Berzercon Seeman & Baker 2013

Klompen, Hans & Gerdeman, Beverly S., 2023, Genus-level revision of the Heterozerconoidea (Parasitiformes: Mesostigmata), Zootaxa 5322 (1), pp. 1-66 : 18

Berzercon Seeman & Baker 2013

Berzercon Seeman & Baker 2013: 131

[type species: Berzercon ferdinandi Seeman & Baker 2013 , by monotypy].

Diagnosis: Anterior dorsal setae j1 minute (<5µm) (28); sclerotized areas around sternal setae st 1 in female fused to each other (forming a sternal shield) (34); sclerotized areas near sternal setae st 2 in female fused to the genitiventral and endopodal shields (38); sternal lyrifissures iv 3 in female absent (45); sclerotized areas near sternal setae st 1 in male fused to both sternitiventral and endopodal shields (48); opisthogastral suckers in adults present, anterior to ventral shield, discozerconid type (63.2); insertion paranal setae (pa) anterior to the anus (72); postanal (po) seta less than 1/3 the length of paranal (pa) setae (73); equally spaced long marginal setae present (76).

Remarks: Seeman & Baker (2013) listed several presumed unique characters for this genus: 1) long marginal setae (76; somewhat similar, but shorter, marginal setae are present in Discomegistus ), 2) a tripartite gnathotectum, 3) fusion of palp tibia and tarsus, 4) arrangement of ventral shields, 5) highly modified setae hyp 1 in male. Characters 2, 3, and 5 were not included in this study, but appear apomorphic. Character 4 is not very specific, but the ventral shield arrangement is clearly distinct from that in Discozercon and Discomegistus (or Heterozerconidae ), lacking the medial posterior extension of the genital / genitiventral shield.