Copriphis puer Berlese

Mašán, Peter & Halliday, Bruce, 2010, Review of the European genera of Eviphididae (Acari: Mesostigmata) and the species occurring in Slovakia 2585, Zootaxa 2585, pp. 1-122 : 97

Copriphis puer Berlese

Copriphis puer Berlese, 1910: 262 .

Copriphis (Pelethiphis) puer .— Berlese, 1911: 185; Shoemake, 1970: 156; Castagnoli & Pegazzano, 1985: 337. Pelethiphis puer .— Shoemake, 1970: 156.

Remarks. There are two slides identified as this species in the Berlese Acaroteca, each with one specimen, from Spain and India. Neither of them is labelled as the type, although the specimen from Copris hispanus in Spain (135/38) is identified as the type in the catalogue of Castagnoli & Pegazzano (1985). The original description by Berlese (1910) referred to only one specimen, from Copris hispanus in Spain, so this specimen must be the holotype. It is obvious that the two specimens belong to two different species, although they are not in good enough condition for precise examination. The female on slide 135/38 is a weakly sclerotised female (apparently freshly-moulted), and is clearly a member of the genus Alliphis (perhaps even Alliphis halleri ). The second specimen, on slide 90/39, is a female found on Catharsius sabaeus from India. It is an incomplete specimen of Alliphis , with the posterior idiosoma dissected and missing, and the anterior section of the peritreme atypically reaching to a point between setae j1 and z1. The species cannot be recognised on the basis of these specimens.