Parabelbella elisabhetae Bulanova

Miko, Ladislav, Ermilov, Sergey G. & Smelyansky, Ilya E., 2011, Taxonomy of European Damaeidae (Acari: Oribatida) VI. The oribatid mite genus Parabelbella: Redescription of P. elisabhetae and synonymy of Akrodamaeus, Zootaxa 3140, pp. 38-48 : 40-44

Redescription of Parabelbella elisabhetae Bulanova – Zachvatkina, 1967

Diagnosis. Parabelbella with strongly developed tectum covering podocephalic fossa, projecting posterolaterad as strong, sharp tooth towards well developed apophysis P. Sensillus long, attenuated, flagelliform, with few, short barbs. One pair of prodorsal tubercles (Ba) well developed. Notogastral setae c 1 inserted close to each other, their mutual distance less than or equal to half the distance between setae c 1 -c 2. Ventral enantiophyses E2 and V well developed; most epimeral setae inserted on conspicuous small tubercles; alveoli and proximal part of setae 3b underlie tubercles Vp. Chelicerae dorsally with tooth near mid-length and hunch on fixed digit. Only legs IV longer than body length.

Description of the adult (juvenile instars not available).

Dimensions. Body length 348 – 381 (mean 365; n=4), length of notogaster 232 – 265 (244; n=4), width of notogaster: 215 – 232 (219; n=4). Body approximately 1.7 times longer than wide.

Integument. Body color yellowish brown. Surface of body and leg segments with cerotegument having various forms: columnar (especially on lateral prodorsum, and leg segments) to granular. Setae of prodorsum and notogaster without cerotegument. Surface under cerotegument microtuberculate throughout.

Prodorsum ( Figs. 1, 3 ). Relatively short, about half length of notogaster in lateral view. Rostrum conical, rounded in dorsal view. Propodolateral apophysis P relatively small but distinct, directed anterolaterad, triangular to finger-form, tooth-like. Postbothridial tubercles Ba well developed, triangular, situated posterior to bothridia. Rostral setae (ro) 61 – 69 in length, located laterally, curved anteromediad, smooth. Lamellar setae (le) 69 – 73 long, located dorsolaterally, well barbed. Interlamellar setae (in) 45 – 49 long, barbed, directed posteriorly, subflagellate. Exobothridial setae (ex), 32 – 36 long, barbed. Setae ro and le thicker than in and ex. Sensilli (ss) longest setae of prodorsum, 147 – 155 long, flagelliform, slightly barbed.

Notogaster ( Figs. 1, 3 ). Oval in dorsal aspect, slightly longer than wide. Spinae adnatae absent. Notogastral setae (11 pairs) short to medium length, curved in crescent, barbed, with small, finely attenuate and curled tips (these often broken). Setae c 1, c 2, la, lm and lp do not reach insertions of next setae in any view. Setae p 1 –p 3 little shorter than other setae. Distance between setae c 1 –c 1 (12 – 16) approximately half that between setae c 1 –c 2 (32 – 34), or less. Distance between setae p 1 –p 2 (24 – 28) approximately half that between setae p 2 –p 3 (57 – 61) or less. Lyrifissures ia, im, ih, ips, ip and opisthonotal glands opening (gla) in usual positions, all of them small.

Anogenital region ( Fig. 2 ). Setation typical of Damaeidae ( Grandjean 1960; Norton 1978): two pairs of anal setae, three pairs of adanal setae, six pairs of genital setae, one pair of aggenital setae. All setae of approximately equal, medium length, setiform, thin. Anal, adanal and genital setae smooth; aggenital setae sparsely barbed. Adanal lyrifissures (iad) situated obliquely, anterolateral to ad 3, approximately at level of setae an 2. Ovipositor ( Fig. 4 ) as in known Damaeidae ( Grandjean 1960; Ermilov 2010): short (length 62), wide, with six coronal setae k, and each of three lobes with four setae; all setae (ψ, τ, k) of approximately identical in length (8 – 10) and structure (straight, slightly thickened proximally, smooth).

Epimeral region ( Fig. 2 ). Tectum of podocephalic fossa strongly developed, with long, strong and sharp tooth (t) projecting posterolaterad, reaching propodolateral apophysis. Parastigmatic tubercles Sa and Sp well developed: Sa perpendicular to body, elongate, sharp, slightly bent anteriad; Sp shorter, blunt and triangular. Epimeral tubercles E2a and E2p small but well developed, broadly triangular in ventral view. Ventrosejugal tubercles Va and Vp strongly developed, subtriangular to broadly rounded, Va sharper, Vp blunt, bearing seta 4b. Discidium (di) well developed, triangular to tooth-like, slightly bent posteriad. Epimeral setal formula (from 1 to 4): 3 – 1 – 3 – 4; setae of various lengths, all setiform, thin, finely barbed. Setae 1a -1c, 2a, 3a and 3c each situated on distinct small tubercle. Alveolus and proximal part of each seta 3b hidden under respective tubercle Vp in ventral view.

