Lohmannia aciculata Berlese

van der Hammen, L., 1959, Berlese's Primitive Oribatid Mites, Zoologische Verhandelingen 40, pp. 1-93 : 59

Lohmannia aciculata Berlese , 1904

Lohmannia murcioides var. aciculata Berlese , 1904b, p. 24, pl. 2 fig. 39.

Lohmannia aciculata , Berlese, 1916a, p. 176.

The present species has a combination of characters, which does not fit in with any of the genera now known. Grandjean (1950a, p. 159) mentions the occurrence of the same combination in a specimen that he regarded as possibly identical with L. aciculata . The species is characterized by divided genital plates, a covered prae-anal plate, separate anals, and the presence of ventral femoral lamellae. (Recently a new genus Papillacarus , with aciculata as type, was created by Kunst, 1959).

Although the type of the species is no more present (Berlese mentions the Boboli Gardens at Florence as type locality), there is another preparation in the Berlese Collection, viz. no. 201/29 from San Vincenzo near Pisa.

Apart from the above-mentioned characters, I point to the faint neotrichy; the secondary hairs in the posterior part of the notogaster are comparatively small. Without remounting of the single slide, it appeared impossible to correctly describe the remarkable structure of the tegument.

Mr. D. Macfarlane kindly sent to me a slide of the species from the Michael Collection, property of the British Museum (Natural History); the label bears in Berlese's own handwriting the name " Lohmannia aciculata Berl." and the locality "Firenze". The identification of the specimens is correct. Because they can be regarded as cotypes, a redescription will be important; remounting is, however, necessary.