Abrolophinae Witte, 1995

Seeman, Owen D., Beard, Jennifer J., Fan, Qing-Hai & Otto, Jürgen C., 2024, Abrolophus from Australasia, and the mysterious Mypongia (Trombidiformes: Parasitengona: Erythraeidae), Zootaxa 5519 (2), pp. 151-189 : 186

Abrolophinae Witte, 1995

Diagnosis. From Witte (1995). Adults and larvae. Apomorphies: pharynx lacking flexor muscles. Plesiomorphies: with one pair of eyes positioned posteriorly on prodorsum. Adults. Apomorphies: pharynx short, positioned almost vertically inside gnathosoma; genital lips of males narrow, with one row of setae; posterior projection of latero-coxal region of gnathosoma short; ejaculatory complex with a postero-dorsal sclerite, which moulds the apical structure of the spermatophore; spermatophore with funnel-shaped membranous apical structure; posterior organa membranoidea of ejaculatory complex lacking; one pair of receptacula seminis, separated from genital papillae; endosternite reduced, with muscles of endosternite attached instead to ventral cuticle posterior to coxa II. Plesiomorphies: eyes placed posterior to middle of crista; crista extends beyond posterior sensillary area; lacking urnulae, lacking tubercles on leg tibiae; palp tarsus not extended far beyond tibial claw. Larvae. Apomorphies: dorsal scutum oblongate and posteriorly pointed. Plesiomorphies: coxae I and II well-separated; dorsal scutum with dumbbell-shaped reinforcement; tarsi of legs arched; pharynx elongated.

Remarks. The subfamily classification of Witte (1995) uses many internal structures that are difficult to ascertain with cleared slide-mounted specimens. Furthermore, while a detailed and fascinating study, the taxa for which these details are known are a small subsample of the terrestrial Parasitengona . For the few characters visible with light microscopy, Abrolophus ripicola matches this description. Other similar species also match, although A. novaeguinensis lacks a posterior projection on the crista (but note diagnosis below, which allows for various forms of the crista). Mypongia brevipes does not match this diagnosis well as it lacks a well-defined scutum and has coxae I-II placed close together, although the latter feature is not definitive, with many Abrolophus larvae having closely approximated coxae I-II. However, additional setae between coxae I-II are present in larvae of Abrolophus but absent in Mypongia brevipes .