Hygrobates (Hygrobates) laceratus Lundblad, 1927

Smit, Harry, 2005, Water mites of the family Hygrobatidae Koch from southern Africa (Acari: Hydrachnidia), Journal of Natural History 39 (38), pp. 3369-3405 : 3377-3378

Hygrobates (Hygrobates) laceratus Lundblad, 1927

( Figures 8–10 )

Material examined

Holotype: female, Koibuy stream near Kapiyet, Mt Elgon, Kenya, 26 January 1926, leg. Bryk (slide 1053, SMNH) . Allotype: one male, stream at 3200 m a.s.l, Mt Elgon , 19 February 1925, leg. Bryk (slide 1030, SMNH) . Other material: Kenya: one male, Koibuy stream near Kapiyet , Mt Elgon , Kenya, 26 January 1926, leg. Bryk (slide 1051, SMNH) ; one female, stream between Swam River and Koptawelil, Mt Elgon , 24 September 1925, leg. Bryk (slide 1060, SMNH) . South Africa, Gauteng: one female, headwaters of the Wilge River , 9 December 1958, leg. Chutter (slide 6500, SMF) ; two females, Russelspruit , 9 February 1959, leg. Chutter (slides 4247, 4248, SMF) ; two males, Russelspruit , 9 February 1959, leg. Chutter (slides 4245, 4246, SMF) ; one female, Molen stream, 8 December 1958, leg. Chutter (slide 4212, SMF) . South Africa, Eastern Free State: one male, one female, Klip River , 14 February 1959, leg. Chutter (slides 4281, 4280, SMF) . South Africa, Free State: two females, As stream, 10 August 1961, leg. Chutter (slides 4232, 4233, SMF) . South Africa, Kwazulu-Natal Province: two males, Sigubundu stream, Royal Natal National Park , alt. 1375 m a.s.l., 28 ° 40.918 9 S, 28 ° 58.017 9 E, 20 November 2004 .

Remarks

K. O. Viets (1963) found only one female and was not sure about its assignment. He stated that his specimens had longer leg setae compared to Lundblad’s material. In the Viets collection more unpublished material is present than published by K. Viets (1956). From measurements of the leg setae ( Table I) it can be concluded that specimens from Kenya have indeed shorter leg setae. However, there is considerable variation, and a separate ranking of the South African specimens is in my opinion not warranted.

Hygrobates laceratus is close to H. nodosus K. O. Viets, 1972 , from which it differs in a straight ventral margin of PIII and a more slender ventral extension. For differences with H. laceratoides sp. nov. see under the latter.

Figures

Figure 8. Hygrobates laceratus Lundblad, genital field male (slide 4245, SMF). Scale bar: 50 mm.

Figure 9. Hygrobates laceratus Lundblad, I-leg-5–6 (slide 1051, SMNH). Scale bar: 50 mm.

Figure 10. Hygrobates laceratus Lundblad, IV-leg-5–6 (slide 1051, SMNH). Scale bar: 50 mm.