Cunaxa acaciae, Elgoni & Mirza & Alatawi, 2025

Elgoni, Nasreldeen Ahmed, Mirza, Jawwad Hassan & Alatawi, Fahad Jaber, 2025, A new species and a new record of the genus Cunaxa von Heyden (Prostigmata, Cunaxidae) from Saudi Arabia, with a key to the world species, Biodiversity Data Journal 13, pp. e 174602-e 174602 : e174602-

Cunaxa acaciae sp. nov.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: KSMAAS 25 - Cun-Cun-H ; recordedBy: E. M. Khan, N. A. Elgoni and H. M. S. Ali; individualCount: 1; sex: Female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: C3872FF1-4DB0-55BB-8D66-E6D8E0455FEA; Taxon: scientificName: Cunaxa acaciae ; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Prostigmata; family: Cunaxidae ; genus: Cunaxa ; Location: country: Saudi Arabia; stateProvince: Jazan; locality: Alhasher Mountain ; verbatimCoordinates: 17°28.252'N 43°2.095'E; decimalLatitude: 17.47087; decimalLongitude: 43.03491; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Identification: identifiedBy: Nasreldeen Ahmed Elgoni; dateIdentified: 2025; Event: samplingProtocol: Soil collection; eventDate: 23/2/2025; habitat: Acacia sp. ; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Mites; basisOfRecord: Slide Mounted Specimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: KSMAAS 25 - Cun-Cun-P 1 ; recordedBy: E. M. Khan, N. A. Elgoni and H. M. S. Ali; individualCount: 1; sex: Female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: B8FB4949-5C28-590B-BA05-6F1ABF425230; Taxon: scientificName: Cunaxa acaciae ; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Prostigmata; family: Cunaxidae ; genus: Cunaxa ; Location: country: Saudi Arabia; stateProvince: Jazan; locality: Alhasher Mountain ; verbatimCoordinates: 17°28.252'N 43°2.095'E; decimalLatitude: 17.47087; decimalLongitude: 43.03491; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Identification: identifiedBy: Nasreldeen Ahmed Elgoni; dateIdentified: 2025; Event: samplingProtocol: Soil collection; eventDate: 23/2/2025; habitat: Acacia sp. ; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Mites; basisOfRecord: Slide Mounted Specimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: KSMAAS 25 - Cun-Cun-P 2 ; recordedBy: E. M. Khan, N. A. Elgoni and H. M. S. Ali; individualCount: 1; sex: Female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 88C540C2-0794-5C5C-A83D-D24915B26837; Taxon: scientificName: Cunaxa acaciae ; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Prostigmata; family: Cunaxidae ; genus: Cunaxa ; Location: country: Saudi Arabia; stateProvince: Jazan; locality: Alhasher Mountain ; verbatimCoordinates: 17°28.252'N 43°2.095'E; decimalLatitude: 17.47087; decimalLongitude: 43.03491; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Identification: identifiedBy: Nasreldeen Ahmed Elgoni; dateIdentified: 2025; Event: samplingProtocol: Soil collection; eventDate: 23/2/2025; habitat: Acacia sp. ; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Mites; basisOfRecord: Slide Mounted Specimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: KSMAAS 25 - Cun-Cun-P 3 ; recordedBy: E. M. Khan, N. A. Elgoni and H. M. S. Ali; individualCount: 1; sex: Female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 1EC49FF6-E208-5E86-818B-0D9E7308CD3B; Taxon: scientificName: Cunaxa acaciae ; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Prostigmata; family: Cunaxidae ; genus: Cunaxa ; Location: country: Saudi Arabia; stateProvince: Jazan; locality: Alhasher Mountain ; verbatimCoordinates: 17°28.252'N 43°2.095'E; decimalLatitude: 17.47087; decimalLongitude: 43.03491; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Identification: identifiedBy: Nasreldeen Ahmed Elgoni; dateIdentified: 2025; Event: samplingProtocol: Soil collection; eventDate: 23/2/2025; habitat: Acacia sp. ; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Mites; basisOfRecord: Slide Mounted Specimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: KSMAAS 25 - Cun-Cun-P 4 ; recordedBy: E. M. Khan, N. A. Elgoni and H. M. S. Ali; individualCount: 1; sex: Female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 22390B26-2630-554B-BD59-5900B17804D6; Taxon: scientificName: Cunaxa acaciae ; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Prostigmata; family: Cunaxidae ; genus: Cunaxa ; Location: country: Saudi Arabia; stateProvince: Jazan; locality: Alhasher Mountain ; verbatimCoordinates: 17°28.252'N 43°2.095'E; decimalLatitude: 17.47087; decimalLongitude: 43.03491; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Identification: identifiedBy: Nasreldeen Ahmed Elgoni; dateIdentified: 2025; Event: samplingProtocol: Soil collection; eventDate: 23/2/2025; habitat: Acacia sp. ; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Mites; basisOfRecord: Slide Mounted Specimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: KSMAAS 25 - Cun-Cun-P 5 ; recordedBy: E. M. Khan, N. A. Elgoni and H. M. S. Ali; individualCount: 1; sex: Female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 9DE5BCEA-B5A3-57EB-8802-7A889DD41D9B; Taxon: scientificName: Cunaxa acaciae ; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Prostigmata; family: Cunaxidae ; genus: Cunaxa ; Location: country: Saudi Arabia; stateProvince: Jazan; locality: Alhasher Mountain ; verbatimCoordinates: 17°28.252'N 43°2.095'E; decimalLatitude: 17.47087; decimalLongitude: 43.03491; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Identification: identifiedBy: Nasreldeen Ahmed Elgoni; dateIdentified: 2025; Event: samplingProtocol: Soil collection; eventDate: 23/2/2025; habitat: Acacia sp. ; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Mites; basisOfRecord: Slide Mounted Specimen

Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: KSMAAS 25 - Cun-Cun-P 6 ; recordedBy: E. M. Khan, N. A. Elgoni and H. M. S. Ali; individualCount: 1; sex: Female; lifeStage: adult; occurrenceID: 0D9182E0-12E5-59A5-AC0D-F1E13403EC45; Taxon: scientificName: Cunaxa acaciae ; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Arthropoda; class: Arachnida; order: Prostigmata; family: Cunaxidae ; genus: Cunaxa ; Location: country: Saudi Arabia; stateProvince: Jazan; locality: Alhasher Mountain ; verbatimCoordinates: 17°28.252'N 43°2.095'E; decimalLatitude: 17.47087; decimalLongitude: 43.03491; georeferenceProtocol: GPS; Identification: identifiedBy: Nasreldeen Ahmed Elgoni; dateIdentified: 2025; Event: samplingProtocol: Soil collection; eventDate: 23/2/2025; habitat: Acacia sp. ; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Mites; basisOfRecord: Slide Mounted Specimen

Description

Female (n = 7).

Idiosoma length 464 (428–493); idiosoma width 361 (324–349).

Dorsum (Fig. 1 ). Propodosomal shield with transverse striae medially and diagonal striae laterally, 107 (90–98) long, 172 (171–174) wide, bearing two pairs of trichobothria ( at and pt), two pairs of tactile setae ( lps and mps). Setae lps near pt, pt 1.24–1.3 times longer than at, mps 1.6 times longer than lps. Hysterosomal shield 164 (136–140) long, 221 (205–207) wide, bearing four pairs of setae c 1, c 2, d 1, e 1. Setae f 1 and h 1 on minute sclerotised platelets. Cupules ip inserted in integument between setae e 1 and f 1. Lateral integument with longitudinal striae, area posterior to hysterosomal shield with transverse striae. Length of setae as follows: at 221 (210–213), pt 295 (289–296), lps 16 (13–15), mps 26 (21–22), c 1 28 (23–25), c 2 23 (19–20), d 1 26 (20–21), e 1 26 (23–25), f 1 54 (48–53), h 1 56 (53–54). Distance between setae: at - at 23 (21–23), pt - pt 134 (123–128), lps - lps 131 (123–125), mps - mps 44 (39–44), lps - mps 46 (41–44), at - lps 67 (61–64), pt - mps 43 (38–39), pt - lps 16 (13–15), at - mps 71 (62–64), at - pt 85 (75–79), c 1 - c 1 74 (74–75), c 2 - c 2 205 (187–189), d 1 - d 1 90 (84–89), e 1 - e 1 102 (91–96), f 1 - f 1 74 (69–74), h 1 - h 1 41 (36–39), c 1 - c 2 67 (59–60), c 1 - d 1 67 (62–66), c 2 - d 1 69 (59–62), d 1 - e 1 61 (61–62), e 1 - f 1 67 (92–92), f 1 - h 1 49 (49–54).

Venter (Fig. 2 ). Ventral integument striated. Coxae I – II and III – IV contiguous, each with striations; coxae III – IV with additional reticulation elements, intercoxal area with simple longitudinal striae, areas anterior and posterior ag 3 with transverse and longitudinal striae, respectively. All ventral setae smooth. Cupules ih and setae h 2 inserted in integument. Epimeral formula: 3 ( 1 a, 1 b, 1 c) - 1 ( 2 b) - 3 ( 3 b, 3 c, 3 d) - 2 ( 4 b, 4 c); two pairs of intercoxal setae 3 a 25 (23–25), 4 a 30 (25–26); three pairs of aggenital setae ag 1 25 (21–26), ag 2 26 (22–24) and ag 3 25 (23–25); genital plates 54 (52–54) long, 33 (31–35) wide, genital plates with four pairs of setae ( g 1 – g 4), g 1 25 (20–26), g 2 25 (21–25), g 3 33 (21–26) and g 4 31 (25–26); one pair of h 2, 26 (23–26) long; and one pair of pseudanal setae ps 1 16 (15–18) long.

