Trochometridium iranicum Hajiqanbar and Khaustov, 2009

Hajiqanbar, Hamidreza, Khaustov, Alexander, Kamali, Karim, Saboori, Alireza & Kamali, Hashem, 2009, New taxa of the family Trochometridiidae (Acari: Heterostigmata) associated with insects from Iran, Journal of Natural History 43 (43 - 44), pp. 2701-2722 : 2711-2719

Trochometridium iranicum Hajiqanbar and Khaustov sp. nov.

( Figures 4–6 )

Female

Length of idiosoma 205 (210–227), width 130 (123–137).

Gnathosoma. Length of gnathosoma 42 (40–45), width 36 (34–44); Gnathosomal capsule subquadrangular in dorsal aspect; cheliceral stylets 9 (8–10) stout and curved; palpi prominent, exceeding apex of stylophore, apically free, two-segmented, femurogena with two setae dGe 9 (8–9) and dFe 11 (9–10), both slightly barbed, tibiotarsus with a large solenidion 6 (6–7) and a small rod-shaped eupathidion, along with some setigenous appendices, small tibial claw entire; gnathosoma dorsally with two pairs of cheliceral setae ch 1 11 (10–12) and ch 2 3 (3–4), ch 1 barbed, thicker and longer than ch 2, ch 2 stout and smooth, ventrally with two pairs of slightly barbed setae su 1 26 (21–27) and su 2 6 (7–10), su 1 much longer than su 2, laterally with palpcoxal setae pp 4 (4–6).

Idiosomal dorsum ( Figure 4 ). Trichobothridia capitate; stigmata elliptical and bent in the middle part; all dorsal setae barbed, blunt-ended and rough; all dorsal plates smooth, cupuli not visible; length of dorsal setae: v 1 20 (18–20), v 2 14 (14– 16), sc 2 42 (37–45), c 1 29 (29–32), c 2 57 (49–57), d 28 (26–29), e 14 (12–14), f 14 (14–15), h 1 35 (32–36), h 2 13 (14–15); distances between dorsal setae: v 1 – v 1 10 (10– 11), v 2 – v 2 46 (43–47), sc 2 – sc 2 37 (35–36), c 1 – c 1 29 (29–32), d–d 36 (32–34), e–e 34 (33–35), f–f 23 (20–21), e–f 6 (7–8), h 1 – h 1 22 (20–21), h 2 – h 2 43 (39–49), h 1 – h 2 11 (9–14).

Idiosomal venter ( Figure 5 ). All setae of ventral plates finely barbed and attenuated; apodemes I, II and V well-developed, apodemes III reduced, apodemes IV developed but interrupted medially, sejugal apodeme not extended continuously; sporothecae present and visible between coxae III and IV; length of ventral setae: 1 a 21 (19–20), 1 b 17 (16–19), 1 c 16 (13–16), 2 a 40 (34–37), 2 b 33 (28–34), 2 c 18 (15–20), 3 a 26 (21–27), 3 b 34 (30–33), 3 c 32 (26–31), 4 a 33 (27–33), 4 b 33 (26–33), 4 c 32 (25–32), ag 13 (11–16), ps 1 11 (11–12), ps 2 10 (9–10).

Legs ( Figure 6 ). Legs II–IV with pair of claws and large empodium. Leg I ( Figure 6A ); more massive than legs II–IV, tarsus bearing one enlarged, sickle-like claw opposed to the prominent spine-like unguinal setae u’–u”, u’ longer than u”; solenidion w large, finger-shaped 9 (9–10) with an apical prickle; tectal seta tc” located on pinaculum; primilateral setae pl’ and pl” whip-like, pl” distinctly longer than pl’; setae l’ and pv’ barbed; on tibia solenidion j 1 8 (9–9) fingershaped, longer than j 2 5 (6–6) which rod-like; eupathidial seta k stiff and extended basally; setae d on tibia ultralong and attenuated; setae l’ and d on genu blunt-ended, setae l’ on femur blunt-ended, seta d ultralong and attenuated, seta v’ modified and hook-like.

