Scutopalus Den Heyer, 1979

Skvarla, Michael J., Fisher, J. Ray & Dowling, Ashley P. G., 2014, A review of Cunaxidae (Acariformes, Trombidiformes): Histories and diagnoses of subfamilies and genera, keys to world species, and some new locality records, ZooKeys 418, pp. 1-103 : 37-40

Scutopalus Den Heyer, 1979

Historical review.

Den Heyer (1979c) erected Scutopalus for Scutopalus arboreus and Scutopalus latisetosus . Shiba (1978) described Cunaxoides clavatus . Kuznetzov and Livshitz (1979) described Cunaxoides trepidus . Tseng (1980) described Neocunaxoides osseus and Neocunaxoides unguianalis . Gupta and Ghosh (1980) described Neocunaxoides pradhani . Smiley (1992) synonymized Scutopalus with Neocunaxoides and transferred Cunaxoides trepidus to Neocunaxoides . Corpuz-Raros (1996c) described Neocunaxoides makapalus , Neocunaxoides philippinensis , and Neocunaxoides rugosus . Lin and Zhang (2000) recorded Neocunaxoides clavatus from tea in China. Sionti and Papadoulis (2003) described Neocunaxoides abiesae and Neocunaxoides smolikensis . Bashir and Afzal (2004b) described Neocunaxoides gilbertoi . Castro and Den Heyer (2009) transferred Pulaeus trepidus (= Neounaxoides trepidus ) to Scutopalus . Rocha et al. (2013) described Scutopalus tomentosus and transferred Neocunaxoides makapalus , Neocunaxoides philippinensis , Neocunaxoides rugosus , and Neocunaxoides unguianalis to Scutopalus .

Diagnosis.

Gnathosoma. Pedipalps 3-segmented. Femurogenu complimented with 5 sts. Tibiotarsi at least twice as long as wide and complemented with 5 sts, 1 asl. Subterminal pointed process on pedipalp tibiotarsal claw absent; small teeth on pedipalp tibiotarsal claw absent. Subcapitulum with 6 pairs of setae (hg1 - 4 and 2 pairs of adoral setae). Chelicera without seta.

Idiosoma, dorsal. Proterosoma with a well-defined shield present, complemented with 2 pairs of setae (lps and mps) and 2 pairs of setose sensillae (at and pt). Dorsal hysterosoma with a well-defined plate fused to the proterosomal plate. Small platelets may be present laterad and posterior to the dorsal shield. Setae c1 - h1, c2, and h2 present. Setae f2 absent. Integument not covered in shields or plates striated.

Idiosoma, ventral. Coxae well-sclerotized. Coxae I-II fused medially. Coxae III-IV fused. Genital plates each bear 4 setae (g1 - 4); 2 pairs of genital papillae visible underneath the plates. A small platelet may be present laterad the genital plate. Integument not covered in shields or plates striated. Legs. Basifemora I-IV setal formula 3-4-2-0 sts. Telofemora I-IV setal formula 5-5-4-3. Tibiae III with 1 bsl, 5 sts. Tibiae IV with 5 sts (4 short, 1 long).

Key to female Scutopalus

(modified from Rocha et al. 2013).

As suggested by Den Heyer (2011b) Neocunaxoides pradhani ( Gupta and Ghosh 1980) and Neocunaxoides gilbertoi (Bashir and Afzal 2004) are transferred to Scutopalus as they posses 5 setae on the femurogenu instead of 6 as in Neocunaxoides and have well-demarcated plates.

