Australiobates Lundblad, 1941

Smit, Harry, 2013, New records of water mites mainly from Vogelkop, New Guinea (Acari: Hydrachnidia), with the description of one new genus and thirteen new species, Zootaxa 3716 (2), pp. 207-235 : 214

Genus Australiobates Lundblad, 1941

Due to large variation in palp and leg setation and sclerotization, the systematics of the Australiobates species in New Guinea is difficult. Wiles (1997) described A. plumosus with plumose setae on II–IV legs only, but all specimens from my collections (also from a previous trip: Smit 2011) have plumose setae on all legs. In the new species described in this paper, holotype and paratype differ strongly in the number of setae of PIII. Wiles (1997) collected specimens with and without dorsal plates of A. reticulatus and A. reticuloides while I collected only specimens without plates which lack also a reticulated pattern in the membranous integument, having instead a coarse striation. Finally, A. longisetus shows a remarkable variation in the sclerotization and plate development, from almost unsclerotized to development of many smaller and larger plates, and one specimen collected by me almost completely sclerotized. For this reason, I left a number of singletons unnamed, with differences in setation of palp and first leg (see under Australiobates sp.). All Australiobates species listed in this paper are rheophilic species.