Geckobiella trombidiiformis Berlese

Paredes-León, Ricardo, Klompen, Hans & Pérez, Tila M., 2012, Systematic revision of the genera Geckobiella Hirst, 1917 and Hirstiella Berlese, 1920 (Acari: Prostigmata: Pterygosomatidae) with description of a new genus for American species parasites on geckos formerly placed in Hirstiella, Zootaxa 3510, pp. 1-40 : 8

Geckobiella trombidiiformis Berlese

Geckobiella (Hirstiella) trombidiiformis Berlese, 1920: 195 .

Hirstiella trombidiformes (sic) Baker and Wharton 1952: 208; Cunliffe 1952: 166; André 1961: 159. Hirstiella trombidiiformis Hirst, 1926: 197 ; Radford 1943:71; 1950: 377.

Diagnosis. Female. Prodorsal shield very poorly defined with striae similar to those on body but much lighter; prodorsal shield shaped as inverted isosceles triangle with anterior margin straight and with 1 pair of setae (vi) ( Fig. 2 A). Dorsal body setae of medium length, reaching to bases of next setal row; femora II and IV with seta v’ (same as in G. p e l a e z i).

Male. Undescribed.

Type. Female HOLOTYPE (Berlese Collection 208/45; Istituto Sperimentale per la Zoologia Agraria, Florence, Italy).

Type locality. Guanajuato, México ( Berlese 1920).

Type host. Unknown.

Material examined. 1 female, 2 males, 3 deutonymphs, 3 larvae ex Sceloporus t. torquatus , MEXICO, Guanajuato, Cortázar, Cerro del Colorado, 31 January 1976, coll. O. Sánchez ( CNAC 006969–77).

Remarks. The original description by Berlese (1920) fails to provide clear diagnostic data. Hirst (1926) redescribed the female of G. trombidiiformis based on a couple of specimens from Berlese´s material deposited at British Museum (BM(NH)) and mentioned about the scutum that is apparently absent. Cunliffe (1952) provided a drawing based on specimens from Nuevo León, Mexico, which was checked by C. D. Radford against specimens deposited in BM(NH); in this drawing the species is shown without prodorsal shield, but in his diagnosis Cunliffe (1952) mentioned that the species has a poorly defined prodorsal shield with striae similar to those on the body, but much lighter. Baker (1998) mentioned in a key that G. trombidiiformis has a triangular prodorsal shield with straight anterior margin and a pair of setae. Neither the type specimen nor the specimens deposited at BM(NH) were available for study but we examined some specimens collected from Sceloporus t. torquatus (Phrynosomatidae) of the same state (Guanajuato) as the type collection and can corroborate that G. trombidiiformis has a poorly defined triangular prodorsal shield with a pair of setae (vi) ( Fig. 2 A). Additionally, some characters used in this analysis were compared with previous studies provided by Cunliffe (1952), Jack (1961; 1964). Based on the original description and the current analysis G. p e l a e z i is very close to this species. This species appears to be a specific ectoparasite of Phrynosomatidae lizards (see Table 2 ).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Prodorsal shields of the species of Geckobiella. A, G. trombidiiformis; B, G. p e l a e z i; C, G. boneti; D, G. bakeri; E, G. pyriformis; F, G. javieri; G, G. diolii; H, G. donnae sp. nov. Scale bar 100 µm.