Uropoda lawrencei, Kontschán, JenŐ, 2012

Kontschán, JenŐ, 2012, New Uropodina mites from India (Acari: Mesostigmata), Zootaxa 3518, pp. 25-44 : 34-36

Uropoda lawrencei sp. nov.

( Figs 33–43 )

Material examined. Holotype. Female. India, Coonor, Nilgiri Hills , Tamil Nadu , Black Bridge Reserve Forest , extracted from litter, 2130 m, 14–17 March 1980, Gy Topál,. coll . Paratypes. One female, one male in NHMG , five females and five males in HNHM . Locality and date same as in holotype.

Description. Female. Length of idiosoma 500–510 µm, width 410–420 µm (n=5). Shape of body circular, dorsally domed.

Dorsal idiosoma ( Fig. 33 ). Dorsal and marginal shields fused anteriorly, all setae needle-like ( Fig 34 ), with a pair of narrow branches basally, setae long (ca. 38–50 µm) in central area and shorter (ca. 26–30 µm) in lateral area of dorsal shield. Dorsal shield covered with oval pits ( Fig. 34 ), central and caudal areas elevated. Marginal shield bearing setae similar to dorsal setae in shape, but shorter (ca. 28–30 µm), surface of marginal shield covered by oval pits.

Ventral idiosoma ( Fig. 35 ). Surface of sternal shield smooth. Five pairs of smooth needle-like sternal setae present, St1 long (ca. 14 µm), placed near anterior point of genital shield, St2 (ca. 8 µm) at level of posterior margin of coxae II, St3 (ca. 9 µm) at level of anterior margin of coxae III, St4 (ca. 6 µm), at level posterior margin of coxae III, St5 (ca. 6 µm) near basal edge of genital shield. One pair of centrally located ventral setae short (ca. 7 µm) and needle-like, other ventral setae long (ca. 20–28 µm), divided into three or four branches; a row long smooth (ca. 40–45 µm) setae located between margins of ventral idiosoma and lateral parts of ventral shield. Postanal seta absent; two pairs of adanal setae present, ad1 longer (ca. 17 µm), similar in shape to ventral setae, ad2 short (ca. 6 µm) and needle-like. Surface of ventral shield smooth except for some irregular pits posterior to genital shield and between coxae III and IV. Anal opening oval. Pedofossae deep, their surface smooth, without separate furrows for tarsi IV. Genital shield linguliform, anteriorly pointed, its surface without sculptural pattern. Stigmata situated between coxae II and III, post-stigmatal part of peritremes absent, pre-stigmatal area long, 3-shaped ( Fig. 36 ). Tritosternum with narrow base, laciniae divided into four short and one long branches ( Fig. 37 ).

Gnathosoma ( Fig. 38 ). Hypostomal setae h1 long (ca. 26 µm) and smooth, h2 (ca. 10 µm) and h3 (ca. 12 µm) smooth and robust, h4 short (ca. 7 µm), marginally serrate. Corniculi short and horn-like, internal malae longer than corniculi, marginally pilose. Epistome marginally pilose. Fixed digit of chelicera longer than movable digit, bearing a bulbiform sensory organ, internal sclerotised node absent ( Fig. 39 ). Palp trochanter with one smooth and one marginally serrate seta, other setae on palp smooth.

Legs. First leg without ambulacral claws, with a spatuliform seta on tarsi, all setae on legs smooth and needlelike ( Figs 40–43 ).

Male. Length of idiosoma 510–520 µm, width 410–430 µm (n=7). Shape and dorsal idiosoma as in female.

Ventral idiosoma ( Fig. 44 ). Surface of sternal shield ornamented with oval pits, five pairs of needle-like sternal setae present. St1 extremely long (ca. 53 µm), placed at level of posterior margins of coxae II, St2 short (ca. 4 µm) at level of posterior margins of coxae II, St3 short (ca. 4 µm) at central level of coxae III, St4 (ca. 4 µm) at level of anterior margins of coxae IV, St5 (ca. 4 µm) near lateral margin of genital shield. Two pairs of lyriform fissures situated near St1 and near basal margin of genital shield. Genital shield oval, without sculptural pattern, bearing one pair of long (ca. 11 µm), robust eugenital setae and situated between pedofossae of legs IV.

Gnathosoma. As in female.

Etymology. I dedicate the new species to Hungarian writer Leslie L. Lawrence (László L. Lőrincz), who usually placed his stories in India.

Notes. On the basis of the absence of a sclerotised cheliceral node and the long and needle-like first hypostomal setae, I place this species in the genus Uropoda sensu lato ( Hirschmann 1972b). The new species has a complete marginal shield, long and apically 3-shaped peritremes, and unusual dorsal and ventral setae. It cannot be placed into any of Hirschmann’s (1972b) species groups, because this character combination is unknown in the genus Uropoda . The shape of genital shield of the female and the apical part of peritremes are similar to the species of Uropoda penicillata -group, but the new species differs from the species of that group by the following characters: dorsal and ventral setation, the shape of the first sternal setae of the male, and the absence of male eugenital setae.

Figures

FIGURES 33 – 37. Uropoda lawrencei sp. nov., holotype, female. 33. Body in dorsal view; 34. Dorsal setae and ornamentation on caudal area; 35. Body in ventral view; 36. Peritreme; 37. Tritosternum.

FIGURES 38 – 44. Uropoda lawrencei sp. nov., holotype, female. 38. Ventral view of gnathosoma and first two segments of palp; 39. Chelicera; 40. Leg I; 41. Leg II; 42. Leg III; 43. Leg IV (all legs in ventral view); 44. Intercoxal area of male paratype.