Macrocheles merdarius (Berlese)

Joharchi, Omid, Halliday, Bruce, Tolstikov, Andrei V. & Trach, Viacheslav A., 2019, New records and new species of mites from Cuba, with description of a new genus of Laelapidae (Acari: Mesostigmata), Zootaxa 4612 (3), pp. 326-350 : 327-329

Macrocheles merdarius (Berlese)

( Figures 8–11 )

Holostaspis merdarius Berlese, 1889: 1 .

Macrocheles merdarius .— Sellnick, 1940: 86; Evans & Browning, 1956: 21; Filipponi & Pegazzano, 1963: 83; Axtell, 1963: 628; Krantz & Filipponi, 1964: 36; Karg, 1971: 134; Emberson, 1973: 120; Bregetova, 1977: 353; Takaku & Hartini, 2001: 326; Hartini & Takaku, 2003: 1265; Hartini et al., 2003: 309; Hartini et al., 2005: 204; Hartini & Takaku, 2006: 32.

Material examined. 15 females—Cuba, north of Matanzas Province, on Ataenius terminalis (Chevrolat) ( Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae ).

Remarks. Macrocheles merdarius is a common cosmopolitan species that has been collected from many species of dung beetles around the world. It is easily recognised by its small size, the simple and needle-like dorsal shield setae ( Figure 8 ), except J5 slightly pilose, genu IV with six setae, anterior section of sternal shield with linea arcuata connected by transverse lines ( Figure 10 ), and ventral shields ornamented with very faint sculptural pattern and punctations ( Figure 11 ).

Figures

FIGURES 8–11. DIC micrographs of Macrocheles merdarius, female. 8, idiosoma in dorsal view; 9, idiosoma in ventral view; 10, sternal shield; 11, genital and anal shields.