Aceria kiefferi ( Nalepa, 1891 )

Mehri-Heyran, Hosein, Lotfollahi, Parisa, de, Enrico, Lillo & Azimi, Solmaz, 2020, Eriophyoid (Trombidiformes: Eriophyoidea) mite fauna of Miandoab region in Iran with redescription of Aceria kiefferi (Nalepa), Persian Journal of Acarology 9 (2), pp. 161-171 : 164-165

Aceria kiefferi ( Nalepa, 1891) ( Fig. 2 )

Female (measured specimens n = 10)

Body vermiform, 203–236 (excluding gnathosoma), 42–46 thick, 41–48 wide. Gnathosoma projecting obliquely downwards, chelicerae 15–22, palp 16–20, palp coxal setae ep 2–3, dorsal palp genual setae d 5–6, unbranched. Prodorsal shield 26–32 including frontal lobe, 33–39 wide, subcircular; with a thin distally acute frontal lobe, 3–4, over gnathosomal base. Shield pattern distinct, consisting of complete median and admedian lines, inner submedian lines extending on ¾ of prodorsal shield length, one pair of complete outer submedian lines, some short lines among the inner and outer submedian lines, and the posterior prodorsal shield margin. Tubercles of scapular setae sc on rear shield margin, 20–24 apart, setae sc 50–61, directed posterior divergently. Legs with all usual segments and setae. Leg I 27–33, trochanter 6–8, femur 10–12, genu 7–9, tibia 5–7, tarsus 6–8, tarsal solenidion  8–10 distally a little enlarged and tapered, empodium simple, 7–8, 4- rayed; femoral setae bv 6–8, genual setae l" 18–28, paraxial tibial setae l' 8–10, located in basal forth of tibia, paraxial fastigial tarsal setae ft ' 15–17, antaxial fastigial tarsal setae ft" 24–29, paraxial unguinal tarsal setae u' 4–5. Leg II 24–30, trochanter 6–8, femur 9–12, genu 5–8, tibia 5–7, tarsus 6–8, tarsal solenidion  8–10 distally a little enlarged and tapered, empodium simple, 7, 4-rayed; femoral setae bv 7–9, genual setae l" 10–13, paraxial fastigial tarsal setae ft' 7–10, antaxial fastigial tarsal setae ft " 25–30, paraxial unguinal tarsal setae u' 3–4. Coxisternal region: Prosternal apodeme 7–8, anterior setae on coxisternum I 1b 6–9, 11–12 apart; proximal setae on coxisternum I 1a 17– 22, 10–12 apart; proximal setae on coxisternum II 2a 38–46, 23–28 apart; 6–7 microtuberculate semiannuli between coxae and genital coverflap plus 2–3 transversal rows of lined granules at the base of the coverflap. Coxae with lined granules, dashes and short lines. External genitalia 14–17, 21–25 wide, coverflap with 14 (no variation) longitudinal ridges; setae 3a 15–17, 17–20 apart. Internal genitalia: spermathecae ovoid, oriented posterolaterad; spermathecal tubes relatively short; transverse genital apodeme trapezoidal, distally folded. Opisthosoma dorsally arched, with 54–63 dorsal semiannuli, 64–72 ventral semiannuli. Microtubercles oval on posterior margin of dorsal semiannuli and posterior part of ventral semiannuli; spiny on the rear margin of the last 4–5 dorsal semiannuli and elongated and linear on last 5 (no variation) ventral semiannuli. Setae c2 20– 26 on ventral semiannulus 10–12, setae d 55–69 on ventral semiannulus 22–25; setae e 13–17 on ventral semiannulus 37–42; setae f 18–25 on ventral semiannulus 59–67; 5 (no variation) annuli posterior to setae f. Setae h2 64–73 apically very thin, h1 5–8.

Male (measured specimen n = 1)

Similar in shape and prodorsal shield arrangement to female. Body smaller than female, 187, 40 wide; palp genual setae d 6; prodorsal shield 29, 37 thick; setae sc 28, 13 apart. Opisthosoma with 61 dorsal semiannuli and 73 ventral semiannuli; 7 semiannuli between coxae and genitalia, with microtubercles similar to that of female. Setae: 1b 10, 1a 14, 2a 37, c2 19, d 42, e 14, f 20, h1 6, h2 51). Male genitalia 15 wide, setae 3a 18, 15 apart.

Type host plant Achillea millefolium L. (Compositae), Common Yarrow, Milfoil.

Type locality Bitche , France .

Relation to the host plant Vagrant; causing leaf curling and flower deformation.

Material examined

17 females and 1 male mounted singly on separate microscope slides (AM-IWA-OK18M-1– 18), from A. millefolium in Ozmanake Sofla village , Miandoab region, West Azerbaijan province, Iran, 36° 58' 18'' N, 46° 03' 14'' E), 1,288 m above sea level, coll. H. Mehri-Heyran, late July 2018 .

Other material

Mites preserved in a vial (AM-IWA-OK18M) of Oudemans' fluid ( Walter and Krantz 2009) as extracted from the same sample as the type specimens.

Remarks

The original description of A. kiefferi by Nalepa (1891) and other descriptions published by Farkas (1965) and Petanović (1988) provide few morphological information, which makes difficult the comparisons between those descriptions and Iranian specimens. There are similarities in setae sc length (50 according to Petanović (1988) and 52–61 in Iranian specimens) and setae d length (70 according to Farkas (1965) and 55–69 in Iranian specimens). The prodorsal shield ornamentation of Iranian specimens is similar to Farkas (1965) drawings, but it shows some differences from the original drawing of Nalepa (1891) on the line arrangement on the shield lateral side and the drawing of Petanović (1988) on the length of median line and line arrangement of the shield lateral sides. The Iranian specimens differ from previous descriptions in the ornamentation of dorsal and ventral semiannuli: Nalepa (1891) and Farkas (1965) reported 60 dorsal semiannuli partly smooth and partly with fine microtubercles, and 60 microtuberculated ventral semiannuli; Petanović (1988) reported 70 smooth dorsal semiannuli and 70 microtuberculated ventral semiannuli; the Iranian specimens have 54–63 dorsal and 64–72 ventral semiannuli which are all provided with microtubercles. Another difference regards the ornamentation of female genital coverflap (10 striae according to Petanović (1988) versus 14 striae in the Iranian specimens). The only obvious difference is in the number of empodium rays (5 according to Nalepa (1891), Farkas (1965) and Petanović (1988) versus 4 in the Iranian specimens). It could be hypothesized that differences could be due to the consequence of intraspecific variability, geographic differences, host plant genotype differences and/or not so good quality of microscopes prepared in the past. No holotype or paratypes are available in the Nalepa's collection at the Natural History Museum of Wien ( Austria).

Figures

Figure 2. Schematic drawings of Aceria kiefferi (Nalepa, 1891): AD. Prodorsal shield; AL. Lateral view of anterior body region; CG. Female coxigenital region; em. Empodium; GM. Male genital region; IG. Internal female genitalia; LO. Lateral view of annuli; L1. Leg I; pg. palp genua; PM. Lateral view of posterior opisthosoma. Scale bar: 10 µm for AD, AL, CG, GM, IG, pg, PM; 5 µm for LO, L1; 2.5 µm for em.