Armascirus Den Heyer, 1978

Skvarla, Michael J. & Dowling, Ashley P. G., 2012, Some new armascirine cunaxids (Acari: Prostigmata: Cunaxidae) from the Eastern United States, Zootaxa 3194, pp. 1-34 : 5-6

Armascirus Den Heyer, 1978

Historical review. The first Armascirus was described by Kramer (1881) as Scirus taurus . Berlese (1888) described S. taurus var. bison . Banks (1894) described S. quadripilus . Thor (1902) transferred S. taurus to Cunaxa . Banks (1914) described C. armata . Womersley (1933) reported C. taurus from Australia. Thor and Willmann (1941) transferred S. taurus var. bison to Cunaxa and raised it to full species status, viz. C. bison and transferred S. quadripilus to Cunaxa ; they also redescribed and figured C. armata , C. bison , C. quadripilus , and C. taurus . Baker and Hoffmann (1948) synonymized S. quadripilus and C. armata with C. taurus ; they followed Thor and Willmann (1941) in placing C. taurus var. bison in Cunaxa but declined to recognize it as a species and instead kept it as a variety or subspecies of C. taurus . Zaher et al. (1975) collected C. taurus in Egypt. Chaudhri (1977) described Dactyloscirus ebrius and D. fuscus from Pakistan. Den Heyer (1978) split Armascirus from Dactyloscirus and Cunaxa and raised the subfamily Cunaxinae to accommodate them, thus refining the definitions of all three genera; he transferred C. taurus and C. bison to the new; and described A. huyssteeni , A. lebowensis , A. limpopoensis , and A. albiziae . Kuznetzov and Livshitz (1979) redescribed and figured C. taurus and C. bison from Russia, either disagreeing with or being unaware of Den Heyer’s 1978 publication. Tseng (1980) reported A. taurus from Taiwan. Chaudhri (1980) described D. fixus from Pakistan. Den Heyer (1980) erected the tribe Armascirini and made Dactyloscirus and Armascirus the sole representatives. Gupta and Ghosh (1980) erected Indocunaxa , a monotypic genus with I. smileyi as the type species. Liang (1983) reported A. taurus from China. Michocka (1987) described D. rafalskii from Poland. A. mactator and A. pluri were described by Muhammad and Chaudhri (1991). Smiley (1992) described A. gimplei , A. anastosi , A. harrisoni , A. heryfordi , A. virginiensis , D. bakeri , and D. campbelli and transferred A. bison to Dactyloscirus . He also synonymized I. smileyi with A. taurus , though did not include Indocunaxa as a synonymy of Armascirus ; this is confusing as Indocunaxa is monobasic and synonymizing the only species with A. taurus functionally synonymized the genus with Armascirus . Corpuz-Raros (1995) described A. garciai and A. makilingensis from the Philippines. Hu (1997) reported A. bison and A. taurus from China. Armascirus satianaensis and A. asghari were described by Bashir and Afzal (2005). Corpuz-Raros and Gruèzo described A. javanus . Corpuz-Raros (2008) described A. bifidus . Bashir, Afzal, and Khan described four species from Pakistan, A. akhtari , A. jasmina , A. sabrii , and A. gojraensis . Den Heyer and Castro (2008b) reaffirmed the synonymization of Indocunaxa with Armascirus . Kalúz (2009) described A. cyaneus and A. cerris from Central Europe and transferred D. bison , D. campbelli , D. ebrius , D. fixus , D. fuscus , and D. rafalskii to Armascirus .

Generic diagnosis. Den Heyer (1978) gives a detailed diagnosis of this genus. The following description highlights those features that are prominent or are regarded as being diagnostic.

Palpi five segmented and end in strong claw. They extend beyond the subcapitulum by at least the last segment and are often adorned with an apophysis between the genua and tibiotarsi that tapers to a point; this apophysis shorter in males than in females. Basifemora complemented with a simple seta; telofemora complemented with a spine-like seta. These two segments fused though a dark line remains visible to differentiate them.

Subcapitulum complemented with six pairs of setae (hg1–4 and two pairs of adoral setae). It can be covered by integumental papillae which are either randomly distributed or form a polygonal, reticulated pattern.

Female dorsal idiosoma with at least one sclerotized plate that bears two pairs of setose trichobothria (at and pt) and two pairs of simple setae (lps and mps). 0–4 other major plates and platelets may also be present. All plates, if present, covered by integumental papillae that form a reticulated pattern. Integument between plates striated. Seven pairs of setae, c1–2, d1, e1, f1 and h1, present. Each seta, when not on a major plate or platelet, surrounded by a minute platelet only slightly larger than the setal socket. Cupule im present, usually laterad or in the proximity of e1. Dorsal idiosoma of males similar except a single large plate complemented with c1–2, d1, e1 and f1 present.

Female ventral idiosoma complemented by the coxal, genital, and anal plates. Coxal plates reticulated in the same manner as the dorsal plates. Coxae I and II often fused; coxae III and IV often fused. Coxae I–IV setal formula usually: males 3-1-3-3 or females 3-2-3-3. Genital plates each bear four setae; two pairs of genital papillae are visible underneath the plates. Anal plates bear one pair of setae (ps1). Two pairs of setae (ps2 and h2) associated with but do not occur on the anal plates. Cupule ih present in close proximity to h2. Integument between plates striated and bears 5–7 pairs of additional setae. Ventral idiosoma of males similar except the coxal plates are much more extensive. Sclerotized aedeagus is often visible in association with the genital plates.

Legs comparatively long, at least ¾ the length and often longer than the body. Famulus on tarsi I normally shaped, not large and tri-pronged as in Dactyloscirus . Tarsi are constricted apically, resulting in large tarsal lobes.