Rhinoseius cf. antioquiensis Fain & Hyland, 1980

Dusbabek, Frantisek, Literak, Ivan, Capek, Miroslav & Havlicek, Martin, 2007, Ascid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata: Ascidae) from Costa Rican hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae), with description of three new species and a key to the Proctolaelaps belemensis species group, Zootaxa 1484, pp. 51-67 : 63

Rhinoseius cf. antioquiensis Fain & Hyland, 1980

( Figs. 19–23 )

In five species of Rhinoseius some dorsal setae in the anterior part of the male opisthonotal shield are strongly modified, thick and spine-like: R. richardsoni Hunter, 1972 , R. panamensis Fain et al., 1977 , R. antioquiensis Fain & Hyland, 1980 , R. rafinskii Micherdzinski & Lukoschus, 1980 and R. nadachowskyi Wiese & Fain, 1993 . While in R. nadachowskyi and R. rafinskii these setae are multiple (3 pairs in R. rafinskii and 5 pairs in R. nadachowskyi ), in the remaining species only two pairs (J1 and Z1) are modified. Naskrecki & Colwell, (1998) synonymized R. panamensis with R. richardsoni . They discussed the variability of the male opisthonotal and opisthoventral setae and consider R. panamensis to be the heteromorphic form of R. panamensis , in which these setae are setiform. According to these authors, R. richardsoni differs from R. antioquiensis mainly by the absence of setae z1, the thick opisthonotal setae Z5 and shorter peritreme, extending anteriorly to the level of z2 or z4.

Our specimen represents an intermediate form between R. richardsoni and R. antioquiensis , having setae Z5 and S5 spine-like rather than flageliform, and the peritreme reaching the level of z2. However, the presence of setae z1, and short dorsal propodosomal setae lead us to the conclusion that our specimen is assignable to R. antioquiensis rather than R. richardsoni . We believe that the differences are those of homo- and heteromorphism common in males of these mites.

Fain & Hyland (1980) collected R. antioquiensis on the head feathers of the Colombian hummingbirds Chalybura urochrysia , Androdon aequatorialis Gould, 1863 and Phaethornis guy . Naskrecki & Colwell (1998) reported this mite also from the plants Cavendishia lindauiana and C. palustris (Ericaceae) from Colombia. Our record is the first outside Colombia.

Material examined. One male from Amazilia tzacatl, Barbilla NP, September 2004, coll. I. Literak.

Figures

FIGURES 19 – 23. Rhinoseius cf. antioquiensis Fain & Hyland, 1980, male. Fig. 19. Dorsal view. Fig. 20. Ventral view. Fig. 21. Chelicera and spermatodactyl. Fig. 22. Leg II ventrally. Fig. 23. Epistome.