Willmannium cavus moldaviensis Kudryashova, 1992

Stekolnikov K, Alexandr A., QuetglasK, Juan, K, Carlos Ibáñez & K, Sonia Sánchez-Navarro, 2022, Contribution to the fauna of chiggers (Acariformes: Trombiculidae) parasitizing bats in Spain, Acarologia 62 (4), pp. 1201-1209 : 1203

Willmannium cavus moldaviensis Kudryashova, 1992 (Fig. 2A)

Willmannium cavus moldaviensis Kudryashova (1992) (original designation); Kudryashova (1998, 2004); Benda et al. (2019)

Material examined — Eleven larvae ( ZIN 16794, 16795, 16800 – 16808) ex two males of H. savii Nos 190629-1 and 190629-6, SPAIN, Málaga province, Ronda, Sierra de las Nieves,

fire pond Los Quejigales, 29 Jun. 2019, collected by Juan Quetglas, Sonia Sánchez-Navarro, and Carlos Ibáñez; four larvae ( ZIN 16796 – 16799) ex male of E. isabellinus No. 190629-2,

other data same; four larvae ( ZIN 16920 – 16922, 16927) ex E. serotinus , SPAIN, La Rioja province, Villoslada de Cameros, 26 Aug. 2020, collected by Carlos Ibáñez.

Remarks — This subspecies was described from Moldova, ex N. noctula and E. serotinus . Later it was recorded from Albania, on Vespertilio murinus L., Hypsugo savii , Pipistrellus pipistrellus , Pipistrellus pygmaeus (Leach) and Tadarida teniotis (Rafinesque) ( Benda et al. 2019) . Eptesicus isabellinus is a new host species for this chigger.

Our specimens depart from the original description in having a concave (vs. almost straight) posterior margin of scutum and by shorter legs – Ip = 815 – 887 vs. 952 in the holotype (Table

1). However, the length of leg III tarsus in our material is almost the same as in the holotype

– TaIIIL = 76 – 86 (mean 81) vs. 83. In general, we do not support the practice of subspecies descriptions in the chigger taxonomy. Revision of the genus, with the possibility of raising some subspecies to the species level and synonymizing of others, is needed.

According to Kudryashova (1992), species of the genus Willmannium are known from

Asia, Africa, and America. In Europe, three taxa belonging to this genus were recorded

– Willmannium bulgaricum (Dusbabek, 1964) from Bulgaria, W. cavus moldaviensis from Moldova and Albania ( Kudryashova 1992, 1998, 2004 ; Benda et al. 2019), and Willmannium cavus cavus Kudryashova, 1992 from Albania ( Benda et al. 2019). Here, we record a representative of this genus in the Western Europe for the first time.