Gnathosoma. Palp (Fig. 3 a) five-segmented, all segments with simple setae. Chaetotaxy: trochanter without setae; basifemur with 1 sts; telofemur with 1 dorsal sts and hook-shaped apophysis; genu with 2 sts and 1 spls; tibiotarsus with 4 sts, 1 stout rod-like seta and one claw. Chelicera (Fig. 3 b). Length of chelicera 108 (102–106). Subcapitulum (Fig. 4 ) 118 (114–115) long, 65 (58–64) wide, with longitudinal pitted striations; four pairs of setae hg 1 – hg 4 and two pairs of adoral setae ads 1 5 (5–6), ads 2 4 (4–5). Length of hypognathal setae hg 1 16 (15–16), hg 2 15 (15–16), hg 3 21 (17–19) and hg 4 30 (32–33).

Legs (Fig. 5 ). Leg I 341 (330–343); leg II 331 (328–337); leg III 339 (337–342); leg IV 354 (351–354). Chaetotaxy: Tr I – IV: 1-1 - 2 - 1 sts; BFe I – IV: 4 sts - 4 sts - 3 sts - 1 sts; TFe I – IV: 4 sts - 4 sts - 4 sts - 4 sts; Ge I with 1 bsl ( σ 4), 3 asl ( σ 1 – 3) {1 asl ( σ 1), 1 sts}, 4 sts; Ge II with 2 asl ( σ 1 – 2), 5 sts; Ge III with 1 asl ( σ), 5 sts; Ge IV with 1 asl ( σ), 5 sts; Ti I with 2 asl ( φ 1 – 2), {1 asl ( φ 1), 1 sts}, 4 sts; Ti II with 1 asl ( φ), 5 sts; Ti III with 1 bsl ( φ), 5 sts; Ti IV with 1 dT, 4 sts; Ta I with 4 asl ( ω 2 – 5), 1 dtsl ( ω 1), 24 sts; Ta II with 1 bsl ( ω 3), 1 dtsl ( ω 1), 1 asl ( ω 2), 24 sts; TaIII with 1 asl ( ω), 20 sts; TaIV with 20 sts.

Males and immature stages. Not found.

Diagnosis

Propodosomal shield with transverse striae medially and diagonal striae laterally, hysterosomal shield with transverse striae; coxa IV with two setae; area anterior and posterior setae h 1 transversely striated.

Etymology

The species name ( acaciae ) is derived from the genus Acacia , from which the type specimen was collected (collected from soil under Acacia ).

Distribution

Remarks

The species Cunaxa acaciae sp. nov. is closely related to the C. capreolus (Berlese) and C. bagualensis Wurlitzer and Ferla (in Wurlitzer et al. (2022)) by having basifemora I, III and IV with 4, 3 and 1 sts., four pairs of setae c 1, c 2, d 1, e 1 on the hysterosomal shield, pedipalp telofemoral apophysis hooked. However, C. acaciae sp. nov. can be distinguished from C. bagualensis by propodosomal shield with transverse striae medially and diagonal striae laterally, hysterosomal shield with transverse striae (vs. both dorsal shields smooth); integument surrounding propodosomal shield anteriorly and laterally striated (vs. smooth without striae); area anterior and posterior setae h 1 striated (vs. smooth without striae); lateral region of hysterosomal shield covered with longitudinal striae (vs. lateral region of hysterosomal shield with smooth area) in C. bagualensis . The new species is distinguished from C. capreolus by: propodosomal shield with transverse striae medially and diagonal striae laterally, hysterosomal shield with transverse striae (vs. propodosomal and hysterosomal shields smooth); coxa IV with two setae (vs. with one seta) in C. capreolus .

Figures

Figure 1. Cunaxa acaciae sp. nov., Female, Dorsum. Scale bar 100 μm.

Figure 2. Cunaxa acaciae sp. nov., Female, Venter. Scale bar 100 μm.

Figure 3. Cunaxa acaciae sp. nov., Female, a. Palp; b Chelicera. Scale bar 50 μm.

Figure 4. Cunaxa acaciae sp. nov., Female, Subcapitulum. Scale bar 50 μm.

Figure 5. Cunaxa acaciae sp. nov., Female, a Leg I; b Leg II; c Leg III; d Leg IV. Scale bar 100 μm.