV, rightside, antiaxialaspect.

Diagonaltectumindicated. Scalebar 50 μm.

Etymology – Thespeciesnamereferstothecoarseappearanceofthenotogastral integument.

Remarks – Theunevenoutlineofthenotogasterindorsalview, thedifferentpatternsoftheintegumentofthenotogaster (reticulate) andtheventral plate (largefoveae), andthewedge- shapedlateralprofiledistinguishesthis speciesfromitscongeners. Althoughthisspeciesseemstobewidelydistrib- utedintheeasternpartsofthecountry, itisnotabundant- onaverageabout two A. crassus sp. n. specimenspersample. Thisspeciesisrestrictedtothe eastern, wellvegetatedregionsofSouthAfrica, wherehighrainfalloccurs.

Figures

Fig. 18. Known distribution of A. crassus sp. n. (circle); A. decurvatus sp. n. (triangle) and A. deformatoides sp. n. (cross) in South Africa.