Proctolaelaps Berlese

De Moraes, Gilberto J., Britto, Erika P. J., Mineiro, Jefferson L. De C. & Halliday, Bruce, 2016, Catalogue of the mite families Ascidae Voigts & Oudemans, Blattisociidae Garman and Melicharidae Hirschmann (Acari: Mesostigmata), Zootaxa 4112 (1), pp. 1-299 : 52-53

Proctolaelaps Berlese

FEMALE

Gnathosoma. Anterior margin of epistome extremely variable, sometimes even within the same species, usually convex or with three variously produced projections (rarely acuminate or with two projections), smooth or denticulate. Ratio of lengths of hypostomal and pc setae widely variable; often h1 distinctly stouter than other hypostomatic and pc setae; usually h1 and or h3 longer than other setae (h1 the shortest in some species); insertion of h2 usually slightly anterior to slightly posterior to insertion of h3 (in some species, distinctly anterior); with or without a membranous extension of the hypostome near paraxial base of corniculus. Inner palp trochanter seta similar in length or slightly longer than outer palp trochanter seta, not elongate. Deutosternum moderately wide, with 6–9 rows of denticles; with delimiting lateral lines extending from first to last row (next to last in some species), parallel to each other or slightly divergent posteriorly (convergent between sixth and seventh rows of denticles in P. subcorticalis Lindquist and P. crassispinus (Ma, Zhang & Li) ; 4–5 anteriormost rows with 1–10 denticles; fifth–sixth rows often extending beyond edge of deutosternum, with 5–30 denticles; seventh row with 3– 17 denticles. Corniculi usually 2–5 times as long as their basal widths (about as long as their basal width in P. nauphoetae (Womersley) and about six times as long as width in P. ornatus (Postner)) , with pointed tips (occasionally bifurcate or trifurcate), well separated from each other (occasionally close to each other), subparallel (occasionally convergent distally). Palp tarsal apotele two-tined (trifurcate in P. intermedius Athias-Henriot and P. paulista Mineiro, Lindquist & Moraes ). Fringed hyaline rim along paraxial face of cheliceral shaft, above base of movable digit, often discernible, with 6–15 small teeth; fixed cheliceral digit with 1–20 teeth (edentate in some specimens of P. spencerae Domrow ; apparently with a dorsodistal pointed process in P. nipponicus Ishikawa) in addition to apical tooth and membranous lobe (setiform pilus dentilis present in P. juradeus (Schweizer) , P. ornatus , P. stammeri (Westerboer) and, apparently, P. sibiriensis (Davydova)) ; usually with a dorsobasal projection (apparently with a dorsodistal projection in P. nipponicus ); movable digit usually with 1–4 teeth in addition to apical tooth and usually one ventral projection (occasionally two projections) near base (edentate in P. spencerae ; in addition to the two distinct teeth on the inner margin of the digit, with a diagonal line of 8–10 small teeth on the paraxial surface of the digit near the base, matching a corresponding line of small teeth at the base of the fixed digit in P. intermedius ).

