Atractides limnicola, Schwoerbel, 1959

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 : 298

ATRACTIDES LIMNICOLA SCHWOERBEL, 1959

Syn. to A. nodipalpis Thor, 1899 : syn. nov.

Type series: Holotype ♀, CSM ATRACTIDES limnicola ♀ 1159 TYPUS; Lac Gérardmer 27.IX.1956. State of conservation: gnathosoma, both palps, both I- L, and both IV-L separate, lateral; mounting medium contains precipitations and has contracted, leaving idiosoma uncovered; mouthparts and legs under separate cover, crushed.

Discussion: Schwoerbel (1959a) compared this species with A. nodipalpis , A. clavipes (at that time regarded a subspecies of A. nodipalpis ) and A. distans , examining the shape and dimensions of the genital field (without giving details) and I-L-5 and -6 (setal interspace wider than in A. clavipes , but narrower than in A. distans ). Since the first description there have been no further records of, or discussions concerning, A. limnicola . The holotype is misshaped both in the genital field (right genital plate with Ac-1/3 reduced in size, and Ac-2 completely missing) and in the I-L (setal interspace on the right I-L 9 Mm, on the left, 20 Mm). A. limnicola is morphologically quite distant from A. clavipes (with shortened S-1 and -2 nearly touching, much thicker I-L-6, and Ac in females arranged in a curved line, not in a triangle as in A. limnicola ) and from A. distans (S-1 and -2 strongly heteromorphic and far apart; thicker I-L-5). When compared with A. nodipalpis , only minute differences are found. Most measurements lie within the range of variability established for that species or slightly below the minima (e.g. setal interspace 20 Mm, in A. nodipalpis 25– 43 Mm, L ratio I-L-5/6 1.29, in A. nodipalpis 1.32– 1.56). In view both of the extended range of variability of A. nodipalpis , and the fact that the type of A. limnicola is an asymmetrically misshaped individual, there is good reason to consider it a synonym of the former species. This assumption is also supported by the fact that A. nodipalpis is by far the most common species in southern Central Europe, and locally may be found also in stagnant water habitats.