Androlaelaps projecta Furman, 1972

Joharchi, Omid & Negm, Mohamed W., 2020, Soil-inhabiting mites of the family Laelapidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from Assiut Governorate, Egypt, Zootaxa 4759 (4), pp. 488-510 : 489

Androlaelaps projecta Furman

Figures 1–5 .

Androlaelaps projecta Furman, 1972: 54 .

Specimen examined. One female; 27°11’ N, 31°09’ E, Assiut University, Assiut; 22 June 2016; coll. M.W. Negm; ex. soil.

Remarks. Androlaelaps projecta was described on red-tailed squirrel ( Rodentia : Sciuridae ) from Venezuela ( Furman, 1972). It is now recorded in Egypt for the first time, from soil. Our specimen agrees very well with the description given by Furman (1972). The species is easily recognised by the 39 pairs of relatively long, subequal, smooth dorsal setae (22 pairs of podonotal setae and 17 pairs of opisthonotal setae), including two pairs of Zx setae between J and Z setae, with two unpaired supernumerary seta Jx between J series ( Fig. 1 ), posterior margin of sternal shield with obvious median projection ( Fig. 2 ), genito-ventral shield adjacent the anal shield, a pair of opisthogastric setae in the soft integument between the genito-ventral and anal shields ( Fig. 2 ), corniculi long and needle-like, reaching beyond mid-level of palp femur ( Fig. 3 ), pilus dentilis slender ( Fig. 4 ), setae av on femur–tibia of leg II spur shape ( Fig. 5 ). According to the published descriptions and illustrations, A. aegypticus and A. kifli share almost all the above-mentioned character states with A. projecta . We have not had the opportunity to examine type specimens of these species, but by comparing the descriptions and figures of these species we could not find any distinguishing authentic morphological differences. We believe that A. aegypticus and A. kifli may be junior synonyms of A. projecta .

Figures

FIGURES 1–5. DIC micrographs of Androlaelaps projecta Furman, 1972, female. 1, idiosoma in dorsal view; 2, idiosoma in ventral view; 3, subcapitulum; 4, chelicera; 5, femur, genu and tibia of leg II.