Chelonuropoda Sellnick, 1954

Kontschán, Jenő & Friedrich, Stefan, 2018, First record of Chelonuropoda in Peru, with the description of a new species (Acari: Mesostigmata: Oplitidae), Ecologica Montenegrina 16, pp. 124-129 : 125

Genus Chelonuropoda Sellnick, 1954

Chelonuropoda Sellnick, 1954: 195–196 .

Chelonuropoda : Hirschmann & Zirngiebl-Nicol 1964: 4, Hirschmann 1979: 67, Wiśniewski 1993: 373, Kontschán 2006: 9 , Kontschán 2009: 737–738, Kontschán & Starỳ 2012: 742–743.

Oplitis bispirata -group: Hirschmann 1991: 10–12.

Diagnosis (after Kontschán & Starỳ 2012, modified). Idiosoma large (> 1000 μm), oval, posterior margin rounded. Anterior region of marginal shield wide and fused with dorsal shield. Dorsal shield bearing two C- or O-shaped, strongly sclerotized lines at level of coxae IV. Dorsal and ventral setae are smooth and needle-like, sometimes associated with oval pits. Genital shield of female linguliform, without anterior process. Metapodal region with a deep transversal furrows bordered with two rows of wide and phylliform setae. Dorsal, marginal and ventral shields hypertrichous. Corniculi horn-like, laciniae with several long branches. Hypostomal setae h3 longer than others. Tritosternum with a narrow base, laciniae with three or four pilose branches. Epistome triangular and marginally pilose. Leg I with claw.

Type species. Chelonuropoda bispirata Sellnick, 1954 by original designation.

Distribution. The species of this genus are recorded from Brazil, Chad, Bolivia ( Wiśniewski 1993), Angola ( Kontschán 2006), Kenya ( Kontschán 2009 a), Madagascar and Ivory Coast (Kontschán & Starỳ 2012).