Atractides longipes, (HALBERT, 1944)

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 : 339

ATRACTIDES LONGIPES ( HALBERT, 1944)

Megapus longipes Halbert, 1944

Species dubia: Gledhill & K. O. Viets, 1976

Syn. to A. acutirostris Motaş & Angelier, 1927 : syn. nov.

Type series: Holotype ♀, MNHD Megapus longipes n. sp. ♀ ovig. Type. R. Flesk, Killarney (E Bullock) April 42. State of conservation: idiosoma in toto, flattened, Cx-1 + 2 damaged, gnathosoma in toto laterally, all legs complete, mounting fluid in good condition.

Discussion: Halbert considered A. longipes to be similar to A. acutirostris . Indeed, both species agree, and differ from all species of the subgenus known at that time, in the narrow setal interspace. A revision of several specimens from a wide geographical area demonstrated a certain variability of the position of these setae (normally side by side, but occasionally on one of the legs shifted against another); their position one behind the other in the holotype of A. longipes is therefore not taxonomically significant. A. elongatus is probably a juvenile, and A. longipes a more advanced adult of the same species. After the first description, A. longipes has been recorded once more from an Irish river ( Conroy, 1978), but without discussion of morphological details.