Apomerantzia cf. kethleyi ( Price, 1975 )

Lotfollahi, Parisa, 2017, First record of the family Pomerantziidae (Acari: Trombidiformes) from Middle East, with recording of two species for the first time from Asia, Persian Journal of Acarology 6 (4), pp. 259-267 : 263-266

Apomerantzia cf. kethleyi ( Price, 1975)

Pomerantzia kethleyi Price, 1975: 487 ; Fan and Chen 2005: 1, 5, 7, Table 2; Bochkov and Walter 2007: 159, 169.

Distribution and habitat – United States (Indiana: from prairie grassland soil at depth of 35–65 cm ( Price 1975). Illinois: from clay soil at depth of 40–60 cm ( Kethley 1989). Minnesota: from coarse sand and gravel at a depth of 0–10 cm ( Kethley 1989).

Iranian Adult female ( Figs. 3 , 4 )

Gnathosoma – 90 long and 72 wide. Peritreme with 7 chambers, situated between cheliceral bases. Chelicerae 80 long, about 4× length of movable digits (20). Palp 95 long, palpfemur 55 long and 22 wide, longer than length of palptibia plus palptarsus, terminal palptibial claw strong, 10 long, accessory claw conical, 4 long; counts of setae and solenidia from palptrochaner to palptarsus: 0, 1, 1, 2 + 1 terminal claw + 1 accessory claw, 4 + 1ϖ+ 4 eupathidia. Subcapitular setae m 21 about as long as width of m–m (22), rostrum with 2 pairs of setae, ro1 8 and ro2 10. Idiosoma weakly sclerotized, narrowly oval in shape, 440 long and 115 wide. Shields without ornamentation, striae between shields F and H narrow. All dorsal setae smooth. Prodorsal shield bearing 3 pairs of setae, ve 11, sci 17 and sce 30; distances: ve–ve 23, ve–sci 47, sci–sci 45, sci–sce 30 and sce –sce 55. Hysterosomal shield C longitudinally rectangular, with 1 pair of setae, c 1 15, on its middle part; setae c2 32 obviously longer than other hysterosomal setae, situating anterior to c1; shields D and E, nearly square, each bearing 1 pair of setae, d1 16 and e1 10; shield F nearly trapezoid, bearing 2 pairs of setae, f1 10 and f2 9, f2 widely spaced and on the same row of f1; shield H trapeziform, bearing 2 pairs of setae, h1 19 and h2 11, h2 widely spaced and obviously posterior to h1; distances c1–c1 33, c1–c2 40, d1–d1 38, e1– e1 34, f1–f1 24, f1–f2 11, h1–h1 8, h1–h2 10, h2–h2 30. Sejugal grove present. Shields bearing setae 3a connected to coxae III. Aggenital valves bearing 4 pairs of setae, ag1 6, ag2 8, ag3 9 and ag4 7. Genital valves bearing 4 pairs of setae, g1 5, g2 6, g3 5 and g4 5. Pseudanal valves bearing 3 pairs of setae, ps3 9, ps2 10 and ps1 13. Legs I, II, III, IV about 280, 170, 200, and 270, respectively. Counts of setae and solenidia on legs I– IV: coxae (including 1a, 2 a, 3a and 4a) 4+1 peg + 1 elcp, 4, 4, 3; trochanters 1, 1, 2, 1; basifemora 5, 4, 3, 3; telofemora 5, 5, 4, 5; genua 10 + 1K, 5, 5, 6; tibiae 12 + 3φ, 5 + 1φ, 5 + 1φ, 9 + 1φ; tarsi 19 + 7ϖ+ 18, 14 + 5ϖ, 11, 12 .

Material examined – One female of from soil horizon III (58-115 cm depth) of wheat field, 38°25‘29.19''N, 45°52'59.22''E, 1376 m above sea level .

Comment – It is the first record of this species from Asia.

Remarks

In P. kethleyi seta pl ʺ of tarsus II is short and tooth-like. Therefore, this seta was misinterpreted by Price (1974, 1975) and the actual formula of tarsus II is 14 + 5ϖ as indicated in Bochkov and

Walter (2007). The Iranian single female specimen had strong similarities with United States specimens but the author was not able to directly compare Iranian specimen with the type series .

Figures

Figure 3. Apomerantzia kethleyi (Price, 1975) – Dorsal (left) and ventral (right) view of body.

Figure 4. Apomerantzia kethleyi (Price, 1975) – A. Palp; B. Leg I (including ventral aspect of tarsal terminus in right); C. Leg II; D. Leg III; E. Leg IV.