The soil mite family Eremaeidae (Acari: Oribatida) in Mongolia, with remarks on distribution and diversity of known genera

Abstract

The oribatid mite family Eremaeidae is represented in Mongolia by eight species in three genera. Three new species, Eueremaeus tenuisensillatus sp. nov., Eu. crassisetosus sp. nov. and Eu. laticostulatus sp. nov., collected from cool temperate forests, dry steppe and semi-desert habitats in central and southern Mongolia, are described on the basis of adults. Five known species, Eremaeus hepaticus C. L. Koch, Eu. oblongus (C. L. Koch), Eu. granulatus (Mihelčič), Proteremaeus mongolicus (Golosova) and P. punctulatus Bayartogtokh are redescribed; the first three of these are recorded for the first time from Mongolia. Taxonomic status of Eu. granulatus (Mihelčič) and Eu. silvestris (Forsslund) is discussed, and the latter is considered a junior synonym of the former species. The following new combinations are proposed: Eueremaeus brevifer (Mahunka), Eueremaeus fossulatus ( Kunst) and Eueremaeus roissi (Piffl ). A key to Mongolian species of Eremaeidae is given. Data on distribution and diversity of Eremaeidae of the world are discussed.

Morphology of juvenile stages and ontogeny of three species and genera of Eremaeidae (Acari, Oribatida)

“…/01647954.2013 have seta le inserted in the anterior prodorsum, far from the anterior part of the costula. Subías (2004) transferred Proteremaeus to the family Oribellidae, but Bayartogtokh (2000Bayartogtokh ( , 2003Bayartogtokh ( , 2010 and Norton and Behan-Pelletier (2009) still consider Proteremaeus as a member of Eremaeidae. Problematic is also the systematic status of Eremaeus cordiformis Grandjean, 1934, because some authors (Lions 1971;Pérez-Íńigo 1995Pérez-Íńigo , 1997Subías 2004;Weigmann 2006) treated it as a true species, but Subías (2012) considered it a synonym of Er.…”

“…cordiformis and the relationships between Proteremaeus and other genera of this family. Moreover, several Mongolian species of Proteremaeus were described as adults and look similar to each other, and after Bayartogtokh (2003) the detailed study on the morphology of their juveniles could show if they are true species.…”

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The morphology of juvenile stages of Eremaeus cordiformis Grandjean, 1934 is redescribed and illustrated, and those of Eueremaeus laticostulatus Bayartogtokh, 2003 and Proteremaeus punctulatus Bayartogtokh, 2000 are described and illustrated for the first time. The juveniles of these species differ from each other mainly by the presence of distinct prodorsal ridges in the central part of the prodorsum, shape and distribution of some setae, and number of adanal and anal setae.

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Asperemaeus striganovae, a new species of soil mite from the lake Hövsgöl area, northern Mongolia (Acari: Oribatida: Eremaeidae)

“…The family is well represented in Mongolia with eight species belonging to three of the seven known genera, Eremaeus C. L. Koch, Eueremaeus Mihelcic and Proteremaeus Piffl (Bayartogtokh, 2000(Bayartogtokh, , 2003. Representatives of these genera have been found in decaying wood or litter of cool temperate forests and organic horizons of soils in the arid steppe and semidesert habitats, and in any particular habitat up to three species of this family may co-occur.…”

“…The line drawings were made using a camera lucida attached to the compound microscope. Morphological terminology used in this work is based mostly on that developed over many years by Grandjean (see Travè and Vachon, 1975, for references) as summarized and applied by Piffl (1965), Lions (1971), Behan-Pelletier (1982, 1993, Hunt et al (1998) and Bayartogtokh (2003).…”