Axonopsella fragala Cook, 1986

Smit, Harry, 2007, New Records of Hyporheic Water Mites from Australia, with a Description of Two New Genera and Ten New Species (Acari: Hydrachnidia), Records of the Australian Museum 59 (2), pp. 97-116 : 104-105

Axonopsella fragala Cook, 1986

Fig. 19

Axonopsella fragala Cook, 1986: 226 ; Harvey, 1998: 138.

Material examined. 1 male, 2 females, Dalrymple Creek , Goomburra State Forest, Qld., Australia, alt. 690 m, 27°58.781'S 152°20.621'E, 17 November 2003 ; 1 female, same location, 5 November 2005 .

Description. Female: Dorsal and ventral shields present; dorsal furrow complete. Idiosoma dorsally 421 (417) long and 365 (365) wide. Ventrally with a separate anterior platelet bearing the antenniform setae. Medial coxal suture line distinct. Fourth coxal plates with two pairs of glandularia and between these glandularia a pair of apophyses. Width of gonopore 70. Genital field with four pairs of acetabula. Posterior three pairs in a line with each other. Lengths of PI–PV: 19, 46, 27, 54, 30. PIV ventrally with a long seta on a small tubercle, located in the middle of segment. Lengths of I-leg-4–6: 44, 55, 35. Lengths of IV-leg-4–6: 66, 70, 50. IVleg-5 with two swimming setae, other legs without swimming setae. Claws with clawlet, without claw blade.

Remarks. Cook (1986) collected the species from northern New South Wales. He also collected Twarntaturus alphus Cook on the same site, which was collected by me from hyporheic habitats as well. Cook (1986) did not describe the female of A. fragala . He pointed out the difficulty of assigning females to described males. Cook could only identify females with specific characters. I assume that the male and females collected by me from the hyporheic sample belong to the same species. The configuration of apophyses of the genital field and the glandularia and of the fourth coxae might be of diagnostic value. However, this needs to be ascertained by more descriptions of females.

Subfamily Notoaturinae Besch

Figures

Fig. 19. Axonopsella fragala Cook, ventral view female. Scale bar = 50 µm.