Podotarsonemus, Seeman & Lindquist & Husband, 2018

Seeman, Owen D., Lindquist, Evert E. & Husband, Robert W., 2018, A new tribe of tarsonemid mites (Trombidiformes: Heterostigmatina) parasitic on tetrigid grasshoppers (Orthoptera), Zootaxa 4418 (1), pp. 1-54 : 29-30

Podotarsonemus sp.

Material examined. 3 females, ECUADOR, Puyo Napo-Pastaza Prov., 2500’ alt., R.W. Hodges, 18 Apr. 1958, ex Batrachidea mucronata (same data as holotype of P. ecuadorensis ). 1 female, 5 larvae, ECUADOR, Napo-Pastaza Prov., Limon Cocha, C.R. Patrick, 22 Jun. 1965, ex B. mucronata , RWH 28 Sep. 2010 (slides 3, 5). 2 females, HONDURAS, Nigrito 238, T.M. Hubbell, 27 Mar. 1923, ex Paratettix schochi (Bolivar) ( Tetrigidae ). UMMZ 1- 00182639. In UMMZ except 1 female from Ecuador in each of CNCI and QM and 1 female from Honduras in QM.

Remarks. Some specimens from Ecuador and Honduras are intermediate in form between P. boliviensis and P. ecuadorensis . The specimens from Ecuador include two forms. The first form, represented by three females, has imbricate sculpturing on the dorsal shields, but only posterior to the setae of each plate, large legs (as in P. ecuadorensis ) and leg setae of intermediate size. For example, seta lʹʹ on genu I is 12–17 long compared with 6–10 for P. boliviensis and 20–21 for P. ecuadorensis . Unfortunately, these specimens are in poor condition and the diagnostic character of seta uʹʹ on tarsus II is difficult to determine. On the only specimen with a good view of tarsus II, it is probably present, but small. These three specimens seem most similar to the aberrant specimen noted under P. boliviensis .

The second form is represented by one female and five larvae that may be closer to P. boliviensis in lacking uʹʹ on tarsus II and having small legs. However, the female has unique broken-lineate sculpturing on plates C and D ( Fig. 15D ) and could therefore represent another species, pending further collections which would hopefully include males.

The two female specimens from Honduras have imbricate sculpturing only posterior to each plate’s setae and most measurements match or are intermediate to those for P. boliviensis and P. ecuadorensis . However, these specimens have a smaller prodorsal shield (78–80 vs 91–106), smaller d-d (63–68 vs 79–96), smaller e-e (53–62 vs 67–80), and smaller h-h (18–20 vs 26–37). These Honduran specimens may represent a new species very close to P. boliviensis or P. ecuadorensis , but are not described as new because we have too few specimens. However, we note them as a record of these mites in Central America.

Figures

FIGURE 15. Podotarsonemus boliviensis sp. nov. female. (A, B) respiratory system; (D) Plates C and D, aberrant specimen. Podotarsonemus ecuadorensis sp. nov. (C) respiratory system.st = stigmata, at = atrium, pa = post-atrial chamber.