Torrenticola malaisei ( Lundblad, 1941 )

PešićK, Vladimir, K, Harry Smit & K, Mer Man Gurung, 2022, Torrenticolid water mites of Bhutan. Genera Torrenticola Piersig, 1896 and Neoatractides Lundblad, 1941 (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Torrenticolidae), Acarologia 1941 (3), pp. 821-860 : 831

Torrenticola malaisei ( Lundblad, 1941)

Figures 7, 24A, B, F

Material examined — Bhutan, MG 8 Dangdung Chhu, 27.33461°N, 90.59562°E, 1039 m

asl, 30.x.2021 1♂, 6♀ (1♂, 1♀ dissected and slide mounted).

Description — General features – Idiosoma elongated-oval (dorsal shield L/W ratio

1.3-1.4); dorsal shield with a colour pattern as illustrated in Figures 24A, B ; gnathosomal bay U-shaped; Cxgl-4 subapical; medial suture line of Cx-II+III short; posterior suture lines of Cx-IV extending posteriorly beyond posterior margin of genital field, laterally curved;

excretory pore and Vgl-2 away from the line of primary sclerotization; gnathosomal rostrum long and slender, ventral margin in lateral view curved ( Figure 7E); P-2 longer than P-4, P-2

with a laterally compressed, longish (> 30% of ventral margin), anteriorly directed ventrodistal extension; P-3 with a short, subrectangular, apically serrated ventrodistal projection, and a long seta laterally at base of projection; P-4 short, with two small peg-like ventral tubercles separated by a concavity, bearing one longer and three shorter setae ( Figures 7 C-D). Male

(measurements of one specimen from Dangdung Chhu) – Idiosoma L/W 644/444; dorsal shield

L/W 516/377; medial suture Cx-II+III L 73; genital field subrectangular, L/W 125/95; male ejaculatory complex conventional in shape, with well-developed anterior keel and proximal arms ( Figure 24F); L P-2 84, P-4 60. Female (measurements of one specimen from Dangdung

Chhu; in parentheses measurements from Lundblad 1969) – Idiosoma L 746 (724), W 519;

dorsal shield L 590 (578), W 440; medial suture Cx-II+III L 49 (57); genital field wider than in male and slightly tapering posteriorly, L/W 153 (157)/138(142); L P-2 95 (95), P-4 70 (81).

Remarks — The specimens from Bhutan match the description of T. malaisei , a species described by Lundblad (1941) on basis of a female collected in a stream at the Kambaiti mountain pass in Myanmar ( Burma).