Petralycus longicornis Theron, 1977

Uusitalo, Matti, Ueckermann, Edward A. & Theron, Pieter D., 2020, A review of the family Alycidae (Acari, Acariformes) from South Africa, Zootaxa 4858 (3), pp. 301-340 : 335-336

Petralycus longicornis Theron, 1977

( Fig. 135B )

Petralycus longicornis Theron, 1977: 39 , figs. 1–15. Description. Dorsum ( Fig. 135B ). Length ca. 240 μm; dorsal setae in a single row on each of the posterior segments H, PS and AD and slightly longer than the more randomly arranged setae on neotrichous anterior segments C, D, E and F; additional setae on ventral side smaller in size; naso a long, narrow and with distally rounded protrusion, prodorsal setae vi, sce and in subequal in size, a pair of setae exp missing, filiform sensilla sci densely ciliated.

Venter. Genital valves each with 11 genital setae; 4 anal setae per valve.

Gnathosoma . Pair of smooth cheliceral setae on elongated chelicera; rutella pointed with lobed membrane; no additional setae on subcapitulum (i.e. three pairs); palpal tarsi with enlarged solenidion reaching over two stiff, terminal eupathids.

Legs. Solenidial formula for tarsi, tibiae, genua and femora on legs I, II, III and IV, respectively: 1-1-0-0, 2-2- 2-1, 5-2-2-1\2, 2-0-0-0, both longer and shorter solenidia ± thick and baculiform, several barbed eupathids and a knob-like famulus distally on tarsi I. Theron (1977: 42) noticed that genu IV of P. longicornis has either 3 setae plus 2 solenidia or 4 setae and 1 solenidion.

Type material examined: Holotype female from Acacia karroo -biotope, Potchefstroom, NORTH-WEST PROVINCE, 3 March 1969, P.D. Theron. Deposited at the Mite Collection of ARC-Plant Health and Protection, Pretoria, South Africa.

Differential diagnosis. This species can be differentiated from the holotrichous species of Europe and North America by its neotrichous dorsal chaetotaxy and less solenidia on the femora; and from another neotrichous African species, Petralycus brevicornis , by having a long, pointed naso and three pairs of prodorsal setae, subequal in size.

Figures

FIGURE 135. Details of Alycidae. A—prodorsum of Petralycus longicornis, B—prodorsum of P. brevicornis, C—palpal tarsi with solenidion ω extending partly over a pair of distal mucronate eupathids, Petralycus sp., D—strongly elongated chelicerae with 5 teeth similar in size on each fixed digit and 2 claws and a clawless empodium (arrow), Petralycus sp., E—cheliceral shafts abruptly tapering into chelae with 2 strong teeth on each fixed digit, Alycus sp., F—cheliceral shafts evenly tapering, elongated, Amphialycus sp. Abbreviations: Na—naso, Ch—chelicera, chb—cheliceral seta, P—palp, I—first leg.