Cunaxoides Baker & Hoffmann, 1948

Skvarla, Michael J., Fisher, J. Ray & Dowling, Ashley P. G., 2014, A review of Cunaxidae (Acariformes, Trombidiformes): Histories and diagnoses of subfamilies and genera, keys to world species, and some new locality records, ZooKeys 418, pp. 1-103 : 19-21

Cunaxoides Baker & Hoffmann, 1948

Historical review.

Koch (1838) described the first two Cunaxoides as Eupalus croceus and Eupalus minutissimus . Koch (1841) described Eupalus vitellinus . Trägårdh (1910) described Eupalus minima . Ewing (1917) described Eupalus parvus and its feeding on oyster-shell scale in the USA. Thor and Willmann (1941) redescribed and figured Eupalus croceus , Eupalus minutissimus , and Eupalus vitellinus . Nesbitt (1946) described Eupalus biscutum . Garman (1948) reported Eupalus biscutum from apple trees in Connecticut. Baker and Hoffmann (1948) recognized that the name Eupalus was preoccupied and erected Cunaxoides to replace it; they transferred all known Eupalus to the new genus and figured each species. Haleupalus oliveri was described by Schruft (1971). Smiley (1975) synonymized Cunaxoides vitellinus with Cunaxoides croceus and provided a translation of Thor and Willmann’s (1941) description of Cunaxoides croceus . Den Heyer (1978c) placed Cunaxoides as the type genus in the newly erected Cunaxoidinae ; he also redescribed the genus and redescribed and designated a neotype for Cunaxoides croceus . Kuznetzov and Livshitz (1979) described Cunaxoides ulcerosus , Cunaxoides longistriatus , Cunaxoides fidus and Cunaxoides desertus and reported and figured Cunaxoides biscutum , and Cunaxoides parvus from Russia. Gupta and Ghosh (1980) described Cunaxoides nicobarensis . Cunaxoides kielczewskii was described by Michocka (1982). Smiley (1992) synonymized Haleupalus oliveri with Cunaxoides biscutum , effectively synonymizing Haleupalus with Cunaxoides . Hu (1997) reported Cunaxoides croceus and Cunaxoides ulcerosus from China. Sionti and Papadoulis (2003) described Cunaxoides paracroceus from Greece. Bashir and Afzal (2004a) described Cunaxoides trisetosis . Bashir et al. (2007) described Cunaxoides sargodhaensis from Pakistan. Bashir and Afzal (2009) described Cunaxoides daskaensis , Cunaxoides negans , and Cunaxoides sialkotensis Den Heyer et al. (2013) described Cunaxoides decastroae and Cunaxoides lootsi .

Diagnosis.

Gnathosoma. Pedipalps 3-segmented. Femurogenua at least twice as long as wide and complemented with 5 setae. Tibiotarsi at least twice as long as wide and usually complemented with 6 setae. A small apophysis present basally and a pointed process present near the terminal tip; a ridge present between the apophysis and pointed process. Subcapitulum with 6 pairs of setae (hg1 - 4 and 2 pairs of adoral setae) are present; setae hg4 longest. Chelicera without seta.

Idiosoma, dorsal. Proterosoma bears an ill-defined and weakly sclerotized shield which is complemented with 2 pairs of setae (lps and mps) and 2 pairs of setose sensillae (at and pt). The dorsal hysterosoma may or may not bear a plate; if a plate is present it is ill-defined and weakly sclerotized, may be complemented with a variable number of setae, and may or may not be fused with the proterosomal shield. Setae c1 - h1, c2, and h2 are present. Cupule im present laterad and posterior of e1. Integument that is not covered in shields or plates is striated.

Idiosoma, ventral. Coxae weakly sclerotized and ill-defined; they can be recognized by possessing somewhat denser striations than the surrounding integument. Coxae I-II may be fused and may coalesce medially to form a sternal shield. Coxae III-IV may be fused. Each coxa is complemented with 2-4 setae. Genital plates each bear 4 setae (g1 - 4); 2 pairs of genital papillae visible underneath the plates. Anal plates bear one pair of setae; one pair of setae present ventrally on the integument near the anal plates. Up to 7 pairs of setae present on the integument between the coxal and genital plates. Cupule ih present ventrally laterad the integumental setae associated with the anal plates. Integument that is not covered in shields or plates is striated. Legs. Tarsi never constricted apically so as to end in lobes. Trichobothrium present on leg tibia IV. Ambulacral claws are rippled and occur on either side of a 4-rayed empodium.