Gnathosoma . Typical of Damaeidae (e.g. Norton 1978). Subcapitulum longer than wide (82 – 90 × 61 – 65). Subcapitular mentum wider than long (45 – 53). Hypostomal setae a, m, h setiform, barbed; h and m of equal length (28 – 32), slightly longer than a (20 – 24). Lateral lips with two pairs small, smooth adoral setae. Palps ( Fig. 5 ) 69 – 73 long; setation 0–2–1–3–8(+1ω); almost all setae barbed. Chelicerae ( Fig. 6 ) 77 – 82 long, with few (three – four) blunt teeth on fixed and movable digits; fixed digit with dorsal hunch. With small dorsal tooth near mid-length. Trägårdh's organ narrow, relatively inconspicuous. Cheliceral setae long, setiform, barbed (barbs of chb longer in middle-distal part); cha longer than chb.

Legs ( Figs. 7–11 ). Legs II distinctly, legs I and III slightly shorter than body, legs IV longer than body. Length of leg and their segments given in Table 1. Setal and solenidial formulas: I (1–7–4–4–20) [1–2–2], II (1–6–4–4–17) [1–1–2], III (2–4–3–3–17) [1–1–0], IV (1–4–3–3–14) [0–1–0]; identities of setae and solenidia given in Table 2 . Most setae long, barbed (except p); barbs as a rule visible unilaterally. All tibiae with free solenidion and seta d absent. Genua I – III each with coupled seta d and solenidion; solenidion always slightly longer than respective seta. Famulus well developed, setiform.

Remarks. This species has been repeatedly referred to under the species epithet elisabethae (e.g. in Subías, 2004, online version 2011). However, the original spelling is elisabhetae , as used throughout this paper. The etymology was not explained in any work of Bulanova-Zachvatkina, so there is no unequivocal link to the name Elisabeth, other than the use of the female-genitive ending. Nor did she explicitly emend the name as allowed by article 33 of International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature. Quite opposite, the name was re-used in its original form in a later publication ( Bulanova-Zachvatkina 1975). According to articles 31 and 32 of the Rules emendation to elizabethae is invalid and the original spelling should be maintained: i.e., elisabhetae .

Legs Trochanter Femur Genu Tibia Tarsus All Leg: body mean length Leg I – 123 36 55 133 347 ≈0.9 Leg II – 84 32 49 112 277 ≈0.7 Leg III 47 80 32 55 129 343 ≈0.9 Leg IV 71 108 36 73 145 433 ≈1.2

*Roman letters refer to normal setae (e — famulus), Greek letters refer to solenidia, d σ — seta and solenidion coupled. One apostrophe (') marks setae on anterior and double apostrophe (") setae on posterior side of the given leg segment. Parentheses refer to a pair of setae.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Parabelbella elisabhetae Bulanova-Zachvatkina, 1967, adult. 1 – Dorsal view, only base of legs illustrated, 2 – Ventral view, only base of legs illustrated, 3 – Lateral view, legs removed. Scale bar 100 μm.

FIGURES 4 – 6. Parabelbella elisabhetae Bulanova-Zachvatkina, 1967, adult. 4 – Ovipositor (invaginated), 5 – Palp, 6 – Chelicera. Scale bar 20 μm.

FIGURES 7 – 11. Parabelbella elisabhetae Bulanova-Zachvatkina, 1967, adult. 7 – leg I (disjointed), 8 – partial tibia and genu of leg I, dorsal view, 9 – leg II (disjointed), 10 – leg III (disjointed), 11 – leg IV (disjointed). Scale bar (7, 9 – 11) 50 μm, scale bar (8) 20 μm.

Tables

TABLE 2. Leg setae and solenidia in Parabelbella elisabhetae *

Legs	Trochanter	Femur Genu	Tibia	Tarsus
Leg I	v'	d, (l), (v1), v 2 ’’, d σ, (l), v’ bv’’	(l), (v), φ1, φ2	(ft), (tc), (it), (p), (u), (a), s, (pv), (pl), (v), e, ω1, ω2
Leg II	v'	d, (l), (v), bv’’ d σ, (l), v’	(l), (v), φ	(ft), (tc), (it), (p), (u), (a), s, (pv), (v), ω1, ω2
Leg III	l', v'	d, l’, v’, ev' d σ, l', v’	l', (v), φ	(ft), (tc), (it), (p), (u), (a), s, (pv), (v)
Leg IV	v'	d, l’, v’, ev' d, l', v’	l', (v), φ	ft'', (tc), (p), (u), (a), s, (pv), (v)