Transeius maelliae Kreiter, 2020

Kreiter, Serge, Payet, Rose-My, Douin, Martial, Fontaine, Olivier, Jacques, Fillâtre & Bellec, Fabrice Le, 2020, Phytoseiidae of La Réunion Island (Acari: Mesostigmata): three new species and two males described, new synonymies, and new records, Acarologia 60 (1), pp. 111-195 : 143

Transeius maelliae Kreiter n. sp.

Zoobank: C6EA34F5-9601-4208-8201-B14CE6C6FC5D

Diagnosis — Transeius maelliae Kreiter n. sp. belongs to the subfamily Amblyseiinae (absence of dorsolateral setae z3 and s6 and caudoventral seta JV3), to the tribe Amblyseiini (setae j3, s4, Z4 and Z5 longer than other setae, ratio s4 / Z1> 3.1, many teeth on the fixed cheliceral digit and macrosetae on several legs in addition of the three on leg IV), to the subtribe Amblyseiina (sternal shield as long as wide, ventrianal shield longer than wide, seta J2 present, genital shield almost as wide as ventrianal shield, ventral shields generally smooth, macrosetae on all legs, setae j5, J2, S2, S4, S5 and Z1 present), to the genus Transeius (ratio s4 / S2 <2.7, Setae S5 present, spermathecal with atrium not bifurcate) ( Chant and McMurtry 2007). Seta z4 is not as long as 2/3 the distance between its base and that of seta s4 that allows to classify this new species in the species group bellottii (Chant and McMurtry 2004a). The bell-shaped spermatheca keys to the species subgroup bellottii.

Transeius maelliae Kreiter n. sp. is quite similar to the other new species described further, T. mickaeli Kreiter n. sp. with which it was at first confused early on during the identification process. T. maelliae n. sp. is different from T. mickaeli n. sp. by: having only five solenostomes instead of seven, a longer seta z4, almost double, the shape of the spermatheca also bell-shaped but with an undistinct atrium, longer setae JV5, less teeth on both digits of chelicerae and very slightly reticulated ventral shields (see table 27).

In the species subgroup bellottii, the species closest to T. maelliae n. sp. is Transeius jujae El-Banhawy and Knapp. T. maelliae n. sp. resembles to T. jujae , having similar lengths for setae j3, s4, Z4, Z5, and JV5, and the dimensions of the spermatheca. The new species can be distinguished however by the longer length of setae z2, above all by the length of setae z4 which is 2.5 as long as that of T. jujae , and by the shape of the spermatheca with an undifferentiated atrium and walls of calyx slightly converging apically in the new species opposed to a distinct atrium and walls of calyx strictly parallel in T. jujae . In addition, a macroseta is existing in the genu of leg I of T. maelliae n. sp. and lacking in specimens of T. jujae , the ventrianal shield is wider and the dorsal shied is totally smooth in that species.