Laelaspisella Marais & Loots, 1969

Joharchi, Omid, Ramroodi, Sara & Halliday, Bruce, 2020, Review of the genus Pogonolaelaps Nemati & Gwiazdowicz (Acari: Laelapidae) with description of a new species from Iran, Zootaxa 4820 (3), pp. 465-484 : 466

Genus Laelaspisella Marais & Loots, 1969

Laelaspisella Marais & Loots, 1969: 1 .

Type species. Laelaspisella epigynialis Marais & Loots, 1969 , by original designation.

The genus Laelaspisella Marais & Loots, 1969 was described to accommodate two species found in soil in southern Africa. The diagnostic character states reported for the genus included: dorsal shield hypertrichous; dorsal shield setae short; pre-sternal shields present; metasternal setae absent; epigynal shield widened behind setae st5; setae Jv5 and Zv5 spatulate and pilose, and longer than the other opisthogastric setae; para-anal setae about half as long as post-anal seta; internal malae with conspicuous hair-like appendages; palp tarsal claw with a leaf-like hyaline structure; dorsal seta of chelicera absent; genu I with 12 setae (2 3/2 2/1 2), pd3 absent; and genu IV with 10 setae (2 2/1 3/1 1).

Karg (1989a) considered Laelaspisella as a subgenus of Hypoaspis sensu lato, and added Hypoaspis (Laelaspisella) foramenis Karg, 1989a and Hypoaspis (Laelaspisella) cavitatis Karg, 1982 to the subgenus. Karg & Schorlemmer (2013) returned Laelaspisella to the genus level, with the same four included species. Their key to genera of Hypoaspidinae used three character states to identify the genus—(1) epistome smooth, either an arch or a central point; (2) dorsal shield with more than 140 setae; (3) transverse lines of hypostome with 10–30 teeth. This action involved a significant change in the concept of the genus, because the metasternal setae are present in both L. cavitatis and L. foramenis , and the dorsal cheliceral seta is present at least in L. cavitatis . We have not accepted this dramatically different concept of the genus. Instead we return to the original concept of the genus, with two included species Laelaspisella epigynialis Marais & Loots, 1969 and L. macrodorsalis Marais & Loots, 1969 , as previously proposed by Nemati and Gwiazdowicz (2016).