Brunehaldia brunehaldi (Vercammen-Grandjean, 1956), 2012

Stekolnikov, Alexandr & Daniel, Milan, 2012, 3216, Zootaxa 3216, pp. 1-104 : 75-77

Brunehaldia brunehaldi (Vercammen-Grandjean, 1956)

( Fig. 50)

Euschoengastia brunehaldi Vercammen-Grandjean, 1956a: 83 , fig. 3.

Euschoengastia (Brunehaldia) brunehaldi, Vercammen-Grandjean & Kolebinova 1966: 432 , figs. 1–6.

Euschoengastia (Brunehaldia) aegypti Vercammen-Grandjean and Kolebinova, 1966: 434 , figs. 7–12, syn. nov.

Brunehaldia brunehaldi, Kudryashova 1998: 291 .

Diagnosis. SIF = 7BS-B-3-2111.0000; fPp = B/B/BBB; fCx = 1.1.(3–4); fSt = 2.2; fSc: PL> AL> AM; Ip = 733–925; fD = (4–10)H-(8–14)-(11–23)-(11–25)-(8–16)-…; DS = 56–96; VS = 59–102; NDV = 118–192. Standard measurements of specimens from Turkey are given in Table 25.

Type material (not examined). Holotype of Euschoengastia brunehaldi is deposited in RMCA; type locality is situated in Morocco, 30 km NE from Casablanca , near Nefifikh River (33° 43' 13" N, 07° 20' 39" W) . Holotype of E. aegypti is deposited in USNM; type locality is St. Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt (South Sinai Gov.) .

Material from Turkey examined. Two larvae (ZISP) ex Apodemus flavicollis , Çanakkale Prov., 3.8 km SW from Ayvacik, 340 m a.s.l., 12 October 1969, coll. M. Daniel; 21 larvae (ZISP) ex A. flavicollis and A. mystacinus , Çorum Prov., 1.7 km E from Bogazkale, near Yazılıkaya, 1190 m a.s.l., 26 October 1969, coll. M. Daniel; 4 larvae (ZISP) ex A. flavicollis , Antalya Prov., 7 km NE from Arif (Arikanda), 1364 m a.s.l., 28 April 2009, coll. AAS; 3 larvae (ZISP) ex Chionomys nivalis and A. witherbyi , Adana Prov., 3.5 km W from Karanfil Mt, 1709 m a.s.l., 1 May 2009, coll. AAS; 6 larvae (ZISP) ex A. witherbyi (ear margin), Adana Prov., 8 km NE from Karanfil Mt, 1678 m a.s.l., 4 May 2009, coll. AAS; 22 larvae (ZISP) ex A. mystacinus (ear margin), Mersin Prov., 5 km S from Gülek (Çamalan), 582 m a.s.l., 8 May 2009, coll. AAS; 5 larvae (ZISP) ex A. flavicollis (ear margin), Mersin Prov., 8 km NW from Çamlıyayla (Namrun), 1795 m a.s.l., 10 May 2009, coll. AAS.

Hosts. Eliomys munbianus (Pomel) , Apodemus sylvaticus (L.), and Acomys dimidiatus (Cretzschmar), plus Apodemus flavicollis (Melchior) , A. mystacinus (Danford and Alston) , A. witherbyi Thomas , and Chionomys nivalis (Martins) . Preferred localization on Apodemus hosts—ear margin.

Distribution. Morocco and Egypt. This species is here recorded from Turkey for the first time.

Remarks. Our material differs from B. brunehaldi (mean values for 10 type specimens according to the original description) in having larger scutum (AW 68–75 vs. 67, PW 81–90 vs. 79, PSB 15–20 vs. 12, and SD 48–55 vs. 43), longer legs (Ip 792–925 vs. 733), and larger number of humeral setae (8–10 vs. 4). At the same time, our material differs from the B. aegypti holotype ( Vercammen-Grandjean & Kolebinova 1966) in having lesser AW (68–75 vs. 79), shorter setae (AM 32–41 vs. 46, PL 53–72 vs. 77, H 48–61 vs. 62–68, D max 47–65 vs. 70, and V min 25–31 vs. 34), shorter sensilla (S 32–41 vs. 51), shorter leg III tarsus [TaIII 61–74 vs. 88 (measured from the figure in the original description)], and lesser number of idiosomal setae (NDV 118–170 vs. 192). The number of setae on coxa III varies from 3 to 4 in our material, while in brunehaldi and aegypti these numbers constitute 3 and 4, respectively. Thus, our specimens have in general the character states intermediate between B. brunehaldi and B. aegypti .

In order to evaluate probable taxonomic significance of these morphometric differences, we performed covariance-based PCA of 12 raw variables (AW, PW, SB, ASB, PSB, AP, AM, AL, PL, D min, D max, and Ip). The last measurement, Ip (sum of legs’ lengths), was beforehand divided by 10, to equalize the magnitude of variation with other variables. The analyzed sample included 10 specimens from Turkey (2 specimens with incomplete measurements were excluded), and the following literature data on other species: 1) mean values for 10 type specimens of B. brunehaldi , 2) measurements of the B. aegypti holotype, and 3) mean values for the type series of B. iranica , the species which seems morphometrically close to our material, but have the clear non-metric distinction, branched parasubterminala on leg tarsus I. These mean values of B. iranica were supplied with the data on D min and D max measured in holotype only (Kudryashova, et al., 1978). Since preliminary PCAs showed, that counts of idiosomal setae (DS and VS, as well as their sum NDV) do not behave as metric variables in our case, these characters were excluded from the analysis. The variable P-PL was not included in the analysis, because this distance was not measured in B. brunehaldi and B. aegypti . Similarly, length of humeral setae (H) was not measured in B. iranica .

Results of PCA show, that size greatly contributes to the morphometric variation in our sample. The first principal component accounts for more than 65% of the total variance ( Fig. 51) and the factor-variable correlations of all variables, except SB and PSB, are high (> 0.6) for this component ( Table 26). According to raw data, type series of B. brunehaldi can be easily separated from other species and the material from Turkey occupies intermediate position between “large” B. aegypti and “small” B. iranica ( Fig. 52).

PCA of size-corrected variables, however, gives a different result ( Fig. 53). Type series of B. brunehaldi and holotype of B. aegypti are very close to each other supporting the statement that the latter species is “obviously related to brunehaldi but much larger” ( Vercammen-Grandjean & Kolebinova 1966). Most of the Turkish specimens are situated closer to B. brunehaldi and B. aegypti than to B. iranica . We can thus conclude that brunehaldi and aegypti are only size forms of the same species. The discovery of morphometrically intermediate samples in Turkey supports this conclusion.