Zercon laczii, Ujvári, 2010

Ujvári, Zsolt, 2010, Zerconid mites (Acari: Mesostigamata: Zerconidae) from Croatia with description of four new species, Journal of Natural History 44 (27 - 28), pp. 1671-1696 : 1686-1689

Zercon laczii sp. nov

( Figure 5A–F )

Material examined

Holotype: female, E-1963: Croatia, Krk Island , Valbista, oak forest, from leaf-litter, 29 April 2006, leg. L. Dányi; paratypes: three females, locality same as that of the holotype.

Diagnosis

Podonotal setae i 1 and all marginal r-setae barbed, others smooth and needle-like. Setae I 1–2 short, smooth, I 3–6 elongated, variously pilose, with hyaline endings, I 3–4 reaching the followings bases. Setae I 5 never reaching posterior margin of idiosoma. Setae Z 3–4 and S 3–4 – similarly to posterior I-setae – variously pilose, with hyaline tips. Setae S 1 short, smooth. S 2 smooth, twice as long as I 2. Setae S 3 reaching beyond the margins of opisthonotum. Po 3 situated under the line connecting I 5 and Z 4, equidistant from them. Dorsal fossae strongly sclerotized, moderately large, with almost parallel axes. Anterior margin of ventroanal shield with one pair of setae. Adgenital shield present.

Description – female

Length of idiosoma: 428–455 µm; width: 340–360 µm (n = 4).

Dorsal side ( Figure 5A,C ). On podonotum, 22 pairs of different setae: i-row with six pairs, z-row with two pairs, s-row with six pairs, r-row with six pairs and p-row with two pairs. Setae i 1 apically feathered, all marginal r-setae pilose, other podonotal setae short, smooth and needle-like. Pores po 1 located on the line connecting i 3 and s 1, po 2 under the line connecting i 4 and s 4, po 3 situated under the line connecting i 5 and s 5. Sculpturing of podonotum irregular, tile-like. On opisthonotum, 22 pairs of different setae: I-row with six pairs, Z-row with five pairs, S-row with four pairs, R-row with seven pairs. Setae I 1–2 short, smooth and needle-like, never reaching the bases of following setae. Setae I 3 twice as long as I 2, finely pilose, with small hyaline tips, reaching the bases of I 4. I 4–5 similar in shape, thickened, pilose, broadened with hyaline endings. I 4 reaching beyond the bases of I 5, but I 5 never reaching posterior margins of opisthonotum. Setae I 6 ( Figure 5F ) long, thickened, distally finely pilose, with wide, hyaline endings. Setae Z 1–2 short, smooth, never reaching the followings bases, Z 3–4 similar in shape to I 4–5. Z 4 reaching beyond the bases of Z 5, which are smooth. S 1 short and smooth, never reaching bases of S 2. S 2 elongated, but smooth, never reaching bases of S 3. S 3 ( Figure 5E ) similar in shape to I 4–5, S 4 similar to I 6. S 3 reaching beyond the margins of idiosoma. Marginal R-setae ( Figure 5D ) elongated, similar in length to S 2, but distally pilose. Pores Po 1 situated anterolaterally to Z 1, Po 2 located on the line connecting Z 3 and S 3, Po 3 under the line connecting I 5 and Z 4, equidistant from them, Po 4 behind the insertions of S 4. Dorsal cavities strongly sclerotized, moderately large, with axes parallel to that of the body. Sculpturing of opisthonotum anteriorly tile-like, posteriorly getting reticulated, the surface behind the line of I 4 –S 3 covered with large, distinct spots.

The size of setae and the distances between their insertions as in Table 5 (measurements are given as mean, in micrometres).

Ventral side ( Figure 5B ). Chaetotaxy, poroidotaxy and shape of ventral shields typical for the genus Zercon . Peritremes arcuate. Sternal shield well sclerotized, 73 µm long and 62 µm wide at the level of setae st 2, with straight posterior margin and reticulate ornamentation. Adgenital platelets with three gland openings of gv 2. Anterior margin of ventroanal shield with one pair of setae. Six pairs of preanal setae, the single pair of adanal setae smooth and needle-like, postanal seta apically barbed. Anal valves with needle-like euanal setae. Ventroanal shield anteriorly covered by squamous pattern, posteriorly punctuated.

Male and immature stages

Unknown.

Etymology

The new species is dedicated in honour of Miklós Laczi, behavioural ecologist and dear friend.

Remarks

Zercon laczii belongs to the group of species with a full complement of podonotal and opisthonotal setae, with pores po 3 situated medially to the s-series, pores Po 3 situated medially to the Z-series, having one pair of setae on the anterior margin of ventroanal shield, large dorsal cavities, punctuate opisthonotal ornamentation and apically broadened, pilose opisthonotal setae. Within this group the new species is most similar to those having elongated I 3–5 setae which reaching the bases of the following one: Zercon balearicus Athias-Henriot, 1961 , Zercon indiscretus Blaszak, 1979 and Zercon klingei Mihelčič, 1960 . Distinguishing characters between the four species are presented in Table 6.

Figures

Figure 5. Zercon laczii sp. nov. female: (A) dorsal view; (B) ventral view; (C) tectum; (D) R-seta; (E) seta S3; (F) seta I6. Scale bars: A,B 100 µm; C–E 25 µm.