Tectocepheus sarekensis (Trägårdh, 1910)

Schatz, Heinrich, 2020, Oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) from the Sella massif (Dolomites, Trentino, Italy) with description of Trichoribates valeriae n. sp. (Ceratozetidae), Acarologia 60 (4), pp. 842-862 : 847

Tectocepheus sarekensis (Trägårdh, 1910)

Pérez­Íñigo 1997: pp. 276f., fig. 110 C, D. Weigmann 2002: pp. 141 ff., figs 1, 2. Weigmann

2006: p. 255, fig. 137d, e, f. Laumann et al. 2007: pp. 113 ff., fig. 1c1­c4.

Sass Pordoi — TN160: 1 adult, TN 166: 1 protonymph.

Piz Boè — TN 163: 1 adult, 11 juvenile instars, most larvae, TN 164:> 170 adults, numerous juvenile instars, TN 165:> 50 adults, numerous juvenile instars.

Taxonomical and nomenclatorial notes — The specimens from the different samples on Sass Pordoi and Piz Boè show a mosaic of morphological characters between T. velatus and T. sarekensis . But they all are considered to be T. sarekensis based on characters given by Weigmann (2002, 2006) and Laumann et al. (2007) in having mainly broad and rounded cusp tip (with some exceptions), longitudinal striae on the interlamellar field (all specimens), and

2 – 4 pairs of notogastral depressions, the latter sometimes fainter ( Table 1). The body length is slightly larger than in most other investigations (250 – 390 vs. 302 – 349 – Laumann et al.

2007, 312 – 374 – Pérez­Íñigo 1997, 295 – 362 – Weigmann 2002). The small granules of the specimen in TN 160 remind of T. alatus Berlese, 1913 , but in that species the granules are larger, and small granules on the cerotegument can be found in other Tectocepheus species too. Weigmann (2002, 2006), Subías (2004) and other authors list T. sarekensis as subspecies of T. velatus (Michael, 1880) ; I follow Laumann et al. (2007) in considering it a distinct species.

General distribution — cosmopolitan excl. Antarctic. Recorded also at nearby Sella Pass ( Schatz 2017).