Atractides (Atractides) robustus (Sokolow, 1940)

Pešić, Vladimir, Zawal, Andrzej, Ferreira, Sónia, Benitez-Bosco, Laura, Cruz-Oliveira, Ana, Girão, Dinis, Padilha, Adriana, Turaccio, Paolo, Rossini, Samantha, Ballini, Lorenzo, Staffoni, Giorgia, Fratini, Sara, Ciofi, Claudio, Iannucci, Alessio, Ekrem, Torbjørn & Stur, Elisabeth, 2024, DNA barcode library of Portuguese water mites, with the descriptions of two new species (Acari, Hydrachnidia), ZooKeys 1217, pp. 119-171 : 119-171

Atractides (Atractides) robustus (Sokolow, 1940)

Material examined.

Portugal, Guarda • Manteigas, Zêzere, Covão da Ametade , 40.328°N, 7.587°W, 1431 m a.s.l., 21 Aug. 2023, leg. Ferreira, Benitez-Bosco & Padilha, 1 ♀ (sequenced) .

Remarks.

The Portuguese specimen matches the description of A. robustus . The specimen clusters within BOLD: AFF 2463, which includes specimens from Italy, Albania and Poland. The p - distance from the closest neighboring BIN being BOLD: ADZ 9348, which consists of specimens of A. robustus from Germany, Austria, Montenegro, Romania, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and Greece, was estimated at 3.15 %.

Recently, Pešić et al. (2023 d) showed that A. robustus , a species originally described from the Caucasus (the affluents of the Kuban River), consists of two distinct lineages, one which includes populations from eastern Turkey and northern Iran, and which is likely conspecific with A. robustus , and the second lineage, which includes A. robustus like specimens from central and southern Europe. The latter lineage, to which BOLD: ADZ 9348 and BOLD: AFF 2463 belong, possible represents a cryptic species new to science. The final decision on the taxonomic status of A. robustus lineages has been postponed until material of the latter species from the Caucasus is available ( Pešić et al. 2023 d).

Distribution.

Europe. New for Portugal.