Gymnodamaeus ornatus Hammer, 1952

Behan-Pelletier, Valerie M. & Lindo, Zoë, 2019, Checklist of oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) of Canada and Alaska, Zootaxa 4666 (1), pp. 1-180 : 54

Gymnodamaeus ornatus Hammer, 1952

Combination: Allodamaeus ornatus (Hammer, 1952) ; (Aoki & Fujikawa 1971), Gymnodamaeus cf. ornatus Hammer, 1952 ( Walter et al. 2014).

Geographic Location: YT: Porcupine Plain; Ogilvie Mtns ( Behan-Pelletier 1997b); Dempster Highway km 141N; Richardson Mts, Summit Lake (67°43N, 136°50’W); (67°57.5N, 136°26W) ( Walter 2009); NT, Reindeer Station ( Hammer 1952a); BC: Manning PP, Spruce Bay Beach ( Walter 2009); AB: Roy Berg Kinsella Research Ranch ( Newton & Proctor 2013); (57.45488358 N, - 111.054222 W), (56.36729431 N, - 110.807022W), (56.55817032 N, - 117.017921 W), (56.43681717 N, - 117.657349 W), (56.38592148 N, - 117.012878 W), (55.97986221 N, - 112.605103 W), (55.85299301 N, - 112.605179 W), (55.02651978 N, - 112.013039 W), (54.97646332 N, - 111.730118 W), (54.8119545 N, - 111.665276 W), (54.64096451 N, - 111.759758 W), (54.85365 N, - 111.62854 W), (55.8536644 N, - 114.960381 W), (55.68632126 N, - 114.670769 W), (55.06543732 N, - 118.975967 W), (55.09334183 N, - 118.651749 W), (54.89818954 N, - 118.988976 W), (54.32518005 N, - 115.914856 W), (54.11553574 N, - 115.737389 W), (53.48584366 N, - 113.120331 W), (53.39312744 N, - 113.735886 W), (52.65173721 N, - 110.923225 W), (52.66613007 N, - 110.693031 W), (55.54247 N, - 114.82111 W), (55.04704 N, - 111.64944 W); Onoway (53°77N, 114°06W); Lamont Co. near Chipman (53°39’N, 1124°6’W); Waterton Lakes NP ( Walter 2009); ABMI sites ( Walter et al. 2014; Meehan et al. 2019); ON: St Lawrence Islands NP, Grenadier Is.; Shaw Woods Nature Reserve ( Walter 2009); Sudbury (St. John et al. 2002); QC: Morgan Arboretum ( Sylvain & Buddle 2010).

Habitats: mixed tundra vegetation; subarctic and boreal deciduous (birch, aspen, beech) litter; mixedwood and coniferous (Douglas fir, Western hemlock, spruce) litter; White spruce litter with grass and Empetrum .

Distribution: Canada.

Remarks: Gymnodamaeus ornatus and G. bicostatus are very similar ( Weigmann & Mourek 2008) and may be conspecific. Walter (2009) accepted Woas’ (1992) diagnosis of G. bicostatus as having a narrow anogenital bridge and referred the very similar mite that lacks the anogenital bridge to G. cf. ornatus Hammer, 1952 . We retain G. ornatus herein.