Alliphis halleri (G. & R.Canestrini, 1881)

Halliday, R. B., 2010, Revision of the Australian Eviphididae (Acari: Mesostigmata) 2596, Zootaxa 2596 (1), pp. 1-60 : 7-8

Alliphis halleri (G. & R. Canestrini)

Gamasus halleri G. & R. Canestrini, 1881: 1077.

Copriphis halleri .— Schweizer, 1949: 76.

Alliphis halleri .— Costa, 1963: 37; Shoemake, 1970: 104; Samšiňák & Daniel, 1978: 95; Evans & Till, 1979: 192; Christie, 1983: 231; Farrier & Hennessey, 1993: 58; Mašán, 1994: 19; Halliday, 2008: 55.

Alliphis siculus .— Karg, 1971: 123; Karg, 1993: 95.

Material examined. New South Wales. 2 females, Canyonleigh, on Onthophagus australis (Coleoptera) , no other data (all in ANIC).

Notes. Alliphis halleri is a common inhabitant of dung and compost in Europe ( Schweizer 1949; Mašán & Halliday 2010), Israel ( Costa 1963), and North America ( Farrier & Hennessey 1993), and is phoretic on many species of dung beetles. It has also been found in birds’ nests ( Gwiazdowicz et al. 2006). The Australian specimens are in good agreement with the descriptions and illustrations of this species by Costa (1963), Shoemake (1970), Evans & Till (1979), and Mašán & Halliday (2009). The key characters for recognising the species are the first pair of sternal lyrifissures oriented obliquely; epistome with a very long spiculate median projection; basal section of epistome with serrated shoulders in transverse orientation, not sloping backward; dorsal shield with faint polygonal ornamentation over its whole surface; peritrematal shield wide, irregularly truncate at level of coxae IV; and dorsal shield setae all very short. Alliphis siculus ( Oudemans 1905) has sometimes been considered as a synonym of A. halleri , but Halliday (2008) has shown that this is not true. Many published records of A. siculus actually refer to A. halleri .

Alliphis halleri is now confirmed from the Australasian Region for the first time. There is one possible previous record of this species from this region. Watson (1967) reported a single specimen of A. siculus (Oudemans) sensu Karg (1962) from sheep dung at Camp Hill, on the Australian sub-Antarctic territory of Macquarie Island. This record was included in the catalogue of Pugh (1994), who described it as “not well established”, and “quoted as an indigenous species, but based on only one record”. Greenslade (2006) catalogued the Macquarie Island record of A. siculus , and considered that it had been introduced there. In referring to this specimen, Watson (1967) quotes E. E. Lindquist, who found that it agreed with the redescription and illustrations of A. siculus given by Karg (1962). However, Lindquist is also quoted as adding a note of caution, in light of Karg’s (1962) pointing out discrepancies between his “ A. siculus ” and the original descriptions of this species by Oudemans (1905, 1915). It now appears that the species re-described by Karg (1962) is not A. siculus but A. halleri , and the Macquarie Island specimen was probably A. halleri . I have not been able to locate this specimen to confirm its identity. Pugh (1994) also recorded this species from Campbell Island, New Zealand, but this record is in error (Pugh, personal communication, 2006).

The present Australian record of A. halleri is based on two females collected on a dung beetle Onthophagus australis , at Canyonleigh, New South Wales (about 120 km southwest of Sydney). I have made an intensive search of cattle dung from this area, and of O. australis from many areas of NSW, without finding any further specimens.