Xanthippe Naskrecki & Colwell

De Moraes, Gilberto J., Britto, Erika P. J., Mineiro, Jefferson L. De C. & Halliday, Bruce, 2016, Catalogue of the mite families Ascidae Voigts & Oudemans, Blattisociidae Garman and Melicharidae Hirschmann (Acari: Mesostigmata), Zootaxa 4112 (1), pp. 1-299 : 58

Xanthippe Naskrecki & Colwell

FEMALE

Gnathosoma. Anterior margin of epistome with a short median lobe, smooth. Deutosternum wide, with subparallel delimiting lateral lines and seven rows of 7–10 denticles each. Setae h1, h3 and pc not greatly different in lengths; seta h2 slightly shorter than others; insertion of h2 anterior to insertion of h3. Inner palp trochanter seta longer than outer seta, but not elongate. Corniculi about five times as long as their basal widths, with pointed tips, close to each other, strongly convergent distally. Palp tarsal apotele two-tined. Cheliceral digits short; fixed digit with three teeth in addition to apical tooth and membranous lobe instead of setiform pilus dentilis; movable digit with one tooth in addition to apical tooth and mucronate ventral process.

Idiosoma. Ovoid. Dorsum: podonotal and opisthonotal shields fused, smooth or opisthonotal region of dorsal shield ornamented, with lateral incisions at region of fusion, sometimes with irregular lateral margins and offset lateral fragments, without transverse and nearly straight lines or delineated strip along lateral margins; anterior end of dorsal shield not strongly deflexed. No supernumerary setae on dorsal shield or on unsclerotised lateral cuticle. Podonotal region of shield with 17–19 pairs of setae (z3 absent; r2–r3 sometimes on the shield; r3 similar to neighbouring setae). Opisthonotal region of shield with 15–16 pairs of setae (R3 sometimes on the shield). Unsclerotised lateral cuticle with 12–15 pairs of setae, including some UR setae. Most dorsal and lateral setae of idiosoma shorter than distance between their bases, acicular and smooth; some dorsal shield setae may be much shorter than others. Vent er: a pair of presternal platelets present. Sternal shield wider than long, with one (st2) or two (st2–st3) pairs of sternal setae; st1 (and in some specimens st3) inserted on unsclerotised cuticle; st1–st3 subequal in length; st2 about equidistant to st1 and st3; posterior shield region convex. Third pair of sternal lyrifissures (iv3) and st4 inserted on unsclerotised cuticle. Genital shield not wide enough to include iv5, but including st5; anterior margin of hyaline region convex; posterior region convex. A pair of elongate to roundish metapodal plates. No platelets between genital and anal shields. Opisthogaster with 11–12 pairs of setae on unsclerotised cuticle, in addition to circumanal setae; anal shield rounded; para-anal setae inserted between levels of anterior margin and mid-length of anal opening and slightly longer or shorter than post-anal seta. Anal opening not enlarged, about 1/3 of shield length, in shield centre or behind it, separated from posterior shield margin. Anterior section of endopodal shield fused with sternal shield; section behind sternal shield a relatively large, elongate, V-shaped platelet between coxae III–IV. Exopodal shield extending continuous along coxae II–IV an around posterior margin of coxa IV.

Peritreme. Extending from stigma to region between levels of s1–s3; about as wide as diameter of stigma. Peritrematic shield broadly fused with dorsal shield at level of s2–s3, close to but not fused with exopodal shield beside coxa IV.

Legs. Setation of legs I–IV, genu: 13, 11, 9, 9; tibia: 13, 10, 8, 10. Leg II without modified setae. Leg setae shorter than width of their respective segments.

Spermathecal apparatus. Not distinct.

MALE

Gnathosoma similar to female, but epistome larger, corniculi more divergent and fixed cheliceral digit with a single tooth in addition to apical tooth; corniculi distally bifid; spermatodactyl over twice as long as movable digit; directed forward at the base, then curved ventrally and nearly straight afterward, tapering. Dorsal shield ornamentation similar to female. Shape of dorsal setae similar to female, but Z5 sometimes clubbed. Sternogenital shield with five pairs of setae (st1–st5) and three pairs of lyrifissures (iv1–iv3), posterior shield region truncate. Endopodal shield fused with sternogenital shield only anteriorly beside coxa IV. Ventral shield not fused with anal shield, either large, transverse, fused with metapodal plates and bearing six pairs of opisthogastric setae, or strongly reduced, fragmented, not fused with metapodal plates and with 2–3 pairs of opisthogastric setae. Anal shield subcircular. Leg chaetotaxy as in female. Exopodal shield as a continuous strip along coxae II–IV, extending around posterior margin of coxa IV. Peritrematic shield not fused with exopodal shield. Leg II not distinctly different from other legs; seta av1 of femur somewhat enlarged, spine-shaped; genu and tibia with av1 thicker than remaining setae; tarsal av1–av3 modified, with enlarged, bulbous bases.