Atractides lahauli, Pesic, Vladimir & Panesar, Arne, 2009

Pesic, Vladimir & Panesar, Arne, 2009, Studies on water mites (Acari, Hydrachnidia) from the Himalayas, II. New records and descriptions of seven new species from India, Zootaxa 2119, pp. 1-22 : 12-13

Atractides lahauli sp. nov.

( Figs. 8A–D )

Type material. Holotype: male, dissected and slide mounted in Hoyer's fluid; India: Himachal Pradesh State, Lahaul, 11 km north of Keylong, road to Leh, near bridge over side brook, with trickled down mosses from wall of rock, 23.viii.1990, 3300m asl., leg. Schwoerbel & Panesar.

Diagnosis. Dorsal integument: with small papillae; muscle attachments: sclerotized; ventral surface covered by an extended shield including coxae, Vgl-3 and -4 and genital field; excretory pore smooth; Vgl-1 and -2 fused with ventral shield.

Description. Male: Idiosoma L/W 394/313; dorsal integument: with small papillae; muscle attachments ( Fig. 8A ): sclerotized, D-1 fused with postfr, postoc, prefr, Dgl-3 and D-2, D-3 fused with Dgl-4, D-4 free not fused with Dgl-5. Coxal field ( Fig. 8B ): ventral surface covered by an extended shield including coxae, Vgl-3 and -4, genital field and Vgl-1 and -2; Cx-3 W 238, Cx-1+2 W 191. Palp ( Fig. 8C ): palp total L 205, dL and %L (in parentheses): P-1 23 (11.2), P-2 48 (23.4), P-3 50 (24.4), P-4 65 (31.7), P-5 19 (9.3); L P-2/P-4 0.74; P-3 ventral margins straight, P-4 with weakly developed denticles near hair insertions, sword seta between ventral hair insertions, approached to distoventral hair. Genital field ( Fig. 8B ): fused with the ventral shield, but suture lines still evident, W 98, L Ac-1-3: 25-17-19; excretory pore smooth; Vgl-1 and -2 incorporated into the posterior end of the ventral shield.

I-Leg ( Fig. 8D ): I-Leg-5 with dorsal and ventral margins only weakly diverging distally, S-1 and –2 with narrow setal interspace, homeomorphic, bluntly pointed; I-Leg-6 short and stout, weakly curved, with maximum H at the base of the claw furrow; I-Leg-5 dL 102, vL 78, dL/vL 1.3, HB 27, dL/HB 3.8, S-1 L 34, L/ W 11.3, S-2 L 31, L/ W 10.3, distance of sword setae at I-Leg-5 2.0; L S-1/2 1.1; I-Leg-6 L 71, HB 24, L/HB 3.0; L I-Leg-5/6 1.44.

Female: unknown.

Discussion. The new species is similar to Atractides dorsoscutatus Cook, 1967 described by Cook (1967) from Kerala State ( India). Both species have the ventral surface covered by an extended shield including coxae, Vgl-3 and -4 and genital field, and the similar shape of I-Leg-5 and -6. A. lahauli sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from A. dorsoscutatus in the absence of dorsal shield vs. presence of dorsal shield in A. dorsocutatus, smooth excretory pore vs. surrounded by sclerotized ring in A. dorsoscutatus, and Vgl-1 and -2 incorporated into the posterior end of the ventral shield vs. Vgl-1 and -2 not fused with the ventral shield in A. dorsoscutatus.

Etymology. The species is named after the area where it was collected. Habitat. Discovered in mosses in a mountain stream.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality in Himachal Pradesh State.

Figures

FIGURE 8 A – D. Atractides lahauli sp. nov., male: A = idiosoma, dorsal view; B = idiosoma, ventral view; C = palp, medial view; D = I-Leg- 5 and - 6. Scale bars = 100 µm.