Idiozetes, Aoki, 1976

ErmilovK, Sergey G. & SalavatulinK, Vladimir M., 2024, Contribution to knowledge of the oribatid mite genus Idiozetes (Acari, Oribatida, Idiozetidae), with description of a new sexually dimorphic species from Vietnam, Acarologia 64 (3), pp. 768-776 : 774-775

Key to known species of Idiozetes

1. All leg tarsi with three claws; notogaster with six pairs of setae; epimere IV with three pairs of setae; body length: 386–415........ Idiozetes malgache Fernández, Cleva et Theron, 2010 .

— All leg tarsi with one claw; notogaster with seven to 12 pairs of setae; epimere IV with one or two pairs of setae.................................................................. 2

2. Notogaster with 12 pairs of setae; genital plate with six setae; anal plate with two setae; body length: 384........................................... Idiozetes hagenensis Colloff, 2012 .

— Notogaster with seven to 10 pairs of setae; genital plate with more than six setae; anal plate with one seta........................................................................ 3

3. Notogaster with eight pairs of setae and three pairs of saccules; genital plate with seven setae; body length: 243.................................. Idiozetes javensis Hammer, 1979 .

— Notogaster with seven or nine pairs of setae and four or five pairs of saccules; genital plate with eight setae...................................................................... 4

4. Notogaster with seven pairs of setae and four pairs of saccules; tutorium absent; body length: 260–325................................................... Idiozetes erectus Aoki, 1976 .

— Notogaster with nine pairs of setae and five pairs of saccules; tutorium present (distal parts of tutoria fused dorsally on prodorsum forming bidentate stricture); body length: 307–360................................................................... Idiozetes schusteri sp. n.

Distribution and habitat of Idiozetes

Species of Idiozetes are collectively known from the Oriental region, Japan, New Guinea, and Madagascar ( Subías 2022, unpublished online version 2024).

Idiozetes erectus has been described from Malaysia (without habitat; Aoki 1976); later, the species has been recorded from Japan, Taiwan, China (in forests or without habitat; Aoki 1987; Wang et al. 2003). Idiozetes javensis was found from Java (in forest with ferns, Zingiber sp. , shrubs, dead tunks, mosses, dead leaves, debris; Hammer 1979); later, the species has been reported from Taiwan (without habitat; Wang et al. 2003) and Vietnam (mostly, in litter, soil and leaf litter in tropical forests; also, in epiphytic roots of trees; sugarcane litter and rhizosphere in sugarcane field; decaying pine cone etc.; Corpuz-Raros and Ermilov 2020). Idiozetes hagenensis has been registered from New Guinea (without habitat; Colloff 2012). Idiozetes malgache has been collected from Madagascar (in decaying plant debris in humid, coastal and mid-altitude sclerophyllous forests; Fernández et al. 2010). The new species ( I. schusteri ) has been recorded from Vietnam (in litter, tree bark and canopy branches in tropical forest; data of this paper).

According to the summarized data, representatives of Idiozetes inhabit mostly forests in tropical and subtropical zones preferring soil-litter but can live in different microhabitats including arboreal and ground substrata.