Parachipteria bella ( Sellnick, 1928 )

Bayartogtokh, B. & Ryabinin, N. A., 2012, The Soil Mite Family Achipteriidae (Acari: Oribatida) In Mongolia And The Russian Far East, Acarologia 52 (2), pp. 135-156 : 147-149

Parachipteria bella ( Sellnick, 1928)

( Fig. 7 )

Notaspis bellus: Sellnick, 1928: 8 .

Notaspis bellus: Willmann, 1931: 184 , fig. 326.

Achipteria bellus: Grandjean, 1942: 52 ; 1946: 13.

Parachipteria bella: van der Hammen, 1952: 107 ; Sellnick, 1960: 54; Shaldybina, 1975: 340, fig. 858; Chistyakov, 1987, 2: figs. 1-9; Marshall et al., 1987: p. 327; Weigmann, 2006: 357 , fig. 190D, E; Seniczak and Seniczak, 2007: 535, figs. 1-37.

Campachipteria bella: sensu Subías, 2004: 168 .

Diagnosis — With character states of Parachipteria (see Balogh and Balogh, 1992 and Weigmann, 2006 for generic diagnosis); total length 390 – 450 µm; lamellae fused medially, lamellar cusps well separated from each other, lateral dens of cusp medium in size, not sharply pointed, but nearly blunt distally; notogastral porose areas large, oval; coxisternal setal formula 3-1-3-2; tutorium narrow, without pointed cusp distally; pedotectum I smoothly rounded, without anterior tooth.

Measurements — Body length: 403 – 445 (428) µm, length of notogaster 323 – 366 (345) µm, width of notogaster 281 – 323 (303) µm.

Integument — Body color dark brown, strongly sclerotized species with minute microtubercles on prodorsum and podosomal region. Granular cerotegument clearly evident on notogaster, subcapitular mentum, at base of prodorsum and ventral plate.

Dorsal aspect — Rostrum projected in both dorsal and ventral views, curved ventrally in lateral view. Rostral seta long, smooth or finely barbed, curving medially, and extending well beyond tip of rostrum ( Fig. 7C, F ). Lamellae fused medially, with large cusps separated from each other; lateral dens of cusp medium in size, not sharply pointed, but nearly blunt distally. Lamellar seta shorter than ro, moderately thick, but smooth, inserted medially on ventral side of lamellar cusp ( Fig. 7B ). Interlamellar seta long, fairly thick, smooth or very finely barbed, reaching tip of lamella. Exobothridial seta minute, hardly discernable. Sensillus with slightly expanded fusiform head about half total length, smooth ( Fig. 7A ). Notogaster slightly longer than wide, ratio 1.2:1, robust in lateral view; anterior margin rounded or subtriangular, posterior margin broadly rounded. Lenticular region clearly visible, but lacking true lenticulus. Notogastral setae medium long, thin, smooth; setae c and la conspicuously longer than other setae. Porose areas oval in shape, Aa largest, A3 smallest, two other porose areas same in size; lyrifissures not evident ( Fig. 7A and D ). Lateral edge of pteromorph with striations ( Fig. 7C ).

Lateral aspect — Tutorium narrow, without pointed cusp distally ( Fig. 7E ). Genal tooth not sharply pointed distally, but indistinct. Pedotectum I well developed, fully covering acetabulum I, without anterior tooth; pedotectum II small, ear-shaped, covering less than a quarter of acetabulum II.

Ventral aspect — Subcapitular mentum with minute granular cerotegument; setae h, m and a short, smooth. Capitular angle of coxisternum not projecting. Chelicera chelate-dentate. Axillary saccule absent from base of palp. Epimeral seta 1b long, other setae minute or represented by their alveoli, formula 3-1-3-2, seta 4c not evident. Six pairs of genital, one pair of aggenital, two pairs of anal and three pairs of adanal setae short, thin, smooth. Lyrifissure iad adjacent and parallel to anal aperture ( Fig. 7C ).

Legs — Each tarsus with large empodial claw and thin, longer lateral claws serrated dorsally. Formula of setation, including famulus: I (1-5-3-4-20), II (1-5-3-4-15), III (2-3-1-3-15), IV (1-2-2-3-12), formula of solenidia I (1-2-2), II (1-1-2), III (1-1-0), IV (0-1-0).

Material examined — Twenty-one specimens (15 males and six females): Close to village Plastun, District Ternei, Primorsk Krai, Russian Far East, litter of oak forest, 15 June 2005, Col. A. Zaytsev.

Remarks — The character states of specimens examined here accord well with those studied by Sellnick (1928), Willmann (1931) and Weigmann (2006) from Europe, and some supplementary characteristics are provided here. In the species list of world oribatid mites, Subías (2004) included P. bella in the genus Campachipteria Aoki, 1995 , but this combination was not accepted by Weigmann (2006). Indeed, Campachipteria being with monodactylous legs, while Parachipteria have tridactylous legs, and therefore, P. bella can not be a member of the former genus.

Figures

FIGURE 7: Parachipteria bella (Sellnick, 1928): A – Dorsal view of idiosoma, legs omitted; B – Lamellar cusps; C – Ventral view of idiosoma, legs omitted; D – Porose areas and some setae of notogaster; E – Tutorium, right, lateral view; F – Rostral seta, right.