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 : 178

ATRACTIDES GABRETAE THON, 1901

Species dubia

Type series: Probably lost; contrary to the information provided by K. Viets (1956) the Thon collection remained at the Zoological Institute , Prague until the 1950s (Komárek in litt. to Viets, SMF). Since then, the slides have been lost .

Description: Female (original description, male unknown): idiosoma L 1450 Mm, integument smooth, coxal area L 500 Mm, genital area far from the caudal margin of Cx-4, near to the posterior idiosoma margin, gonopore L, 180 Mm, genital plates L, 180 Mm; mouthparts ‘as in A. spinipes ’, palp L 450 Mm, P-2 L 102, P-3120 Mm.

Discussion: The description of this species based on a single female specimen was induced by the presence of only two pairs of Ac, the position of the sword seta of P-4 near the proximoventral hair, and a large body size with relatively short coxae. Thon himself discussed (but rejected) the possibility that the number of acetabula could be the result of a malformation. Following the description of A. gabretae , further examples of specimens with only two pairs have been detected; another species with this characteristic was described by Koenike (1915) and K. Viets (1926) erected a separate subgenus Tetramegapus with A. gabretae as typus generis. Since then, misshaped specimens with reduced numbers have come to light in populations of various species, demonstrating that this is a character not suitable for taxonomic ranking (see ‘Subgenera’, above). The original description is too scanty to allow any interpretation of the taxonomic state of its subject. A. gabretae is therefore a species dubia.