Acrotritia quasidivida, Niedbała, Wojciech & Starý, Josef, 2014

Niedbała, Wojciech & Starý, Josef, 2014, New and little known species of ptyctimous mites (Acari, Oribatida) from Cameroon, Zootaxa 3889 (1), pp. 31-57 : 38-39

Acrotritia quasidivida sp. nov.

( Fig. 3A–F )

Measurements of holotype. Prodorsum: length 217, width 192, height 101, length of lower lateral carina 119, length of upper lateral carina 38; prodorsal setae: sensillus 68, interlamellar (in) 164, lamellar (le) 71, rostral (ro) 58, exobothridial (ex) 23; notogaster: length 515, width 379, height 384; notogastral setae c 1 71, h 1 and ps 1 83; genitoaggenital plate 172×66, anoadanal plate 240×56.

Prodorsum with two pairs of lateral carinae, lower more than three times longer than upper carinae; sensilli with short, distinctly dilated head, covered with dense spines; interlamellar and lamellar setae robust, erect, with small spines in distal half, rostral setae rough, exobothridial setae shortest, smooth, interlamellar setae more than double length of lamellar and rostral setae.

Notogaster. Notogastral setae robust, fairly short (c 1/ c 1- d 1=0.6), covered with small spines in distal half. Notogastral setae c remote from anterior border of notogaster, setae c 1 and c 2 more than setae c 3.

Ventral region. Setae h of mentum longer than distance of their insertion points, h> h -h; formula of palps: 2-2- 8 (1); nine pairs of minute genital setae after formula: 7: 2, two pairs of aggenital setae present, located longitudinally.

Legs. Chaetome of legs (without tarsi I and II): I: 1-3-5(2)-5(1), II: 1-4-3(1)-4(1), III: 2-2-2(1)-3(1)-11, IV: 2- 1-2-2(1)-10. Tarsi of legs I heterobidactylous, tarsi II—IV heterotridactylous.

Material examined. Holotype is deposited at DATE from the locus typicus: Cameroon, South–West Province, Mt. Koup Ecological Reserve, Mt. Koup at Nyasoso, 19–21. V. 2006, about 6 km N of Loum, latitude 04°49'09.18" N, longitude 09°42'27.18" E, altitude 1550 m, submontane foggy forest, litter and soil sifting sample, leg V. Grebennikov.

Etymology. The prefix quasi is Latin meaning “near” and refers to the similarity of the new species to oriental species Acrotritia divida ( Mahunka, 1991) .

Comparison. The new species is similar to Acrotritia divida ( Mahunka, 1991) and especially to Australian species Acrotritia paradivida ( Niedbała et Penttinen, 2007) .

All three species have similar size and similar proportion of lateral carinae length of the prodorsum but Acrotritia divida ( Mahunka, 1991) is easily distinguishable by the presence of monodactylous tarsi of the legs, whereas two remaining species have heterobidactylous tarsi I and heterotridactylous tarsi II–IV. The new species differs from Acrotritia paradivida by the shape of sensilli with distinct, short head covered with dense spines (versus baciliform sensilli covered with cilia, without head) and longer interlamellar setae, in / le =2.3 (versus 1.8).

Figures

FIGURE 3 A – F. Acrotritia quasidivida sp. nov. (holotype). A, prodorsum, dorsal view; B, prodorsum, lateral view; C, opisthosoma, lateral view; D, mentum of supcapitulum; E, right genitoaggenital plate; F, palp.