Gaeolaelaps mirzakhaniae, Khalesi & Kazemi, 2018

Khalesi, Talat & Kazemi, Shahrooz, 2018, A new species and new record of Gaeolaelaps Evans & Till (Acari: Mesostigmata: Laelapidae) from Iran, Acarologia 58 (3), pp. 628-639 : 634-636

Remarks — Gaeolaelaps mirzakhaniae n. sp. can be readily distinguished from all other species of the genus by the combination of the following characters: (1) dorsal shield narrowed behind level of setae r3, then abruptly tapered past gland pores gd9 to end into a round,

V-shaped apex; (2) dorsal shield bearing 39 pairs of setae, including px2-3, and seven pairs of gland pores, including gd4; (3) palptarsus apotele two tined. The shape of the dorsal shield of G. mirzakhaniae n. sp. is a characteristic attribute for the species and only G. queenslandicus ( Womersley, 1956) has a similar dorsal shield, but these two species can be easily separated by several differences such as (1) palptarsus apotele two tined vs. three tined G in. queenslandicus ; (2) deutosternal groove with four anterior denticulate rows wider than two posterior rows vs. three anterior denticulate rows wider than three posterior rows G in. queenslandicus ; (3) presence of 39 pairs of setae on dorsal shield vs. 37 pairs in G. queenslandicus (px2-3 absent,

rarely px3 present). Also, in G. mirzakhaniae n. sp. poroids idR3 have been located between setae R2-3, while in other Gaeolaelaps species they inserted in usual region of these poroids, between R3-4 ( Beaulieu 2009; Kazemi et al. 2014).

Material examined — Holotype female: Southeastern Iran, Kerman Province, Dosari

Region (28°25´36˝N; 57°57´19˝E), altitude 640 m above sea level, 19 August 2016, collected in soil and litter of a citrus orchard, coll. T. Khalesi , deposited in Acarological Collection , Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences , Graduate University of Advanced Technology , Kerman, Iran ( ACICST). Paratypes: three females and one male with same data as holotype ( ACICST), one female with same data as holotype, will be deposited in Jalal Afshar Museum of Zoology , Tehran University , Karaj , Iran ( JAMZ), one female and one male in another citrus orchard of the same region (28°25´55˝N; 57°57´26˝E), altitude 644 m above sea level, 22 April 2016, coll. T. Khalesi ( ACICST), three females in Kerman Province, Jiroft Region , Dolat-Abad, (28°36´37˝N; 57°48´10˝E), altitude 637 m above sea level, 23 Sept .

2017, collected in soil of a citrus orchard, coll. F. Dadollahi (ACICST).

Etymology — The species is named in honor of Professor Maryam Mirzakhani (3 May

1977 – 15 July 2017) who was an Iranian mathematician that became both the first woman and the first Iranian honored with the “Fields Medal” in 2014, the most prestigious award in mathematics.