Studies on the oribatid mites of Calcutta and suburb—I

Abstract

This paper describes one new subgenus of Lamel/abates Hammer, 1958, two new species and a new sUbspecies. Four other known species are recorded Cor the first time Crom India.Oribatid mites form one of the major groups of soil fauna. A.systematic survey of these mites in India bas not been undertaken so far. Since the last two years attempts are being made to work out the Oribatid fauna of Calcutta and its neighbouring areas. This paper contains descriptions of two new species, one new subspecies and four other species recorded for the first time from India.A new subgenus is erected to accommodate one of the new species. The coUections are deposited in the Zoology Department, Calcutta University.

Phylogenetic relationships of Paralamellobates: immature characters of P. misella (Berlese) place the genus in Punctoribatidae (Acari, Oribatida)

“…Bhaduri and Raychaudhuri (1968) defined Paralamellobates (as subgenus of Lamellobates) as having "lamellae with free tips" in contrast to the rounded medial dens found in species of Lamellobates. A further difference between the genera found in some keys is the number of pairs of anal and adanal setae, but this seems variable.…”

“…Type species: Paralamellobates bengalensis Bhaduri & Raychaudhuri, 1968;p. 197 Diagnosis: Adult -Species comprising this genus are unique among poronotic Brachypylina (Grandjean 1953) in having the following combination of character states.…”

“…It was described as a subgenus of Lamellobates by Bhaduri and Raychaudhuri (1968), and considered a distinct genus by Behan-Pelletier (1998) and Norton and Ermilov (2014), although Subias (2004) retained subgeneric status. Paralamellobates includes 5 named species: the type species, P. bengalensis Bhaduri & Raychaudhuri, 1968, de-scribed from India, P. misella (Berlese, 1910) described as a species of Oribatella from Java, P. ceylanicus (Oudemans 1915) described as a species of Oribatella from Sri Lanka, P. striatus Behan-Pelletier, 1998 described from Costa Rica and P. schoutedeni (Balogh 1959) described as a species of Oribatella from Angola.…”

New species of oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) of the genera Belbodamaeus (Damaeidae), Malaconothrus (Malaconothridae) and Nothrus (Nothridae) from India

“…The fauna of oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) of India is studied insufficiently (but see Pearce 1906;Baker 1945;Bhaduri & Raychaudhuri 1968;Mahunka 1985;Sanyal 2000;Bayartogtokh & Chatterjee 2010). In the course of taxonomic identification of oribatid mite material from India we found three new species, belonging to the genera Belbodamaeus Bulanova-Zachvatkina, 1967 (Damaeidae), Malaconothrus Berlese, 1904 (Malaconothridae) and Nothrus Koch, 1835 (Nothridae).…”