Antennoseius 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 : 14-16

Antennoseius Berlese

FEMALE Gnathosoma. Anterior margin of epistome variable, most commonly convex or consisting of three small lobes; in some species subtriangular or not protruded; almost always denticulate; in some species, dorsal surface of epistome with a transverse row of denticles. Seta h1 usually longer than h2, h3 and pc setae; sometimes setae of similar lengths; insertion of h2 usually slightly posterior to insertion of h3; in some species hypostomatic setae almost in a longitudinal straight line. Palp about 1/3 as long as leg I; palp trochanter slightly shorter than femur; palp tibia twice as long as tarsus. Inner palp trochanter seta up to twice as long as outer seta (slightly shorter in phoretic form of A. pyrophilus Beaulieu, Déchêne & Walter ), but not elongate. Deutosternum moderately wide, with delimiting lateral lines and usually 6–7 rows of 1–13 denticles each. Corniculi 1.5–3.0 times as long as their basal widths, with pointed tips, subparallel. Palp tarsal apotele two-tined. Cheliceral digits of similar lengths; fixed digit usually with 4–12 teeth (a few species with 1–4 or up to 26) in addition to apical tooth; setiform pilus dentilis very small in some species; movable digit usually with two teeth (few species with 3–4) in addition to apical tooth; with pointed ventral projections near mid-length, which is part of a groove of the paraxial and ventral surfaces of the digit.

Idiosoma. Oval or ovoid. Dorsum: podonotal and opisthonotal shields not fused, both ornamented, without transverse and nearly straight lines and delineated strip along lateral margins. Anterior end of podonotal shield not strongly deflexed, although extending to anterior margin of idiosoma, so that insertions of j1 and z1 usually right at anterior margin of the shield and apex of peritreme rarely visible dorsally; podonotal shield usually with 17–22 pairs of setae (rarely with 23–31 pairs, some of which may be supernumerary); s1 and usually s2, r2 and r4 inserted on dorsal shield; r3 inserted on podonotal shield or lateral cuticle, usually similar to neighbouring setae. Opisthonotal shield usually with 15 pairs of setae (some species with 13, 14 or 16–19 pairs, usually including supernumerary setae); several species with supernumerary unpaired setae; Z 5 usually inserted behind J5; without posterior tubercles. Unsclerotised lateral to posteroventral cuticle with 8–43 pairs of setae (r - R and UR). Dorsal and lateral setae of idiosoma usually of similar length and shape, shorter than distance to subsequent setae; in some species, some podonotal setae, especially of the anterocentral region, different from (usually stouter) other setae; j1 often distinctly enlarged. Ve n t e r: 0–1 pair of narrow, lightly sclerotised presternal platelets. Sternal shield often with three pairs of setae of similar lengths (st1–st3) and three pairs of lyrifissures (iv1–iv3), the last usually on posterior shield margin, except in A. hispaniensis Bernhard , in which it is posterior to st4, or in species with shield posteriorly eroded; in many of the described species, iv3 is not illustrated, because of actual absence or, most probably, omission (especially in older descriptions); st 1 may be inserted on lightly sclerotised band of sternal shield anterior to first pair of sternal lyrifissures or on unsclerotised cuticle; st2 about equally distant to st1 and st3 or slightly closer to st3; posterior margin of sternal shield usually undulate, truncate or slightly concave; in some species, distinctly concave or bearing a median lobe (in the latter case, when shield posteriorly eroded). Seta st4 inserted on unsclerotised cuticle (st3 and st4 of each side inserted on large metasternal plates in A. delicatus Berlese ). Genital shield often very narrow anteriorly, so that shield is drop-shaped; not wide enough to include iv5, but including st5; usually posteriorly convex (tapering, truncate or slightly concave in some species). One or two pairs of metapodal plates. Usually without platelets between genital and anal or ventrianal shields (some species with 1–3 pairs of platelets). Opisthogaster usually with 8–10 pairs of pairs of setae in addition to circumanal setae, the most posterior of which often next to the most posterior setae of the unsclerotised lateral cuticle; with relatively small, usually pear- shaped anal or ventrianal shield (narrower end posterior); ventrianal shield only observed in females with granulate dorsal shield, usually with 1–2 pairs of the opisthogastric setae (three pairs in A. ventrianalis Gwiazdowicz & Halliday ; the larger number shown in A. epicrioides Schweizer is probably a mistake); para-anal setae inserted between levels of anterior margin and mid-length of anal opening (slightly posteriorly inserted in A. maltzevi Eidelberg ), usually about as long as or slightly shorter than post-anal seta (rarely much shorter), all acicular. Anal opening usually not enlarged, 1/4 to 1/5 of shield length, separate from posterior shield margin. Anterior section of endopodal shield usually fused with sternal shield (in A. janus Lindquist & Walter , a platelet between coxae I–II; in few other species a subtriangular or rounded platelet between coxae II– III); section behind sternal shield usually reduced to an elongate platelet between coxae III–IV. Exopodal shield distinct between coxae II–IV.

Peritreme. Extending from stigma to region between j1 and s1, about as wide as or slightly narrower than diameter of stigma. Peritrematic shield wide or narrow; usually broadly fused with dorsal shield at level of s1 and with exopodal shield beside coxa IV; consolidated peritrematic-exopodal shield not strongly curved or narrowed behind coxa IV.

Legs. Leg I with (subgenus Vitzthumia ) or without (subgenus Antennoseius ) pretarsus; other legs with pretarsi. Setation of legs I–IV, genu: 13, 11, 9, 9; tibia: 13, 10, 8 (rarely 9 in some species of subgenus Vitzthumia ), 10. Leg II not distinctly thickened. Legs without macrosetae.

MALE

Cheliceral digits of similar lengths; fixed digit with the same or slightly smaller number of teeth as female; movable digit usually with 1–2 teeth in addition to apical tooth; spermatodactyl usually slightly longer than movable digit, slightly curved and with distal end blunt or slightly inflated. Dorsal shield ornamentation similar to female, but always granulate; both podonotal and opisthonotal shields broader than in female, including 1–2 more r and all R setae , which are usually fewer than in female; r6 usually on unsclerotised cuticle; no UR setae. Shape of dorsal setae similar to female. With a pair of presternal platelets. Sternogenital shield fused with endopodal shield, usually with five pairs of setae (st1–st5; A. granulatus (Willmann) reported to have st5 inserted on unsclerotised cuticle) and three pairs of lyrifissures (iv1–iv3); when distinct, posterior margin truncate to slightly convex. Ventrianal shield slightly broader than in female, bearing 7–10 pairs of opisthogastric setae in addition to circumanal setae; fused with broad peritrematic-exopodal shields (not fused in A. perseus Beaulieu, Déchêne & Walter ) and in some species also fused with sternogenital shield (but in these cases, line of fusion evident). Metapodal plates absent. Legs without spine-shaped setae.

NOTE: dimorphism of adult females has been reported for A. janus and A. perseus , involving mostly variation in dorsal shield ornamentation (granulate in free living, not granulate in phoretic morphs), shape of setae (barbed in free living morphs of both species; smooth as well as distally split in three tines in A. janus or sharp-tipped in A. perseus phoretic morphs), and extent of sternal shield (reduced in phoretic morphs of both species, with insertion of st3 on unsclerotised cuticle).