Idiosoma. Oval or ovoid. Dorsum: podonotal and opisthonotal shields fused, smooth or ornamented, often with an incision immediately posterior to s1 (a notch at the angle between the posterior margin of the peritrematic shield and the dorsal shield), without lateral incisions at region of fusion or transverse and nearly straight lines (with an undulate line behind j6, z6 and s6, r 5 in P. pomorum (Oudemans)) , often with delineated strip along lateral margins; anterior end of dorsal shield not strongly deflexed. No supernumerary setae on dorsal shield or on unsclerotised lateral cuticle. Podonotal region of shield with 21, 22 or, most commonly, 23 pairs of setae, including r3, which is often more perpendicular to the lateral margin of the shield than neighbouring setae (r3 on unsclerotised lateral cuticle in P. lobatus De Leon and of some specimens of P. antiquus Treat & Niederman ). Opisthonotal region of shield with 18–22 pairs of setae. Unsclerotised lateral cuticle usually with 0–2 (6–8 in some hummingbird-associated species, P. grandis (Chant) , P. mermillion (OConnor, Colwell & Naeem), P. mexicanus Hyland, Fain & Moorhouse and P. spiralis Hyland, Fain & Moorhouse ) r - R and usually with 0–3 pairs of UR setae (rarely 4–5 pairs). Most dorsal and lateral setae of idiosoma of similar lengths (rarely of different length, except Z5 often longer than other setae), at most as long as distance to base of subsequent setae (rarely distinctly longer), usually acicular and smooth (rarely some or most of the dorsal shield setae spine-shaped; j1 and r3 with bulbous median swelling in P. threnetes Dusbabek & Literak ; Z5 distally knobbed in P. bulbosus Moraes, Reis & Gondim and lightly serrate in some other species). Venter: usually with 0–1 pair of presternal platelets (rarely with two pairs, or with a pair and a transverse series of platelets; with an expanded single central lobe abutting anterior margin of sternal shield in P. threnetes ). Sternal shield with three pairs of setae of usually similar length (st1–st3; all stout and blunt, and st1 longer than st2 and st 3 in P. dioryctriae Lindquist & Hunter ; st1 stout and shorter than acicular st2 and st 3 in P. crassispinus ; st3 inserted on unsclerotised cuticle in P. australis Stone and in an undescribed species from Colombia); st2 about equidistant to st1 and st3 or slightly closer to st3 than to st1; posterior shield margin usually varying from truncate to concave, rarely slightly to distinctly convex (with a median lobe of variable shape in P. nauphoetae , which may be separated from the shield in some specimens, a condition typical of insect association). Third pair of sternal lyrifissures (iv3) and st4 usually inserted on metasternal plates (plates absent, very small or ill-defined in some species or in some specimens of some species; iv3 absent in some species). Genital shield usually not wide enough to include iv5, but including st5 (inserted on unsclerotised cuticle in P. cancellarius Treat & Niederman ); posteriorly truncate to convex. One or two pairs of metapodal plates. Rarely with 1–3 pairs of platelets between genital and anal shields. Opisthogaster usually with ten or eleven pairs of setae (rarely 8, 9, 12 or 13 pairs) in addition to circumanal setae; usually with round, ovoid or subrectangular anal shield (with subpentagonal, elongate ventrianal shield bearing 1–2 pairs of opisthogastric setae in P. intermedius , P. paulista , P. ventrianalis Karg ); para-anal setae usually inserted between levels of posterior margin and mid-length of anal opening (anteriad of mid-length level in P. belemensis Fain, Hyland & Aitken , P. cancellarius , P. spencerae ), varying from as long as to four times shorter than post-anal seta. Anal opening enlarged or not, usually about 1/2 of shield length and located between shield centre and posterior shield margin (rarely between shield centre and anterior margin). Anterior section of endopodal shield fused with sternal shield; section behind sternal shield corresponding to V- or I-shaped platelet, often quite robust. Exopodal shield usually a strip extending from region between legs I–II to region behind coxa IV (apparently reduced to platelets between coxae I–II, II–III and III–IV and behind coxa IV in P. nipponicus ).

Peritreme. Usually extending from stigma to or almost to level of z1 (only to level of s 1 in P. moseri Wisniewski , P. nauphoetae and P. paulista ; only to level of s 2 in P. spencerae ), as wide as or slightly narrower than diameter of stigma (wider than stigma in P. crassispinus ). Peritrematic shield wide, fused with dorsal shield at level of s1 (which is inserted on distal part of peritrematic shield in P. citri Chant , P. myrmetrans Chant , P. pacificus Chant and P. reticulatus Chant ) and not fused or fused by a narrow bridge (narrower than diameter of stigma) with exopodal shield beside coxa IV.

Legs. Setation of legs I–IV, genu: 13 (rarely 12), 11, 9 (rarely 7 or 8), 9; tibia: 13, 10, 8 (rarely 9), 10 (rarely 9). Leg II not distinctly different from other legs. Legs usually without macrosetae (occasionally with one or, rarely, two macrosetae on leg IV).

Spermathecal apparatus. Frequently partially distinguishable mostly as a tubular structure, some times very narrow, or a horn-shaped structure.

MALE

Gnathosomal structures similar to female, but corniculi more widely spaced and more divergent, fixed digit with 1– 12 teeth (fewer teeth in hummingbird-associated species) in addition to apical tooth and movable digit with 0–1 tooth in addition to apical tooth; spermatodactyl rather variable, from about as long as movable digit to several times as long as movable digit, from almost straight to strongly curved downward or backward, usually tapering distally. Dorsal shield ornamentation and dorsal idiosomal setae shape and relative lengths similar to female (occasionally some of the setae distinctly longer than in female in most hummingbird-associated species; in other species, slightly shorter); usually with a lower number of setae on unsclerotised lateral cuticle. With 0–1 pairs of presternal platelets. Sternogenital shield with five pairs of setae (st1–st5) and three pairs of lyrifissures (iv1–iv3); posterior margin undulate or truncate. Endopodal shield totally fused with sternogenital shield (beside coxa IV, fused with sternogenital shield only by an anterior bridge in P. rabulatus OConnor, Colwell & Naeem). Without metapodal plates (with metapodal plates in some hummingbird-associated species). Ventrianal shield wider than in female, usually subtriangular (often with posterolateral notch), occasionally subpentagonal (in most hummingbirdassociated species), rarely subrectangular or semicircular; when subpentagonal or subrectangular, with a distinct pair of metapodal plates; usually with 5–7 pairs of opisthogastric setae (seta Jv5 usually off the shield), occasionally with four, rarely with eight setae; not fused with sternogenital or peritrematic shields. With 1–3 pairs of opisthogastric setae on unsclerotised cuticle. Exopodal shield a continuous strip extending posteriorly around posterior margin of coxa IV. Peritrematic shield not fused with exopodal shield. Legs I–IV with or without modified, spine-shaped setae. Leg II often thicker than other legs; leg IV of hummingbird-associate species usually with strong spine-shaped ventral seta. Leg macrosetae usually not distinct.