Neoeutegaeidae, Colloff, 2023

Colloff, Matthew J., 2023, The oribatid mite superfamily Eutegaeoidea (Acari, Oribatida), with descriptions of new taxa from Australia and New Caledonia and a re-assessment of genera and families, Zootaxa 5365 (1), pp. 1-93 : 39

Neoeutegaeidae fam. nov.

Type genus: Neoeutegaeus Aoki, 1964, p. 307 .

Diagnosis. Small to large oribatid mites (280–850 μm long). Rostrum rounded, entire. Lamellae broad, covering lateral margins of prodorsum, with free cusps; lamellar seta emerging from excavation at apex of cusp, often between two teeth. Interlamellar setae typically minute. Bothridium long, corniculate, not fused with base of lamella, opening anterolaterally, with circular internal thickening. Bothridial seta long, setiform or bacilliform. Prodorsum markedly waisted posterior of bothridium. Humeral processes long, pointed apically, parallel, straight, broad basally, not waisted, extending from anterolateral margin of notogaster to point at least half the length of the lamella, with or without dorsal keel, posterolateral margin with protrusion where humeral process joins notogaster. Notogaster Ushaped, convex, smooth, with eight or nine pairs of setae, all positioned marginally or sub-marginally; setae of l and h series (and occasionally p 1) longer and of different morphology from those of p series (or p 2 and p 3). Chelicerae chelate-dentate, of normal proportions. Epimeral plates II short, narrow. Pedotectum I (pd I) sub-rectangular in lateral outline; pd II rectangular or lobed, leaf-shaped; discidium pointed or lobed. Circumpedal carinae, perigenital carinae and enantiophyses E4 present. Genital setae five or six pairs, g 4 pair displaced laterally, adanal setae two or three pairs. Anal plates lozenge-shaped. Pre-anal organ oval ( Neoeutegaeus ) or T-shaped ( Humerotegaeus ).

Remarks. Neoeutegaeus was formerly placed in Eutegaeidae ( Table 1 ), but the humeral processes emerging from the anterolateral margin of the notogaster and with broad bases, the lobe-like discidium, the short and narrow epimeral plates III, the presence of perigenital carinae and enantiophyses E4 are character states shared with Humerotegaeus gen nov. and are sufficient to justify the establishment of a separate family.