Limnochares aquatica Linnaeus, 1758

Davids, Kees, Sabatino, Antonio Di, Gerecke, Reinhard, Gledhill, Terence & Smit, Harry, 2005, On the taxonomy of water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) described from the Palaearctic, part 1: Hydrachnidae, Limnocharidae and Eylaidae, Zootaxa 1061, pp. 36-64 : 51-52

Limnochares aquatica Linnaeus, 1758

Material examined: France, Corsica: F 44h (2B) Ajaccio, Vico, F. Porto, Ponte Vecchiu, 230 m, 08°46E, 42°15N, 14.04.1991 leg. Schwarz 0/1/0; F 52 (2B) Calacuccia (Corte), Fango below station, 13.05.1989 Schwoerbel & al. 0/1/0; F 69 exact locality unclear, Schwoerbel & al. 7/6/9; Greece, Kiklades GR 49 Naxos, Apolonas, ca. 2 km from the N coast, 80 m, 11.05.1990 leg. Potthast 0/1/0; Italy: I 181, Sicilia (SR) Iblei, Avola antica F. Manghisi / Cava grande, 225 m, WA 0 85 919, 19.09.1985 Gerecke 2/0/5; I 192 Sicilia (SR), Iblei, Avola antica, F. Manghisi / Cava Grande, 80 m, WA 125 911, 28.09.1985 Gerecke 0/0/1; I 1216 Liguria (IM) Rocchetta Nervina, R. de Oggia, 300 m, 0 8.04.1990 leg. Potthast 0/1/0; Spain E 128 Aragon, Horta de San Juan, Faixa de la Carrasca N Mas de Josepó, rheocrene, 650 m, 17.04.1998 Gerecke 0/2/3; Portugal, P 59 Serra de Estrela, Torre Lagoon, 25.07.1998 Ribera 1/2/0.

Remarks: The life cycle of this supposedly cosmopolitan species has been documented with much detail ( Böttger 1969, 1972), but several details of its morphology were never considered with sufficient attention. Small, cup­shaped organs imbedded into the papillose integument over the idiosoma surface could be interpreted as supernumerary slit organs ­ this remarkable feature merits an ultrastructural investigation. The anterolateral edges of the first coxae form obtuse angles; a medially bent extension of these edges is formed by internal, not setae­bearing, apodemes only. A spherical internal structure at the caudal edge of the female gonopore has sometimes been called an "ovipositor" (e.g. K. Viets 1936). However, this organ is much smaller in diameter than the eggs are. More probably, this unique structure, not reported from representatives of other water mite families, is involved in spermatophore uptake. More details about these structures are given in the description of the following species.