Eustigmaeus myrtea ( Chaudhri, 1965 )

Mierski, Andrzej Ka Ż & Czyk, Justyna Do Ñ, 2003, Two new free living mite species of Eustigmaeus (Actinedida: Raphignathoidea: Stigmaeidae) from Poland, with new data of some other rare species of the genus, Zootaxa 198, pp. 1-16 : 15

4. Eustigmaeus myrtea ( Chaudhri, 1965)

Localities

First locality (“JUDO 2 A...­G”): North Poland. Tczew province. Brody Pomorskie settlement. Forest community of substitution on the habitat of acidophilous oak forest (Calamagrostio­Quercetum), with addition of firs and pines. Herbaceous layer with Viola riviniana, Mycetis muralis, Rubus saxatilis , also Entodon schreberi, Impatiens parviflora, Deschampsia flexuosa , Vaccinium myrtilius , V. vitis­idea, Viola canina, Senecio silvaticum and Oxalis acetosella .

Sampled material: litter, soil under of fir, fir needles and sod.

Second locality (“JUDO 4 A...­G”): North Poland. Tczew Province. Brody Pomorskie settlement. Pine forest (Domination of Pinus silvestris , also Betula verrucosa, Frangula alnus, Sorbus aucuparia and Juniperus communis ). Undergrowt: Vaccinium myrtilius , V. vitis­idea, Deschampsia flexuosa, Melampyrum pratense, Convallaria maialis, Trientalis europaea, Polygonatum odoratum, Dryopteris spinulosa, Dicranum scoparium and Pleurozium (= Entodon ) schreberi .

Sampled material: litter, soil and pine needles.

Third locality (“JUDO 9 A...­G”) ­ as in E. formosus sp. n. (see above).

Specimens. Three females in slides 2G / P­4, 2G / P­5 and 2G / P­7 (03 Jul. 2000). Female in slide 4B / P­7 (31 Aug. 1999). Two females in slide 9F / P­4 (02 May 2000). Female and deutonymph in slide 9B / P­17 (31 Aug. 1999). Deutonymph in slide 2G / P­ 10 (03 Jul. 2000). All specimens are kept in DAM.

Remarks. One of the smaller species of genus Eustigmaeus , which belongs to “ pectinata ” group. The holotype derives from soil from California ( USA), and it was formerly determined as Ledermuelleria plumifer ( Halbert, 1923) by Summers and Price (1961). Both species are very similar and probably occur in Europe and in North America ­ thus, some of the earlier data (before 1965) of E. plumifer might have been concerned in fact E. myrtea .

Both closely related species have short, but very strongly plumose dorsal setae, rich ornamentation on all the surface of the idiosoma, similar size and total view. However, ornament of E. myrtea is in form of equally shaped cells and “craters”. Besides, it differs from E. plumifer by substantially longer distance between setae a, and by the presence of two setae on trochanter III ­ instead of only single one in E. plumifer .