Schoengastia nottei Vercammen-Grandjean, 1958

Stekolnikov, Alexandr A., 2019, A catalogue of the holotypes of chigger mites (Acariformes: Trombiculidae) at the Natural History Museum of Geneva, Zootaxa 4620 (1), pp. 1-71 : 22

Schoengastia nottei Vercammen-Grandjean, 1958

Schöngastia radfordi nottei Vercammen-Grandjean, 1958b: 635 , pls 1, 8.

Declared deposition: RMCA.

Name on slide: Schöngastia nottei .

Handwritten catalogue: Schoengastia .

Inscription: TYPE.

Collection data: Luvungi, Pl[aine] Ruzizi, C[ongo]-B[elge] ( DR Congo, Luvungi, 2°52'S, 29°02'E); ex “ Centropus grilli ” – Centropus grillii Hartlaub ; skin; 23 May 1954; Notté.

Number(s): L: 23554/1.

Remarks: One more slide labelled as “TYPE” is preserved in RMCA (113921). It includes one larva, one nymph and one larval exuvium ( Stekolnikov 2018). This slide was obviously destined to present “Nymph-type”, as evident from its number N: 6654/1. The larval number L: 23554 is also given on that slide, but in small letters, to present the source from which the nymph was incubated. Thus, I prefer to regard the slide from MHNG as holotype, since the original description of Schoengastia nottei begins with larval characters, as usual in chigger mite taxonomy, while nymphal characters are only an optional addition. Consequently, all specimens of Schoengastia nottei from RMCA are paratypes.