1	Coxae I-II faintly or totally divided ( Fig. 40a, b )	2
-	Coxae I-II fused medially ( Fig. 40c )	7
2 (1)	Coxae I-II faintly divided ( Fig. 40a )	3
-	Coxae I-II totally divided ( Fig. 40b )	4
3 (2)	Sternal shield bearing 6 pairs of setae; setae c2 and mps simple; coxae II with 2 setae; basifemora I-IV setal formula 3-3-2-0; Greece	Scutopalus abiesae Sionti & Papadoulis, 2003
-	Sternal shield bearing 5 pairs of setae; setae c2 and mps setose; coxae II with 1 setae; basifemora I-IV setal formula 2-2-2-1; South Africa	Scutopalus arboreus Den Heyer, 1979
4 (2)	At least 2 pairs of thick rod-like setae on the dorsum ( Fig. 41 ); India	Scutopalus pradhani (Gupta & Ghosh, 1980)
-	Rod-like setae on dorsal shield absent	5
5 (4)	Coxae II with 2 sts	6
-	Coxae II with 3 sts; Pakistan	Scutopalus gilbertoi (Bashir & Afzal, 2004)
6 (4)	Setae f1 and h1 on small platelets; ratio c1: c2 2:1; genua I with 4 asl, 5 sts; genua II with 2 asl, 5 sts; South Africa	Scutopalus latisetosus Den Heyer, 1979
-	Setae f1 and h1 on integument; ratio c1: c2 1:1; genua I with 3 asl, 5 sts; genua II with 1 asl, 5 sts; Greece	Scutopalus smolikensis Sionti & Papadoulis, 2003
7 (1)	Dorsal shield smooth and/or punctate ( Fig. 42a )	8
-	Dorsal shield sparse granulate, rugose, or reticulate ( Fig. 42b-d )	12
8 (7)	Coxae II and IV with 2 setae	9
-	Coxae II and IV with 3 setae	11
9 (8)	Setae mps, c1, c2, d1, e1, f1 clavate ( Fig. 43 ); a small subscutum situated posterior to the dorsal shield present; Malaysia	Scutopalus clavatus (Shiba, 1978)
-	Setae mps, c1, c2, d1, e1, f1 setiform; a small subscutum situated posterior to the dorsal shield absent	10
10 (9)	Setae f1 on dorsal shield; setae lps, mps, c1, c2, d1, e1, f1 set on tubercles ( Fig. 44 ); area between pt more heavily sclerotized, forming ridges; Taiwan	Scutopalus osseus (Tseng, 1980)
-	Setae f1 on integument; setae lps, mps, c1, c2, d1, e1, f1 set normally; area between pt normally sclerotized, not forming ridges; Ukraine	Scutopalus trepidus (Kuznetzov & Livshitz, 1979)
11 (8)	4 pairs of hysterosomal setae around genital shield; long slender platelet laterad genital shield present; with a narrow transverse sclertie behind main shield; Philippines	Scutopalus philippinensis (Corpuz-Raros, 1996)
-	3 pairs of hystersomal setae around genital shield; long slender platelet laterad genital shield absent; dorsal sclerites absent; Philippines	Scutopalus makapalus (Corpuz-Raros, 1996)
12 (7)	1 or more dorsal sclerites present (behind or laterad dorsal shield); dorsal shield rugose or reticulate ( Fig. 42b, c ); basifemora IV with 1 seta; pedipalpal tibiotarsus with 6 setae present and apophysis absent	13
-	Dorsal sclerites absent; dorsal shield sparsely granulate; basifemora IV with 2 setae; pedipalpal tibiotarsus with 5 setae and a rod-shaped dorsal apophysis present; Taiwan	Scutopalus unguianalis (Tseng, 1980)
13 (12)	Dorsal shield rugose ( Fig. 42b ); setae f1 and h1 on integument; dorsal setae (except c2 and h2) distally rod-like (slightly clavate), with minute barbs; narrow transverse shield behind main dorsal shield present; Philippines	Scutopalus rugosus (Corpuz-Raros, 1996)
-	Dorsal shield reticulate ( Fig. 42c ); setae f1 and h1 on small platelets; dorsal setae (except c2 and h2) broad and serrate; sclerites laterad and behind dorsal shield present; Brazil	Scutopalus tomentosus Rocha, Skvarla & Ferla, 2013

Figures

Figures 40 - 44. Scutopalus key illustrations. 40 a Coxae I-II faintly divided 40 b Coxae I-II totally divided 41 Coxae I-II fused medially 42 Dorsal shield with thick, rod-like setae present 43 Dorsal shield smooth or punctate 44 a Dorsal shield rugose 44 b Dorsal shield reticulate 44 c Dorsal shield sparsely granulate 45 a Setae mps, c 1, c 2, d 1, e 1, f 1 clavate 45 b Setae mps, c 1, c 2, d 1, e 1, f 1 setiform 46 Setae lps, mps, c 1, c 2, d 1, e 1, f 1 set on tubercles.