Arrenurus (Micruracarus) forcipetiolatus Walter, 1922

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 : 22

Arrenurus (Micruracarus) forcipetiolatus Walter, 1922

( Fig. 55)

Material examined. ETHIOPIA. 1/2/0, marsh near Lake Awasa , Awasa, 7° 02.964 N 38° 27.621 E, alt. 1684 m a.s.l., 3-xi-2006 .

Remarks. In the original description by Walter (1922), the tube-like petiole has an upper margin with a pointed extension. Halbert (1906) reported the species from Lake Nyasa, Tanzania (as A. plenipalpis Koenike, 1893 , later assigned to A. forcipetiolatus by K. Viets 1942 - but assignment questioned by K.O. Viets 1972). Halbert illustrated the tube-like petiole with a rounded extension, like the species from this study. Lundblad (1942), too, illustrated the upper margin of the petiole with a (very) short, rounded extension. The male from this study is 1013 long and 753 wide, the dorsal shield is 458 long and 498 wide. Near the posterior end of the cleft there is a hyaline extension, of which the shape cannot be determined exactly (although Lundblad described these extensions as triangular). The females of this study are 1136–1196 long and 891–948 wide, the complete dorsal shield is 851– 855 long and 591–640 wide. It must be noted that the two females differ considerably in shape of the idiosoma, coxal plates and genital plates.

Previously, the species has been reported from Sudan ( Walter 1922), Zimbabwe ( Halbert 1906), Ethiopia ( Lundblad 1942) and South Africa (only ♀, Bader & Jansen van Rensburg 1969).