Punctoribates ezoensis ( Fujikawa, 1982 )

Bayartogtokh, Badamdorj & Bae, Yang-Seop, 2024, New findings of poronotic oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) from Korea, Zootaxa 5405 (2), pp. 151-184 : 161-163

Punctoribates ezoensis ( Fujikawa, 1982)

( Figures 7 & 8 )

Measurements. Body length 352 μm; width 252 μm, length of notogaster 312 μm.

Supplementary description. Body colour yellowish brown, body surface smooth. Rostrum rounded. Setae ro 35 µm long, le 28 µm long, both setae smooth, in 72 µm long, finely barbed. Lamella narrow, with fairly broad translamella; lamellar cusp without tooth, pointed distally. Bothridial seta fusiform, its head finely barbed; bothridium mostly covered by anterior edge and tectum of notogaster. Distinct transversal ridge present between paired setae in. Tutorium (tu) broad, blade-like, with rounded cusp, with three teeth on its dorso-distal margin. Pedotectum I broad, with concave dorsal margin. Notogaster with convex anterior tectum partly covering the interlamellar region; pteromorph with line of desclerotization. Ten pairs of fine notogastral setae, of which only p -series well developed, 4–6 μm long, other setae represented by their alveoli. Four pairs of porose areas round, their outer margin poorly developed; Aa largest, A 3 smallest, two others subequal in size. Structure of gnathosoma typical for family; formula of palp setation: 0–2–1–3–9, palp tarsus with solenidion and three eupathidial setae. Epimeral setae medium long, thin, smooth, setal formula: 3–1–3–4. All ano-genital setae smooth; six pairs of genital and one pair of aggenital setae medium long, two pairs anal and three pairs of adanal setae minute. All legs heterotridactylous, formula of setation: I (1–5–3–4–20); II (1–5–3–4–15); III (2–3–1–3–16); IV (1–2–2–3–12); formula of solenidia: I (1–2–2); II (1–1–2); III (1–1–0); IV (0–1–0).

Material examined. One female: Mts. Seoraksan , Sockcho, Gangwon Province, Korea, from a mixed forest, soil and litter under oak trees ( Quercus mongolicus ), N38°12’41”, E128°29’10”, 739 m a.s.l., 21 October 2021, Coll. B. Bayartogtokh ; one female: Pyeongchan , Jinbu, Gangweong-do, 920 m a.s.l., 17.IX.2022, Coll. Y.S. Bae.

Distribution. Japan and Korea.

Remarks. The characters of the present material mostly correspond well with those of the type material studied by Fujikawa (1982), Nakamura and Nakai (2009). The main characters, such as structure of prodorsum, notogaster and body size are similar. Only a difference we noticed is the smooth lamellar and rostral setae in the Korean specimen, which are finely barbed in the Japanese specimens, and we consider this difference as an intraspecific variation of different populations.

So far, three species of this genus have been reported from Korea, P. hexagonus (Berlese, 1908) , P. insignis (Berlese, 1910) and P. punctum (C. L. Koch, 1839) (see Choi 1988, 1995; Kim et al. 2013). The first two species are different from P. ezoensis and P. punctum by the anterior notogastral tectum, which has two lateral projections with a concave incision between them forming U-shape; and poorly developed lamella, translamella and lamellar cusp, situated underneath the notogastral tectum. Both P. ezoensis and P. punctum have relatively small, convex anterior notogastral tectum, which has no lateral projections; and well-developed lamella, translamella and lamellar cusp extending well beyond notogastral tectum. These two species are differentiating from each other in the structure of integument, i.e., clearly punctate anterolateral part of notogaster and pteromorphs due to roughened minute granules; structure of translamella, which is relatively wide in P. punctum , while it is narrow in P. ezoensis ; and distally pointed tutorium as opposed to the dentate tutorium in P. ezoensis , which has three small teeth (see e.g., Bayartogtokh et al. 2002; Weigmann 2006).

Figures

FIGURE 7. Line drawing images of Punctoribates ezoensis (Fujikawa, 1982) A—Dorsal view; B—Ventral view of body.

FIGURE 8. Compound microscopic images of Punctoribates ezoensis (Fujikawa, 1982) A—Dorsal view; B—Ventral view of body.