Arrenurus (Arrenurus) coronopetiolatus, Smit, 2012

Smit, H., 2012, New records of the water mite family Arrenuridae from the Afrotropical region, with the description of 11 new species and two new subspecies (Acari: Hydrachnidia), Zootaxa 3187, pp. 1-31 : 5

Arrenurus (Arrenurus) coronopetiolatus n. sp.

( Figs. 10–13)

Material examined. Holotype male, ditch along Okavango swamp at Drotsky’s Camp, south of Shakawe, Botswana, 18° 25’ 24,2” S 21° 53’ 28,17” E, 23-vii-1996 ( RMNH) . Paratype: one male, same data as holotype ( RMNH) .

Diagnosis. Dorsal shield of male with a raised idiosoma; petiole with a hyaline serrated extension, which is downturned in lateral view.

Description. Male: Idiosoma brownish, 1207 (1134) long (including petiole without hyaline extension), 672 (648) wide and 802 high, anteriorly truncated, widest in the middle. Dorsal shield incomplete, 445 (454) wide, with a raised extension. Anterior margin of idiosoma concave. Pygal lobes absent, cauda indistinctly set off from anterior idiosoma. Hyaline membrane concave. Petiole large, widest in the middle, with a hyaline serrated extension which is downturned in lateral view. Anterior coxal plates not reaching anterior idiosoma margin. Posterior margin of fourth coxal plates concave. Gonopore 50 long. Genital plates long and narrow, extending to lateral idiosoma margin and there widened. Cxgl4 on small humps, V2 on large humps. Lengths of PI-PV: 35, 88, 64, 102, 60. PII with four setae near anterior margin, dorsal margin of PIV with a hump. Lengths of I-leg-4-6: 154, 146, 271. Lengths of IV-leg-4-6: 227, 172, 174; IV-leg-4 without a spur.

Female: Unknown.

Etymology. Named for the petiole with its hyaline extension, which resembles a crown.

Remarks. The new species belongs to a group of Afrotropical species with a raised dorsal shield, i.e. Arrenurus chappuisi Walter, 1922 , A. grandis Walter & Bader, 1952 , A. altissimus Bader, 1976 and A. okavango n. sp. The petiole of the new species will separate it from all other species of this group.