Zercon tenerifensis, Moraza, María Lourdes, 2006

Moraza, María Lourdes, 2006, New species of zerconid mites from southern Europe and the Macaronesian region (Acari: Mesostigmata: Zerconidae), Zootaxa 1255, pp. 1-15 : 11-14

Zercon tenerifensis n. sp.

(Figs 15–17)

Types

Holotype female: SPAIN, Punta del Diablo (Teno) Tenerife, from mosses and lichen on basaltic wall in a laurisilva forest, UTM: 28RCS215348, altitude 900 m., 09.XII.1995, (deposited in MZUNAV); two paratype females and one male from the same locality and date; one female, Monte de Agua (Bco. De los Cochinos) (Tenerife), from soil and litter under Euphorbia canariensis and E. aphylla , UTM: 28RCS141384, altitude 200 m., 8.XII.1995; one female, Aguamansa (Tenerife) from soil of Erica arborea , 28RCS 520 375, altitude 1160 m., 29.V.1997.

Diagnosis

Anterior margin of ventrianal shield with two pairs of setae. Dorsal opisthonotal fossae of uniform size and appearance, saddle­like and with smooth anterior margin. Glands gdJ4 (Po3) situated between setal rows J and Z, behind the line connecting setae Z4 and J4 or on the line connecting J5 and Z4. Setae J1–J5 nearly equal in length, not reaching bases of following setae, slightly pilose. Setae Z2 and Z3 different in form and length: setae Z1 and Z2 smooth and peg­like; setae Z3–Z5, S4 and S5 thickened, with paddle­like hyaline tips and slight pilosity before the hyaline tip, about twice as long as setae J1. Setae S4 elongate and reaching well beyond margin of idiosoma. Lateral margins of opisthonotum with shallow and obtuse serration, marginal setae S1 and R short and similar in shape to thick setae Z1 and S2. Opisthonotal shield with reticulate pattern in anterolateral region and reticulate­punctuate pattern on the central and posterior region.

Description

FEMALE. Length of idiosoma 576 μm (558–593), width 447 μm (443–451).

Dorsum (Fig. 15). Dorsal shield with reticulate pattern (podonotum and anterior part of opisthonotum) and small pits in a reticulate­punctuate pattern in posterior and central parts of opisthonotum. Podonotum with 20 pairs of differently formed setae; setae r3 on lateropeltidial shield with one barb (Fig. 16a). Podonotal setae j2, j5, j6, z2–z6, s4 and r1 similar to marginal podonotal setae, with hyaline tips and a few serrations (Fig. 16c). Glands gdj2 (po1) situated near z2; gdj 4 in the middle of the area j4–j5–z4, and gds4 behind the line connecting setae z5 and s4. Opisthonotum with 20 pairs of setae, all of them with hyaline tips more or less developed; setal row J with five pairs of short setae, (J1 = J2=J3 = J4 = J5); setae J1, J2 and J3 with peg­like tips (Fig. 16c) and J3–J5 with hyaline rounded tips and slight short serration (Fig. 16d); setae J5 situated close to margins of inner fossae; setal row Z with five pairs of setae: setae Z1 and Z2 similar in shape and length to J1, setae Z3 and Z4 almost twice as long as Z1, thickened apically with inconspicuous short pilosity before the hyaline tip; setae S4 reaching beyond lateral margin of idiosoma. Marginal setae S1 and R (Fig. 16b) not reaching the bases of following marginal setae, similar in shape to S2 and Z1. Glands gdz6 (Po1) on the line connecting setae z6 and Z1, glands gdZ2 (Po2) on the line connecting setae Z2 and S3; glands gdJ4 (Po3) behind the line connecting setae J4 and Z4, and gdS5 (Po4) behind the line connecting setae Z5 (Fig. 16e) and S5 (nearer to seta S5). Dorsal opisthonotal fossae of uniform appearance, with smooth margin.

Length of the opisthonotal setae and distance between setal bases within longitudinal I­, Z­, and S­rows as follows (measurements in μm): J1–J4 (26), J5 (28), Z1 = Z2 (26), Z3 (38), Z4 and Z5 (43), S4 and S5 (43), S1 and R (26); J1–J2 (60), J2–J3 (53), J3–J4 (53), J4–J5 (53), Z1–Z2 (68), Z2–Z3 (47), Z3–Z4 (47), Z4–Z5 (68), S2–S3 (53); S3–S4 (57), S4–S5 (68).

Venter. Ventral chaetotaxy, adenotaxy, poroidotaxy and shape of ventral shields typical for the genus. Glands gv2 triple, on small platelets. Anterior margin of ventrianal shield with two pairs of setae. Setae Jv5 similar in shape to other thick dorsal setae.

MALE. Length of idiosoma 442 μm, width 310 μm.

Venter. Sternogenital shield (Fig. 17) with five pairs of sternal setae, posterior region narrowed and free from endopodal shields; two small platelets behind posterior margin of sternal shield (between glands gv2). Glands gv2 openings on small platelets similar to female. Ventrianal shield with two pair of setae in anterior margin. Euanal setae present.

Notes

The new species is closely related to Z. andrei Sellnick, 1958 , and because of this it was misidentified by Moraza & Peña (2005). The most important differences between the two species are in the relative length and structure of the opisthonotal setae. In Z. andrei , with a smaller body size (460 x 360), podonotal setae r3 are strongly barbed, central setae “J”, setae Z1, Z2; S2 and S3 are one­third the length of the longest opisthonotal setae, setae J4 and J5 have the same structure as J1–J3 and the serration of the longest setae in front of the tips is more distinctive. Besides, central and posterior region of the opisthonotal shield in Z. andrei is densely covered with pits, and in Z. tenerifiensis the small pits form a reticulate pattern.

Derivatio nominis

The name of the species refers to Tenerife island, where the species was found.