Zelandobates occidentalis, Smit & Pešić, 2020

Smit, Harry & Pešić, Vladimir, 2020, New records of water mites from New Zealand, with the description of three new genera and ten new species (Acari: Hydrachnidia), Acarologia 60 (4), pp. 903-950 : 918-919

Zelandobates occidentalis n. sp.

Zoobank: E6BB51BF-DA49-46F7-9166-1EBB0DB43748

( Figures 9, 10 A­D, 11A­D, 28A)

Material examined. Holotype male, Duffers Creek at crossing with West Coast Road, South Island, New Zealand, 43°01.887 ′ S 170°39.266 ′ E, alt. 79 m asl, 22­iii­2014, leg. H. Smit (NMNZ). Paratypes: 2/1/0, same data and location as holotype (NMNZ); 9/5/0, Duffers Creek at crossing with West Coast Road, South Island, New Zealand, 43°01.887 ′ S 170°39.266 ′ E, alt. 79 m asl, 24­xii­2014, leg. H. Smit (RMNH).

Diagnosis. Dorsum with a large unpaired anterior plate, with three pairs of glandularia in male, this plate in female without glandularia.

Description. Male: Idiosoma smooth, dorsally 575 long and 425 wide, ventrally 684 long. Dorsum with a large unpaired anterior plate, 381 long, 318 wide, with three pairs of glandularia and the postocularia, covering more than half of the dorsum. Posterior to the large anterior dorsal plate a smaller unpaired platelet, 111 long, 147 wide, a pair if small platelets and three pairs of glandularia platelets. Coxae in three groups, coxal field 411 long, 500 wide, Cx­I+II fused medially. Cxgl­4 located near suture line of Cx­III/IV. Posterior to Cx­IV a pair of large platelets, Cxgl­3 fused with these platelets. Genital field, 181 long, 150 wide, with three pairs of acetabula, gonopore 91 long. Excretory pore fused with posterior margin of genital field. Lateral to genital field a pair of platelets, each with two glandularia. Length of P1­5: 33, 77,

78, 98, 55. P2 and P3 with many papillae, these not extending onto medial margin; P4 stocky with a large ventral projection. Length of I­leg­4­6: 120, 122, 133. I­leg­5 anteroventrally with a pointed stout seta. Length of IV­leg­4­6: 161, 158, 125.

Female: Idiosoma dorsally 744 long and 544 wide, ventrally 788 long. Dorsum with a large unpaired anterior plate, 456 long, 286 wide, with the postocularia, and a smaller unpaired posterior plate, 141 long, 186 wide. Moreover, dorsum with five pairs of platelets, two of these pairs without glandularia. Anterolateral platelets 275 long, located lateral to large anterior platelet, each with a glandularium. Coxae in three groups, coxal field 488 long, 531 wide, Cx­I+II fused medially. Cxgl­4 located near suture line of Cx­III/IV. Posterior to Cx­IV a pair of large platelets. Cxgl­3 on small platelets, not fused with the latter large platelets. Genital field with three pairs of acetabula, length of genital field (from anterior margin of pregenital sclerite to posterior margin of postgenital sclerite) 209, width of genital field 194, genital plate 138 long. Pregenital sclerite 150 wide, gonopore 138 in length. Lateral to genital field two pairs of small platelets. Cxgl­2 and excretory pore immediately posterior to genital field. Length of P1­5: 34, 100, 103, 125, 59; palp as in male. Length of I­leg­4­6: 128, 134, 131. I­leg­5 anteroventrally with a blunt, stout seta. Length of IV­leg­4­6: 175, 188, 153.

Etymology. Named for its western occurrence in South Island.

Remarks. The new species differs from Z. crinitus in the absence of large dorsal glandularia setae. Moreover, in the male the unpaired anterodorsal plate has three pairs of glandularia (none in crinitus ), in the female the unpaired anterodorsal plate has no glandularia (three pairs in crinitus ). The male differs from Z. tongariro n. sp. in the presence of three pairs of glandularia on the anterodorsal unpaired plate (none in tongariro ) and excretory pore fused with genital field (unfused in tongariro ).

Figures

Figure 10 Zelandobates occidentalisn. sp., male holotype (A­C, drawings; D, photograph). A – idiosoma, dorsal view; B – palp; C – I­leg­4­6; D – ejaculatory complex. Scale bars = 100 µm.