Molothrignathus mikaeeli, Ahaniazad & Bagheri, 2012

Ahaniazad, M. & Bagheri, M., 2012, A New Species Of The Genus Molothrognathus Summers And Schilinger (Acari: Trombidiformes: Caligonellidae) From Iran, Acarologia 52 (4), pp. 373-376 : 373-376

Molothrignathus mikaeeli n. sp. Bagheri and Ahaniazad

Holotype — Female ( Figures 1 -8). Length of body (including gnathosoma) 385 (370 – 395); length of gnathosoma 110 (105 – 115); width 170 (160 – 172);

Dorsum ( Figure 1a ) — Striated and with all setae slender and smooth; setae sce longer than other dorsal setae; two pairs of eyes present; seta measurements as follows: vi 21 (18 – 21); ve 20 (18 – 20); sci 21 (19 – 20); sce 50 (48 – 50); c 1 15 (15 – 16); c 2 20 (19 – 23); d 1 16 (17); e 1 17 (16 – 17); f 1 21 (20 – 22); h 1 32 (31 – 33); h 2 30 (30 – 31); distances between setae: vi-vi 28 (27 – 32), ve-ve 45 (35 – 47), vi-ve 36 (30 – 40), sci-sci 106 (90 – 110), sce-sce 167 (145 – 170), sci-sce 45 (37 – 47), c 1 -c 1 41 (37 – 45), c 2 -c 2 112 (87 – 110), d 1 -d 1 40 (30 – 40), e 1 -e 1 62 (58 – 62), f 1 -f 1 38 (35 – 40), c 1 -d 1 52 (40), d 1 - e 1 35 (32 – 37), e 1 -f 1 40 (35 – 40), f 1 -h 1 26 (25 – 27), h 1 -h 1 27 (26 – 30), h 2 -h 2 47 (42 – 47), h 1 -h 2 20 (17 – 21); dorsum also with three pairs of visible cupules on the integument, ia behind eyes, im lateral to setae d 1 and ip lateral to setae f 1; anal covers dorsally with two pairs of setae ps 1 9 (9 – 10) and ps 2 10 (10 – 11).

Venter ( Figure 1b ) — Ventral surface striate; endopodal shields between coxae absent; setae 1a on coxae I but 3a and 4a on integument; two pairs of aggenital setae (ag 1-2) present; genital flaps bearing one pair of simple setae (g 1), one pair of cupules laterad to genital shields present.

Gnathosoma ( Figure 1 c-1d) — Subcapitulum smooth, with two pairs of adoral setae (or 1,2) and also one pair of subcapitular setae (m); stylophore (Figure 3) conical; palpus (Figure 4) with the following complement of setal formulae (femur to tarsus): 1, 1, 3+1 well-developed claw, 3+1ω+4 acicular eupathidia; tibial claw of palpus as long as palptarsus.

Legs ( Figure 2 ) — Length of legs: leg I 274 (240 – 270); leg II 212 (194 – 210); leg III 239 (212 – 234); leg IV 264 (255 – 270). Setae on leg segments as follows: tarsi 16(+1ω)-11(+1ω)-9-9, tibiae 5(+2ω)-5-4- 4, genua 5(+1κ)-5-2-2, femora 2-2-2-2, trochanters 1- 1-1-1, coxae 3-1-1-1.

Male and Immature stages — Unknown

Type materials — Holotype female and three female paratypes were collected from soil from black cherry and pear orchards, 28 April 2011, Danalo village , Ajabshir , East Azerbaijan province, Iran, by Mansoureh Ahaniazad. The holotype will be deposit in the Arachnida Collection of Plant Protection Research Institute , Pretoria , South Africa and paratypes were deposited in the Acarological Collection , Deparment of Plant Protection , Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Iran.

Etymology — This species is named in honor of Mr Mikaeel Ahaniazad, father of the senior author.

Remarks — Molothrognathus mikaeeli resembles M. fulgidus Summers and Schlinger, M. crucis Summers and Schlinger and M. phytocolus Meyer and Ueckermann in general appearance. However it differs from M. fulgidus in that tarsus II bears 11 instead of 10 simple setae, setae c 1 as long as c 2 opposed c 2 two times longer than c 1 in M. fulgidus. It differs from M. crucis in that tarsus I bears 16 instead of 15 setae and tarsus II bears 11 instead of 10 simple setae in M. crucis, and sce / sci 2.4 opposed 3.8 in M. crucis. The new species differs from M. phytocolus in that tarsus I bears 16 instead of 15 setae and tarsus II bears 11 instead of 10 simple setae in M. phytocolus, 376

setae c 1 as long as c 2 but c 2 two times longer than c 1 in M. phytocolus.

Figures

FIGURE 1: Molothrognathus mikaeeli n. sp. (female): a – Dorsal view; b – Ventral view; c – Palp; d – Stylophore.

FIGURE 2: Molothrognathus mikaeeli n. sp. (female): a – Leg I; b – Leg II; c – Leg III; d – Leg IV.