Neotrombicula vulgaris ( Schluger, 1955 )

Stekolnikov, Alexandr & Daniel, Milan, 2012, 3216, Zootaxa 3216, pp. 1-104 : 51-52

Neotrombicula vulgaris ( Schluger, 1955)

( Fig. 33)

Trombicula vulgaris Schluger, 1955: 213 , fig. 362.

Neotrombicula vulgaris, Kudryashova 1979: 66 ; Stekolnikov 1999: 389.

Neotrombicula (Neotrombicula) vulgaris, Kudryashova 1998: 203 , fig. 161.

Neotrombicula (Neotrombicula) inopinata (non Oudemans, 1909), Kolebinova 1992: 78, fig. 39 (misidentification).

Trombicula acomys Radford, 1957: 140 , figs. 6–10, syn. nov.

Neotrombicula (Neotrombicula) acomys, Kepka 1966: 46 , fig. 1c.

Diagnosis. SIF = 7BS-N-3-3111.1000; fPp = B/B/NNB; fCx = 1.1.1; fSt = 2.2; fSc: PL> AM> AL; Ip = 725–916; fD = 4H-(7–10)-(10–15)-(7–16)-(6–11)-…; DS = 43–63; VS = 24–37; NDV = 72–95. Standard measurements of two specimens from Turkey (Ayvacik) (second specimen in parentheses): AW 72(76), PW 88(89), SB 32(31), ASB 27(27), PSB 26(27), SD 53(54), P-PL 26(25), AP 25(27), AM -(50), AL 41(40), PL 53(53), H 49(52), D min 40(40), D max 50(52), V min 33(31), V max 44(45), pa 265(266), pm 243(241), pp 275(274), Ip 783(781), DS 44(47), VS 30(34), NDV 74(81), TaIII 68(65), m-t 0.211(0.208), fD 4H-8-10-8-7-7 (4H-10-10-8-8-7).

Type material deposition. Syntypes of Trombicula vulgaris are deposited in ZMMU. Holotype of T. acomys was deposited in the private collection of C.D. Radford; its present depository is unknown. Two paratypes of this species are deposited in USNM (M.L. Goff, personal communication). Type locality of T. acomys is Mishmar Ha’Emeq in Israel (32° 36' 43" N, 35° 08' 41" E).

Type material examined. 10 syntypes larvae, host not given, RUSSIA: Stavropolskiy Krai , Aleksandrovskoye (44° 42' 51" N, 43° 00' 03" E), coll. V.P. Petrov, det. E.G. Schluger.

Material from Turkey examined. Two larvae (ZISP) ex Apodemus flavicollis , Çanakkale Prov., 3.8 km SW from Ayvacik , 340 m a.s.l., 12 October 1969, coll. M. Daniel; 1 larva (ZISP) ex A. mystacinus , Çorum Prov., 1.7 km E from Bogazkale, near Yazılıkaya , 1190 m a.s.l., 26 October 1969, coll. M. Daniel.

Hosts. Cricetulus migratorius (Pallas) , Arvicola amphibius (L.), Myodes glareolus (Schreber) , Myodes rutilus (Pallas) , Microtus arvalis (Pallas) , M. majori Thomas , M. oeconomus (Pallas) , Chionomys gud (Satunin) , Apodemus agrarius (Pallas) , A. flavicollis (Melchior) , A. sylvaticus (L.), and Chionomys gud (Satunin) ( Stekolnikov 1999) plus Acomys cahirinus (Geoffroy), Apodemus mystacinus (Danford and Alston) , and Rattus rattus (L.).

Distribution. Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia (Krasnodarskiy Krai, Stavropolskiy Krai, North Ossetia), Turkmenistan, China. This species is here recorded from Turkey and Israel for the first time. Records of N. acomys in Turkey according to Kepka (1966): Kavaklidere, Bornova, KemalpaŞa.

Remarks. Trombicula acomys Radford, 1957 described from Acomys cahirinus in Israel does not differ from Neotrombicula vulgaris , except in the number of genualae I. It was stated in the original description that T. acomys has only one genuala I, but this is an obvious error ( Kepka 1966).

Kolebinova (1992) erroneously applied the name Neotrombicula acomys to some species, which should be placed in the genus Kepkatrombicula and is a probable synonym of K. tadjikistanica (Kudryashova and Abou- Taka, 1987) ( Stekolnikov 2001c). Its description ( Kolebinova 1992) differs from the original description of T. acomys in fPp = B/B/NBB vs. B/B/NNB, two humeral setae vs. four, more numerous idiosomal setae (NDV = 102 vs. 78), and in some other characters.