Zercon sklari Balan

Karaca, Mehmet & Urhan, Raşit, 2016, Five new species of Zercon C. L. Koch, 1836 (Acari: Zerconidae) from northwestern Turkey, Zootaxa 4127 (1), pp. 31-59 : 47

Zercon sklari Balan

Zercon sklari Balan, 1992: 26 .

Zercon sklari .— Karaca & Urhan, 2014: 148.

Materials examined. 1 female, soil and litter samples under pine trees ( Pinus sp.) and oak trees ( Quercus sp.), 41°44' N, 27°19' E, 370 m, vicinity of Yundalan village Dam, Centre of Kırklareli province, March 2014; 12 females and 5 males, soil, litter and moss samples under oak trees ( Quercus sp.), 41°29' N, 27°12' E, 133 m, vicinity of centre of district, Babaeski district (Kırklareli province), April 2014.

Female. Mean length of idiosoma 387 (372–401), mean width 294 (277–309) (n =10).

Dorsum. Twenty pairs of setae present on podonotum: j-row with six pairs, z-row with two pairs, s-row with six pairs and r-row with six pairs. Seta j1 long and finely barbed, remaining setae on podonotum smooth and needle-like. Twenty pairs of setae present on opisthonotum: J-row with six pairs, Z-row with five pairs, S-row with two pairs and R-row with seven pairs. Setae J1–J3, Z1–Z2, S1–S2 and R1–R7 smooth and needle-like. Seta J4 finely barbed, J5 and Z3 apically pilose, J6 and Z4 brush-like and finely barbed, all with hyaline ending. Seta Z5 short and finely barbed. Except seta J6, no setae reach beyond opisthonotum. Setae S3 and S4 absent. Podonotum covered with irregular tile-like pattern. Anterolateral parts covered with tile-like pattern, anteromedial parts covered with finely punctate pattern as opisthonotum. Dorsal cavities distinct, equal in size, axes parallel to that of the body.

Pores. Pore po1 located on line connecting setae j2–s1, po2 located on line connecting setae j5–s4 (closer to seta s4), po3 inside a line connecting s5–s6. Pore Po1 above the base of seta Z1, Po2 located on line connecting setae Z1–S2 (closer to seta S2), Po3 located on line connecting setae J5–Z3 and Po4 below the base of seta Z4.

Venter. Shapes of ventral shields and peritremes, and chaetotaxy are typical for genus Zercon . Two pairs of setae present on ventral side of podonotum. Setae p1 short, smooth and needle-like, p2 long, finely plumose, feather-like with hyaline ending. Peritremes slightly bent. Lateral ends of peritremal shield reaching to seta R1. Adgenital shields present (with two opening valves). Ventrianal shield with nine pairs of setae. Anterior margin of ventrianal shield with four setae and unpaired postanal seta, all short, smooth and needle-like.

Male. Mean length of idiosoma 324 (312–334), mean width 233 (227–239) (n = 5). Dorsal idiosoma, ventral idiosoma, shape of setae on idiosoma, sculpture of podonotum and opisthonotum, size and appearance of dorsal cavities, basically similar to those of female.

Distribution. Ukraine ( Balan, 1992) and Turkey ( Karaca & Urhan, 2014).

Remarks. Average lengths of opisthonotal setae and distances between setae within longitudinal rows of females and males specimens: see Table 8 . Only a single male specimen of this species was recorded from Edirne province previously. We now record and describe female specimens from Turkey for the first time.