Anystipalpus, Antennoseius and Vitzthumia: a taxonomic and nomenclatural conundrum of genera (Acari: Mesostigmata: Dermanyssina), with description of four species of Anystipalpus

Abstract

The genus Anystipalpus Berlese, 1911, of uncertain prior placement in the superfamilies Ascoidea or Dermanyssoidea, is redescribed, based on reexamination of type and other material of the type-species, A. percicola Berlese, and of material representing Anystipalpus livshitsi (Eidelberg) new combination and two new species, A. labiduricola n. sp. and A. kazemii n. sp. Anystipalpus nataliae (Eidelberg) new combination and Anystipalpus ukrainicus (Sklyar) new combination are determined to be junior synonyms of A. percicola Berlese and A. livshitsi (Eidelberg), respectively, new synonymies. The genus is known thus far only from adult females phoretic under the elytra of carabid beetles and the tegmina of labidurid earwigs in Eurasia. The relationships between it and the closely related Antennoseius Berlese, 1916 and Vitzthumia Thor, 1930, are reviewed, and the options for the family level placement of these genera are reconsidered. Attention is given to some gnathosomatic attributes that are commonly overlooked in description of species of these closely related genera. Phoresy and the role of adult female morphs in the life history of these mites, as well as the extraordinary phoretic association of one species with earwigs are discussed.

A New Species of Mites of the Genus Anystipalpus (Mesostigmata, Ascidae) from the Eastern Ukraine

“…Mites were studied with aid of light microscope Mikmed-1 Lomo with binocular head AU-12, ocular micrometer AM9-2 and drawing tube RA-7U 4,2. Setal and porelike structures nomenclature follows that of Lindquist and Evans (1965) slightly modified by Lindquist and Moraza (2009). Measurements are given in micrometers (mkm) for the holotype and paratypes (in parentheses, minimum to maximum).…”

“…The genus Anystipalpus Berlese, 1911 is known only from adult females phoretic on ground beetles and labidurid earwigs in Eurasia. Genus includes 4 species: A. percicola Berlese, 1911 (= A. nataliae (Eidelberg, 1990)) known from Italy, Ukraine (Crimea) and Iran; A. livshitsi (Eidelberg, 1989) (= A. ukrainicus (Skljar, 1994)) known from Ukraine (Crimea, Donetsk and Poltava Regions), Moldova, Kazakhstan and Iran; A. kazemii Lindquist et Moraza, 2009 andA. labiduricola Lindquist et Moraza, 2009 known only from Iran (Eidelberg, 1989(Eidelberg, , 1990Sklyar, 1994;Lindquist, Moraza, 2009).…”

“…Genus includes 4 species: A. percicola Berlese, 1911 (= A. nataliae (Eidelberg, 1990)) known from Italy, Ukraine (Crimea) and Iran; A. livshitsi (Eidelberg, 1989) (= A. ukrainicus (Skljar, 1994)) known from Ukraine (Crimea, Donetsk and Poltava Regions), Moldova, Kazakhstan and Iran; A. kazemii Lindquist et Moraza, 2009 andA. labiduricola Lindquist et Moraza, 2009 known only from Iran (Eidelberg, 1989(Eidelberg, , 1990Sklyar, 1994;Lindquist, Moraza, 2009). During examination of carabid beetles collected in 2010 in Lugansk Region of Ukraine, a new species of mites of the genus Anystipalpus was found.…”

Acarine biocontrol agents Neoseiulus californicus sensu Athias-Henriot (1977) and N. barkeri Hughes (Mesostigmata: Phytoseiidae) redescribed, their synonymies assessed, and the identity of N. californicus (McGregor) clarified based on examination of types

“…Narrow endopodal elements between coxae I-II sometimes free, but usually fused to anterolateral corners of sternal shield, bearing gland opening gvb; with a narrow endopodal strip mesal to coxa IV; exopodal shield a narrow strip lateral to coxae I-IV, narrowly joining peritrematal shield posteriorly, at level slightly posterior to stigmata, and bearing an anterior gland opening (gd10) at level between coxae I-II (Fig. 12, homologous to gp1 in Lindquist & Moraza, 2009), gland opening sometimes nearby in soft cuticle on a minute sclerite. Soft opisthogastric cuticle with: four pairs of smooth setae, ZV1 (24-31), ZV3 (18-24), JV4 (22-29), and JV5 (44-60); two pairs of narrow metapodal platelets, primary (outer) platelet 24-32 long, at level of ZV1; six pairs of poroids (iv5, 4 ivo, ivp).…”

“…dorsal shield length / width; Z5 length / dorsal shield length; j1-j1 distance / j1 length; distance of insertion of setae Z1 and S2 to dorsal shield margin / shield width) were obtained from specimens. Morphological terminology follows Beard (2001) as modified from various authors, primarily Lindquist & Evans (1965) and Rowell et al (1978) for shields and idiosomal chaetotaxy; Evans (1963) for leg chaetotaxy, with a slight modification introduced by Rowell & Chant (1979) for the notation of tibia II setae; Schuster & Smith (1960) for spermathecal apparatus, with modification of the term 'cervix' to 'calyx' by Athias-Henriot (1971b; in French: 'calice'), Ragusa & Athias-Henriot (1983) and Evans (1992); Beard (2001) for spermatodactyl, as modified from De Leon (1961) and Schicha (1987); Athias-Henriot (1975) and Athias-Henriot (1971a) for dorso-idiosomal and ventro-idiosomal adenotaxy and poroidotaxy, respectively; for additional gland openings that were not determined by Athias-Henriot (1975) (idR3, gd10, gvb, gc), we used notations developed by Lindquist & Moraza (2009), Evans & Fain (1995), Makarova (2003), and Kazemi et al (2014), respectively. Note that Beard (2001) presented a synopsis (illustration) of the notation for dorsal adeno-and poroidotaxy, which was used by many subsequent authors; however, two poroids (id5 and idl1) of Athias-Henriot (1975) were named differently (id1a and idl2 respectively) in Beard (2001).…”