Atractides

Gerecke, Reinhard, 2003, Water mites of the genus Atractides Koch, 1837 (Acari: Parasitengona: Hygrobatidae) in the western Palaearctic region: a revision, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 138, pp. 141-378 : 197

ATRACTIDES ROSSICUS ( THOR, 1923)

Megapus rossicus Thor (1923)

Species dubia

Type series: Missing. Locus typicus and type: 21.VI.1922 Wolga near Twer ( III1 ): 1 ♀ Prep. 2567

Description: All coxae arranged very closely together, without membranous interspaces, postcoxal idiosoma very short, genital plates with large Ac, surrounded by a very narrow sclerite border, excretory pore and Vgl-2 placed at the posterior idiosoma margin.

Discussion: The original description of A. rossicus was based on a single female. All characters considered as diagnostic by Thor are typical features of juveniles. Since the first description, very few additional finds have been published ( Sokolow, 1940, 1957; Tuzovskij, 1979) and a male has never been described. Apart from the loss of the type specimen, as a general rule, water mite species defined based on juveniles cannot be recognized; A. rossicus is thus a species dubia.