Leg II ( Figure 6B ): solenidion w large, finger-shaped 8 (7–8) bearing an apical prickle; eupathidial seta p’ finely barbed; seta pv’ modified, barbed and extended basally and medially; solenidion j on tibia uniformly thin 9 (9–10); seta d on the femur distinctly blunt-ended.

Leg III ( Figure 6C ): solenidion j on tibia uniformly thin 9 (8–9); seta d on tibia ultralong and attenuated; setae l’ and l” on the genu and seta d on femur blunt-ended.

Leg IV ( Figure 6D ): tectal seta tc” and primilateral seta pl” on tarsus barbed; solenidion j on tibia uniformly thin 9 (9–11); seta d on tibia ultralong and attenuated; seta l” on the genu and seta d on femur blunt-ended.

Male and larva

Male and larva unknown.

Differential diagnosis

The new species resembles three previously described species; T. tribulatum , T. chinensis and T. kazachstanicum . Mites of T. iranicum are readily distinguished from T. chinensis by their shorter dorsal and ventral setae (most dorsal and ventral setae ultralong in T. chinensis ), their distinctly shorter seta f, approximately as long as seta e (seta f much longer and thicker than seta e in T. chinensis ). Trochometridium iranicum differs from T. kazachstanicum by its clearly longer seta h 1, at least twice as long as seta h 2 (h 1 shorter and almost as long as seta h 2 in T. kazachstanicum ). The new species differs from T. tribulatum by shorter seta d, such that the lengths of the setae are shorter than their basal distance (setae d distinctly longer than distance between their bases in T. tribulatum ).

Type material

Holotype female (Sab-5) found in Mazinan village, vicinity of Sabzevar town, Razawi Khorassan province, northeastern Iran, 36°18.510′ N, 56°48.507′ E, altitude 877 m, collected by Hamidreza Hajiqanbar, 3 June 2007. The mites were found twice (five mites on one bee host and four mites on another one, the same species) phoretic on ventral body surfaces, grasping to sternite hairs of mesosoma and metasoma of Pseudapis nilotica (Smith, 1875) ( Hymenoptera : Halictidae : Nomiinae). The bees were captured by netting.

Paratypes: eight females (Sab-5 and Sab-6), same collection data as holotype .

Etymology

The name of the new species refers to its country of origin, “ Iran ”.

New records of the Trochometridiidae from Iran

In addition to some new taxa of trochometridiid mites described above, we also collected two previously described species of the genus Trochometridium over the course of our study which were new to Iran’s arthropod fauna: T. kazachstanicum and T. chinensis .

Trochometridium kazachstanicum Khaustov et Eidelberg, 2002 was collected on 3 June 2007 from Gymnopleurus (s. str.) mopsus persianus Reitter, 1909 ( Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae ) in Mehr village, vicinity of Sabzevar town, Razawi Khorassan province, northeastern Iran, 36°17.577′ N, 56°73.314′ E, altitude 1024 m. The beetle hosts were found several times in dung and the related mites were observed twice on the ventral body surfaces of the hosts; each time four mites were seen, giving a total of eight mites. A previous record of T. kazachstanicum is from Kazakhstan where it was associated with a carabid beetle Machozetus sp. ( Khaustov and Eidelberg 2002).

Trochometridium chinensis ( Mahunka, 1966) was collected on 31 July 2006 from an undetermined labidurid earwig ( Dermaptera : Labiduridae ) in the vicinity of Maneh and Samalghan town, North Khorassan province, northeastern Iran, 37.7° N, 56.4° E, altitude 2365 m. The earwig host was found under a stone and nine mites were observed. Previous records of T. chinensis were from China associated with wasps and from the Netherlands and New Guinea associated with sphecoid wasps ( Mahunka 1966; Cross and Bohart 1979).

Figures

Figure 4. Trochometridium iranicum sp. nov., female. Dorsum of the body.

Figure 5. Trochometridium iranicum, sp. nov., female. Venter of the body.

Figure 6. Trochometridium iranicum sp. nov., female. (A–D) Dorsal views of legs I–IV, respectively.