Rhinoseius Baker & Yunk

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 : 54-55

Rhinoseius Baker & Yunk er

FEMALE

Gnathosoma. Anterior margin of epistome convex or with a truncate median lobe, smooth or denticulate. Ratio of lengths of hypostomatic and pc setae variable; usually h3 longest and h2 shortest (h1 shortest in R. tiptoni Baker & Yunker ); insertion of h2 very close to insertion of h3, slightly anterior to it. Inner palp trochanter seta not elongate. Deutosternum moderately wide, with delimiting lateral lines and usually seven (eight in T. tiptoni , nine in R. rafinskii Micherdzinski & Lukoschus ) rows of 5–7 denticles each. Corniculi often difficult to distinguish, with pointed tips (distally bilobed in R. nadachowskyi Wiese & Fain ), distally convergent. Palp tarsus apotele bifurcate. Fixed cheliceral digit with 1–4 teeth in addition to apical tooth and distinct membranous lobe instead of setiform pilus dentilis; movable digit edentate, with a ventral mucro.

Idiosoma. Ovoid. Dorsum: podonotal and opisthonotal shields fused, smooth or ornamented, with distinct lateral incisions at region of fusion (incision also present between insertions of S3 and S 4 in R. haplophaedia Ohmer, Fain & Schuchmann ), 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. Podonotal region of shield with 16 pairs of setae (14 in R. rafinskii ; 15 in R. nadachowskyi and R. richardsoni Hunter ); z3 and s6 absent; z1 and z4 sometimes absent. Opisthonotal region of shield with 12–14 pairs of setae (11 in R. ucumariensis Wiese & Fain , 15 in some specimens of R. rafinskii ); J3 and S1 sometimes missing. Unsclerotised lateral cuticle with 9–26 pairs of setae (when supernumerary setae present, located near posterior opisthogastric setae), including r3, which is similar to neighbouring setae or slightly longer and/or more perpendicular to surface of idiosoma than neighbouring setae. Most dorsal and lateral setae of idiosoma similar to each other, short, acicular and smooth (several posterior setae distinctly longer and stouter in R. caucaensis Ohmer, Fain & Schuchmann ; Z5 longer and stouter in R. haplophaedia ). Vent er: presternal platelets indistinct (a pair of presternal platelets is apparently shown in the original descriptions of R. androdon Fain & Hyland and R. pastorae Wiese & Fain ) or presternal region constituting a pair of prominent lobes connected to anterior margin of sternal shield. Sternal shield with three pairs of setae of similar lengths (st1–st3); st2 equidistant to st1 and st3 or slightly closer to st3; posterior shield margin concave (shown as truncate in the original description of R. rafinskii ). Third pair of sternal lyrifissures (iv3) and st4 inserted on unsclerotised cuticle. Genital shield with hyaline anterior region broad, convex, rounded or with a median indentation; distinctly broadened posteriorly, but not sufficiently to include iv5 or st5; posterior region convex to truncate. A pair of elongate, triangular or rounded metapodal plates (two pairs in R. caucaensis and R. haplophaedia ). Usually with no platelets between genital and anal shields (with one pair in R. haplophaedia and three pairs in R. ucumariensis ). Opisthogaster usually with ten pairs of setae (with 14 pairs in R. tiptoni ; with an unpaired supernumerary seta in the region between levels of Jv1 and Jv 2 in R. pastorae and R. tiptoni ) on unsclerotised cuticle, in addition to circumanal setae; anal shield ovoid or subcircular, usually small; para-anal setae inserted between levels of posterior margin and mid-length of anal opening, at most half as long as post-anal seta, the latter not distinctly stout. Anal opening small, 1/3 to 1/6 of shield length, in shield centre or behind it, separated from posterior shield margin. Endopodal shield reduced, sternal shield narrow, without triangular projections between coxae I–II (except in R. luteyni Naskrecki & Colwell ) and between coxae II–III; section behind sternal shield indistinct. Exopodal shield indistinct.

Peritreme. Extending from stigma to region between s3 and z1 but not reaching z1, slightly narrower than stigma. Peritrematic shield fused with dorsal shield at level of s1 and by a narrow bridge to exopodal shield beside coxa IV. Legs. Setation of legs I–IV, genu: 13, 11, 9, 9; tibia: 13, 10, 8, 9. Leg II not distinctly different from other legs or slightly stouter. Leg setae generally short.

Spermathecal apparatus. Usually seen as a tube of varying diameter; with large infundibulum (small in R. triptoni ).

MALE

Epistome similar to female, but usually with central projection longer; corniculi outwardly curved and distally divergent, often distally bifurcate; fixed cheliceral digit with 1–3 teeth in addition to apical tooth and membranous lobe; movable digit edentate, slightly shorter than fixed digit; spermatodactyl straight for most of its length, often with a subapical process, 3–5 times as long as movable digit, directed downward or backward. Dorsal shield without incisions between podonotal and opisthonotal regions, or with incisions occasionally connected by a transverse line (podonotal and opisthonotal shields not fused in R. antioquiensis Fain & Hyland and R. richardsoni ); dorsal shield with ornamentation similar to female, but usually broader, including a larger number of r - R setae ; in addition, within each species, dorsal idiosomal setae often of very different lengths and shapes, many often much longer than in female (high variation in dorsal and ventral idiosomal setal lengths between specimens of R. richardsoni ). Presternal platelets absent (a pair of presternal platelets is apparently shown in the original description of R. androdon ; a pair of prominent lobes connected to anterior margin of sternal shield present in R. pastorae ). Sternogenital shield usually with five pairs of setae (st1–st5; st3 off the shield in R. antioquiensis ) and three pairs of lyrifissures (iv1–iv3); posterior margin truncate or convex. Endopodal shield variously developed, from atrophied, so that no extension projects between coxae, to totally developed, with extensions projecting between coxae I–II, II–III and III–IV; in some species, section of endopodal shield along coxa IV fused with sternal shield by anterior end. A pair of metapodal plates of variable shape and size. Some species with a ventrianal shield variously eroded laterally and anteriorly, subtriangular to subrectangular, bearing 6–9 pairs of setae; other species with ovoid to rounded anal shield and either a single ventral shield bearing some of the opisthogastric setae, or ventral shield fragmented in a larger plate bearing 0–2 pairs of opisthogastric setae and 1–3 pairs of smaller plates bearing no setae. Opisthogastric setae often longer to much longer than in female. Leg II slightly stouter than other legs and curved; seta av1 of femur not modified, knob- or sharp-tipped; av1 of tibia not modified, rarely slightly stouter than other tibial setae; pv1 and pv2 of tarsus never modified; all setae short. Leg setation as in female.