Eremaeozetes darwini Schatz, 2001

Revelo-Tobar, Harol, 2022, Checklist of Oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) of Ecuador, Zootaxa 5210 (1), pp. 1-96 : 69

Eremaeozetes darwini Schatz, 2001

Distribution: Ecuador.

Records in Ecuador: Galápagos (Islas: Fernandina, Isabela, Pinta, San cristobal, Santa Cruz).

Habitat: Isla Fernandina: western part, open Croton scouleri forest with Pteridium aquilinum , in litter under Darwiniothamnus tenuifolius and grass. Isla Floreana: moist highland, Cerro Pajas, northwestern crater rim, Psidium guajava and Zanthoxylum fagara forest, in moist, epiphytic moss with roots and Peperomia from bark, near buccaneer caves at Cerro Asilo de la Paz, in moist, well-decayed leaf litter with roots and humus under Lantana camara . Isla Isabela, Volcano Alcedo, southern crater rim, elfin forest with Psychotria rufipes and Tournefortia rufosericea , in moist epiphytic moss and lichens and Volcano Sierra Negra, dense forest with Scalesia cordata , Tournefortia pubescens and Sapindus saponaria above Quinta Playa (“La Trocha”), in moist to wet moss and rem litter with Peperomia sp. from a dead trunk, in moist moss and dead log from bark of Sapindus , in moist moss with humus from roots under Sapindus . Southern crater rim, open forest with Psidium guajava and Sapindus saponaria , in moist lichens and humus from rock, in moist to wet moss and lichens on bark. Isla Pinta: moist zone around summit at main crater, dense stand of ferns with Polypodium sp. and Pteridium aquilinum , in moist fern litter and humus under uppermost layer. Isla San Cristobal: moist zone: around lake EI Junco, dense forest with Psidium guajava and Miconia robinsoniana , in moist to wet, decayed leaf litter with moss and humus, well-decayed fern litter and humus under Pteridium aquilinum , in moist rotten wood under Psidium guajava , in hanging pads of moist epiphytic moss and Lycopodium dichotomum , in dry to moist lichens on rocks, in dry to moist fungus on bark; near small river southeast of lake EI Junco, in moist pads of epiphytic Lycopodium dichotomum on bough of Psidium , valley southeast of EI Junco, dense forest with Miconia robinsoniana , Psidium guajava and Cyathea weatherbyana , well-decayed leaf litter and humus, in moist pads of epiphytic moss. Pasture area “Poza colorada” northwest of lake EI Junco, in grass and herb litter, pasture area around lake EI Junco, in grass litter. Cerro San Joaquin, small crevice under Cyathea weatherbyana , in moist to wet, well-decayed fern litter, in dry to moist hanging pads of moss and Lycopodium , in dry to moist grass litter with roots. Isla Santa Cruz: moist zones, agricultural area above Bella Vista, in moist to wet moss under Miconia robinsoniana and Pteridium aquilinum , in dry to moist moss under Psidium guajava ; around Media Luna, dense stand of Miconia robinsoniana and Pteridium aquilinum , in moist leaf and fern litter with humus, in dry to moist moss under Miconia , in lichens on rock, in moist pads of moss from bough, in dripping wet pad of Sphagnum ; Scalesia zone around Los Gemelos, dense forest with Scalesia pedunculata , Zanthoxylum fagara , Psychotria rufipes , and Tournefortia rufosericea , in moist, partially to well-decayed leaf litter with humus, in dry to moist, epiphytic moss and lichens; near Cerro Crocker, forest with Scalesia pedunculata , Zanthoxylum fagara , Psychotria rufipes , Tournefortia rufosericea , Pteridium aquilinum , and Borreria laevis , in moist, decayed leaf, fern and grass litter with moss and humus, in dry to moist epiphytic pads of moss and Lycopodium from bark, boughs and dead trunks. Fern-sedge zone: around Puntudo, in dry to moist fern litter under Pteridium aquilinum , in dry to moist moss and lichens from rock.

References: Schatz (2001): 485-492.