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 : 271

ATRACTIDES OVIFORMIS SZALAY, 1953

Syn. to A. vaginalis Koenike, 1905 : syn. nov.

Type series: Missing. Locus typicus: Hohe Tatra, Kalksteingebirge bei Szepesbéla (Spiŝská Belá) Feketevíz, 920 m ü. d. M., 10∞C, 5.8.1930, 1 ♂ gesammelt von Dr. E. Dudich.

Discussion: Since the initial description ( Szalay, 1953) this species has not been discussed, and the name has appeared only in faunistic lists, including a single further locality record provided by Láska (1955a) from Slovakia. Szalay compared the species with A. walteri , A. panniculatus , A. glandulosus , A. coriaceus and A. issajewi ( Sokolow, 1928) but was not aware of the close similarity to A. vaginalis . In fact, his measurements are only slightly higher than those provided here for A. vaginalis , and all proportions agree. According to his measurements, the P-4 is relatively elongated (37% of total length) and therefore the P-2/4 ratio is low (0.52). However, from his figure this value is calculated as 0.58, and the measurement differences consequently are artefacts. Szalay’s figures show the palp, ventral idiosoma and I- L-5 and -6 of a typical juvenile A. vaginalis male, with Vgl-3 not yet fused to the posterior border of Cx-4. Szalay clearly overlooked the variation in this latter character, and therefore did not compare this species with A. tatrensis , a species he described on the preceding page on the basis of specimens partly collected at the same site and date as A. oviformis . There is no doubt that they are conspecific, and A. oviformis , as A. tatrensis , represents a junior synonym of A. vaginalis .