Key to adult female Cunaxoides

The following species have not been included because the original descriptions and subsequent papers describing them ( Thor and Willmann 1941; Baker and Hoffmann 1948) are not in English; known illustrations do not contain enough detail; and the types were not examined: Cunaxoides minima ( Trägårdh, 1910), Cunaxoides minutissimus (Koch, 1938), Cunaxoides vitellinus (Koch, 1941).

1	Dorsal hysterosomal median plate present (may be fused with proterosomal shield or only suggested by cuticular pattern) ( Figs 18a-c , 19a-d , 20 )	2
-	Dorsal hysterosomal median plate absent ( Figs 21a, b , 22 )	9
2 (1)	Hysterosomal median plate obvious, sclerotized ( Figs 18a-d , 19a-c )	3
-	Hysterosomal median plate not be obvious or sclerotized, may only be suggested by cuticular pattern ( Fig. 20 )	8
3 (2)	Hysterosomal median plate not complemented with setae; USA	Cunaxoides parvus (Ewing, 1917)
-	Hysterosomal median plate complemented with setae	4
4 (3)	Hysterosomal median plate and proterosomal shield separate ( Figs 18a-c )	5
-	Hysterosomal median plate and proterosomal shield fused ( Figs 19a-d )	6
5 (4)	Hysterosomal median plate complemented with c1, d1 ( Fig. 18a ); Canada, USA	Cunaxoides biscutum (Nesbitt, 1946)
-	Hysterosomal median plate complemented with c1, d1, c2 ( Fig. 18b ); Russia	Cunaxoides fidus Kuznetzov & Livshitz, 1979
-	Hysterosomal median plate complemented with c1 - e1, c2 ( Fig. 18c ); Russia	Cunaxoides longistriatus Kuznetzov & Livshitz (1979
6 (4)	Hysterosomal shield complemented with setae c1, d1, c2; ( Figs 19a, b )	7
-	Hysterosomal shield complemented with setae c1- e1, c2; ( Figs 19c )	Cunaxoides decastroae Den Heyer, 2013
7 (6)	Genua IV with 1 asl, 5 sts; striae between sci and c1 U-shaped ( Fig. 19a ); Greece	Cunaxoides paracroceus Sionti & Papadoulis, 2013
-	Genua IV with 2 asl, 5 sts; striae between sci and c1 parallel ( Fig. 19b ); Europe	Cunaxoides croceus (Koch, 1838)
8 (2)	Dorsal striae form one “shield-like” area, similar to fused proterosomal and hysterosomal shield ( Fig. 23a ); Poland	Cunaxoides kielczewskii Gupta & Ghosh, 1980
-	Dorsal striae form two “shield-like” areas, similar to separate proterosomal and hysterosomal shields ( Fig. 23b ); Iran	Cunaxoides lootsi Den Heyer, 2013
9 (1)	Proterosomal shield present ( Figs 21a, b )	10
-	Proterosomal shield absent ( Fig. 22 ); Russia	Cunaxoides ulcerosus Kuznetzov & Livshitz (1979)
10 (9)	Dorsal shield reticulated ( Fig. 21a ); Russia	Cunaxoides desertus Kuznetzov & Livshitz (1979)
-	Dorsal shield striated ( Fig. 21b )	11
11 (10)	Telofemora I-III setal formula 4-3-3; India	Cunaxoides nicobarensis Gupta & Ghosh, 1980
-	Telofemora I-III setal formula 5-5-4 or 5-5-6	12
12 (11)	Telofemur III with 3 sts; Pakistan	Cunaxoides sialkotensis Bashir & Afzal, 2009
-	Telofemur III with 4 sts	13
-	Telofemur III with 6 sts; Pakistan	Cunaxoides negans Bashir & Afzal, 2009
13 (12)	Basifemur I with 1 sts	14
-	Basifemur I with 2 sts; Pakistan	Cunaxoides daskaensis Bashir & Afzal, 2009
14 (13)	Basifemora II-IV setal formula 1-1-0; Pakistan	Cunaxoides trisetosis Bashir & Afzal, 2004
-	Basifemora II-IV setal formula 4-2-0; Pakistan	Cunaxoides sargodhaensis Bashir, Afzal & Raza, 2007

Figures

Figures 18 - 23. Cunaxoides key illustrations. See key for explanations.