Oplitis sarcinulus Hunter & Farrier, 1976

Babaeian, Esmaeil, Saboori, Alireza, Gwiazdowicz, Dariusz J. & Etemad, Vahid, 2016, Redescription of two species of Oplitis Berlese (Acari, Mesostigmata, Oplitidae) from Iran, ZooKeys 610, pp. 13-22 : 16-19

Taxon classification Animalia Mesostigmata Oplitidae

Oplitis sarcinulus Hunter & Farrier, 1976 Figs 14-21

Description.

Female (n = 9).Idiosoma. Length 473-507, width 400-438.

Dorsum (Fig. 14). Dorsal shield oval, smooth on whole surface except on anterior part. Dorso-central region with complement of 106 pairs of scimitar-shaped setae, 25-30 long (Fig. 15). Marginal shield united anteriorly with dorso-central region, with about 29 pairs of smooth and needle-like setae.

Venter (Fig. 16). Tritosternal base narrow, lacinia pilose, and three branched, lateral branches shorter than bifurcate median branch (Fig. 17). Sternal region smooth, united with endopodal shields. Genital shield smooth, 135-150 long and 108-128 wide, ratio length/width = 1.20-1.23, situated between coxae II–IV, anterior margin convex and posterior margin straight. Perigenital ring oblong, 175-200 long and 125-145 wide, ratio length/width = 1.40-1.53, extending slightly beyond posterior level of coxae IV, with 5 crenulations on both anterior and posterior margins; lateral margins smooth and continuous. Perigenital area with four pairs of short setae, lateral to genital shield; with two pairs of short setae near anterior margin, one pair near to posterior margin and one pair inserted between coxae IV on inguinal region. Pre-anal line present. Ventral shields with 4-5 pairs of scimitar-shaped setae, adanal setae Ad1 scimitar-shaped and 20-22 long, Ad2 smooth, needle-like, and 12-14 long. Peritremes with three subequal convolute branches. Pedofossae II–IV well developed. Pedofossae IV narrowing posteriorly and with a rounded tip.

Gnathosoma (Figs 18-20). Epistome three-branched and with serrated margin, median branch longer than laterals (Fig. 18). Corniculi short and horn-like; internal malae numerous and brushy, gnathosomal setae h1 smooth, h2 with a few barbs, h3 and pc thickened and denticulated (Fig. 19). Cheliceral digits normal for the genus; movable digit 37 long, with one subdistal tooth and a terminal hook; fixed digit 40 long (from tip to the base of movable digit), with two teeth and a terminal hook; pilus dentilis setiform and minute (Fig. 20). Palptarsus with three-tined apotele. Leg lengths: legs I 245-250, legs II 210-220, legs III 175-188, and legs IV 213-225 long.

Male (n = 3).Idiosoma. Length 438-450, width 385-395.

Dorsum. Dorsal setae, shields and puncta as female.

Venter (Fig. 21). Ventral region (excluding exopodal shields) smooth, genital aperture rounded and located between coxae II–III. Perigenital ring 188-200 long, 110 -125 wide. Peritreme uni-convoluted, U-shaped in central part and without medial extension. Legs. Leg I 215-225, leg II 185-205, leg III 165-179, and leg IV 190-201 long.

Remarks.

Oplitis sarcinulus was described from North Carolina (USA) by Hunter and Farrier (1976) in association with Tetramorium caespitum Linnaeus, and is now recorded in Iran for the first time, from leaf-litter. Herein, we provide the complete description and illustration of this species based on adult female and male. Oplitis sarcinulus is similar to Oplitis leonardiana (Berlese, 1903) and Oplitis pennsylvanica (Berlese, 1903). On the basis of some photomicrographs from three very good quality slides (No. 2/16, 2/17 and 2/19) kindly supplied by Dr. Nannelli (Istituto Sperimentale per la Zoologia Agraria, Florence, Italy), we found that these two species are clearly different from Oplitis sarcinulus . It differs from Oplitis leonardiana (Berlese, 1903) and Oplitis pennsylvanica (Berlese, 1903) by the shape of the peritreme (M-shaped in Oplitis sarcinulus , but U-shaped and with a small extension as Fig. 8 in Oplitis pennsylvanica , but with this U-shaped bend more compressed, posteriorly curved and directed posteriorly as Fig. 9 in Oplitis leonardiana ), ventral shield (with 4-5 pairs of setae in Oplitis sarcinulus and Oplitis pennsylvanica , but 8-9 pairs in Oplitis leonardiana ), adanal setae Ad2 (shorter than Ad1 in Oplitis sarcinulus , but as long as Ad1 in both Oplitis leonardiana and Oplitis pennsylvanica ), shape of genital shield (narrowly oval and elliptical in Oplitis sarcinulus and Oplitis leonardiana , but widely oval and beehive-shape in Oplitis pennsylvanica ), width and the number of posterior crenulations (narrow and with 5-6 crenulations in Oplitis sarcinulus , but wide and with 9 crenulations in Oplitis pennsylvanica and Oplitis leonardiana ), and pedofossae IV (narrow and with rounded distal end in Oplitis sarcinulus , but wide, with pointed and rounded distal end in Oplitis leonardiana and Oplitis pennsylvanica ).

The Iranian specimens agree well with the original description, however, Hunter and Farrier (1976) mentioned 6-7 crenulations on anterior and posterior margins of perigenital ring, respectively, and sternal region of perigenital ring with small punctuation, but with 5-6 crenulations and sternal region smooth in Iranian specimens.

Material examined.

6 females and 3 males, Iran, Mazandaran province, Nowshahr, Kheyrood-Kenar forest, 36°34'N, 051°33'E, altitude 636 m a.s.l., 5 July 2014, E. Babaeian coll., in leaf-litter. The type specimens are deposited in the Acarological Collection, Jalal Afshar Zoological Museum, Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.