Onchodellus hispani ( Berlese, 1908 )

Ahadiyat, Ali, Moghadam, Sahebeh Ghasemi, Kermani, Reyhaneh Abutaleb & Harchi, Omid Jo-, 2020, Review of the Iranian species of Pachylaelapidae, with description of a new species of Onchodellus (Acari: Mesostigmata), Zootaxa 4778 (1) : -

Onchodellus hispani ( Berlese, 1908)

Pachylaelaps hispani Berlese, 1908: 14 .

Onchodellus hispani .— Mašán, 2007: 152; Mašán & Halliday, 2014: 16 .

Diagnosis. Female. Dorsal shield 650–700 long, 370–450 wide, oval (length/width ratio: 1.56–1.76), weakly re- ticulated medially. Opisthonotal region almost lineate transversally. One slit-like gland pore (gd9) present on each posterolateral dorsal margin. Gland pores gd8 circular. Setae j1 35–38, J4 74–80, J5 46–58 (J4 / J5 ratio: 1.38–1.70). Genitiventral shield almost as long as wide, 218–228 long, 207–234 wide (length/width ratio: 0.93–1.09), with smooth surface. Soft lateral and opisthogastric integument bearing 15 pairs of smooth setae. Peritreme extending anteriorly to the insertion of seta z1.

Specimens examined. East Azerbaijan Province, Arasbaran Protected Area, Khoda Afarin County, Khomarlu City : 3 females, 39° 08’ 56” N, 47° 02’ 05” E, altitude: 386 m a.s.l., phoretic on the body of an adult unidentified scarabaeid beetle (probably of the genus Copris Müller, 1764 ), March 2006, leg. Mohammad Havaskary.

Habitat preference in Iran. Soil, humus, and phoretic on scarabaeid beetles.

Provincial distribution in Iran. East Azerbaijan, Guilan, and Kerman ( Ahmadi, 2002, published as Pachylaelaps hispani Berlese, 1908 ; Mojahed et al., 2017; this paper).

World distribution. Asia ( Iran) ( Mojahed et al., 2017; this paper), Europe ( Bulgaria, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and Spain) ( Berlese, 1908; Karg, 1971, 1993; Mašán, 2007; Mašán & Halliday, 2009; Mašán & Mihál, 2009).

Notes. It occurs in low-land areas ( Mašán & Halliday, 2009: 180; Mašán & Mihál, 2009: 170–250; Mojahed et al., 2017: 72; this paper: 386 m a.s.l.). This species is often found in association with beetles and considered as a coprophilous and insecticolous species, with frequent abundance on Copris lunaris (Linnaeus, 1758) ( Mašán, 2007; Mašán & Halliday, 2009; Mašán & Mihál, 2009). It is rare in arable land, pastures and in deciduous forests, and is found in loamy soil, humus and in alluvial reed and grass cuttings, and feeds on nematodes and is in association with the scarabaeid beetle, Copris hispanus (Linnaeus, 1764) ( Karg, 1993) .