Unionicola (Hexatax) longiseta Walter, 1915

Smit, Harry, 2008, Australian Unionicola (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Unionicolidae), with the description of two new subgenera and eight new species, Zootaxa 1674, pp. 1-26 : 4

Unionicola (Hexatax) longiseta Walter, 1915

Unionicola longiseta Walter, 1915: 101

Unionicola (Pentatax) longiseta Lundblad 1947: 58 ; Szalay 1953: 77; K.O. Viets 1975: 93; 1981: 334; Cook 1986: 157; Smit 1992: 100.

Unionicola (Hexatax) longiseta Harvey 1998: 143 .

Unionicola (Pentatax) australica Lundblad, 1941: 117 ; 1947: 58.

Material examined. Type material: male, female, syntype, New Caledonia, slides XXI/21, 22 ( MNHB).

Other material. Tasmania: 3 males, 7 females, Jock’s Lagoon, S of St Helens, 20 October 1997; 9 males, 31 females, 1 nymph, Windmill Lagoon, St Helens, 20 October 1997. Victoria: 2 males, 6 females, swamp at junction of Victoria Valley Road and Bundol Road, SW of Grampians NP, 37° 35’14.50” S 142° 18’58.36” E, 30 September 1997. New South Wales: 19 males, 15 females, 2 nymphs, Lake Ainsworth, N of Ballina, 28° 47.053 S 153° 35.569 E, 8 November 2005. Queensland: 1 male, 11 females, 1 nymph, Porcupine Creek, Porcupine Gorge NP, 20° 21.039 S 144° 27.852 E, 23 October 2005; 1 female, pool Broken River, Eungella NP, 21° 10.112 S 148° 30.078 E, 25 October 2005. Western Australia: 2 males, 1 female?, Palm Pool, Millstream-Chichester NP, 21° 34’2.85”S 117° 2’32.10”E, 15 August 1994; 3 males, 4 females, 1 nymph, Crossing Pool, Millstream-Chichester NP, 21° 34’55.16”S 117° 5’37.72”E, 16 August 1994; 4 males, 7 females, 5 nymphs, Moore River, at crossing with Brandt’s Highway, Regans Ford, 30° 59’16.06”S 115° 42’18.89”E, 26 August 1994.

Remarks. According to Cook (1986), the peg-bearing tubercle of PIV should be nearly as long as the longest of the other tubercles. In my opinion this is not correct. I examined the two syntypes, lodged in Basel. The slide with the female is in very poor condition, the slide of the male is in good condition, although the fourth pair of legs is missing. The longest tubercle is 1.5 times as long as the peg-bearing tubercle. Also in all my specimens, the peg-bearing tubercle is shorter than the longest tubercle. The longest tubercle is about 1.6 – 1.8 times as long as the peg-bearing tubercle. Unionicola longiseta is a widespread species, known from Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland, New Caledonia and New Zealand. It is reported here for the first time from Western Australia and New South Wales.