Soarella Koenike, 1907

DingK, Zhu-Hui, YiK, Tian-Ci, K, Jian-Jun Guo & JinK, Dao-Chao, 2024, New records of the subgenus Soarella Koenike, 1907 from China (Acari, Hydrachnidia, Unionicolidae, Neumania), with the description of five new species, Acarologia 64 (1), pp. 256-276 : 257

Subgenus Soarella Koenike, 1907

Diagnosis — Integument smooth, usually with fine setae; all glandularia with varying degrees of enlargement, somewhat tubercular protrusions, without dorsal and ventral shields; excretory pore surrounded by a well-sclerotized tubercle-protrusion, sometimes it shrinks. Posterior extension of Cx-IV and C~4 ~ never fused, the genital field tends towards the ventral terminal. Males with a genital, but females with a pair of genital plates. Palp typically five-segmented, rarely P4 and P5 fused ( Smit 2020), P-4 usually exhibits two closely positioned ventral setae, which also in proximity to the ventrodistal peg-like seta, and with P-5 without serrate seta. Legs without sexual dimorphism.

Habitat — Standing waters, slow flowing water, streams, interstitial.

Distribution — Palaearctic region; Oriental region; Afrotropical region.

Remarks — The classification status of this subgenus is a subject of controversy due to significant variations in the extent of protrusion of glandular hair tubercles. However, if the protrusion is not significant, i.e., Neumania verrucosa (Koenike, 1895) , Neumania angulate (Sokolow, 1931) , Neumania tokyoensis Imamura, 1959 , and Neumania morimotoi Imamura,

1961, are all classified within the named subgenus ( Gerecke et al. 2016 ; Imamura 1953, 1959, 1961). These species exhibit distinct characteristics, besides tubercular protrusions, the dorsal setae on P-3 shows varying degrees of deformation, clearly distinguishing them from the subgenus Neumania . Therefore, they should be classified within the subgenus Soarella .