Three new species of Austrocarabodes (Oribatida: Carabodidae) and notes on Austrocarabodes pinnatus Mahunka, 1986, from South Africa
Author
Hugo-Coetzee, Elizabeth A.
text
Zootaxa
2011
3011
1
15
journal article
46442
10.5281/zenodo.202559
8c3772ce-8549-4b61-a21b-85a623d3c453
1175-5326
202559
Austrocarabodes nortoni
sp. nov.
(
Figs 1–3
)
Colour.
Light brown
Dimensions.
Length: females (n = 7) mean 827 μm (range 710–890), males (n = 10) mean 687 μm (range 600– 760). Width: females mean 527 μm (range 430–590), males mean 429 μm (range 350–490).
Holotype
(male): length 740 μm, width 470 μm.
Prodorsum
(
Fig. 1
A). Surface of lamella smooth, prodorsal surface between lamellae foveolate, foveolae arranged in rows, foveolae smaller in anterior region than posterior; rostrum rounded; rostral seta (
ro
), interlamellar seta (
in
) phylliform, smooth,
ro
inserted on tubercle originating on translamella, curving forward and downwards,
in
curving laterally, lamellar seta (
le
) phylliform, barbed; sensillus (
ss
) with short peduncle (specimens from Vernon Crooks Nature Reserve and Umtata River mouth have longer peduncles, so that the head curves slightly backward), head clavate, spiculate, circular darker patch in middle of head.
Notogaster
(
Fig. 1
A). Surface foveolate, foveolae arranged in polygonal structure, regions around alveoli of notogastral setae without ornamentation; anterior margin convex; notogastral setae phylliform, smooth, with strong midribs, ending in sharp, slightly bent tips, inner margin of setae (facing middle of notogaster) thinner than outer margin;
c1
,
da
not reaching alveolus of
da
,
dm
respectively.
Coxisternal region
(
Fig. 1
B). Epimeral surface finely punctate, surface of mentum rugulose; apodemes and borders clearly visible; setae
1a
,
1c
very short, barely visible, setae
1b
,
2a
,
3a
,
3b
,
4a
spiniform, smooth, setae
3c
,
4b
,
4c
spiniform, barbed.
Anogenital region
(
Fig. 1
B). Surface foveolate, foveolae arranged in rows, surface of genital and anal plates punctate; genital, aggenital (
ag
), anal setae spiniform, smooth, adanal (
ad
) setae phylliform, smooth, similar to notogastral setae but smaller; lyrifissure
iad
situated anterio-laterally to
ad3
, halfway between
ad3
and lateral margin of ventral plate.
Legs
(
Figs 2–3
). Leg IV> leg I> leg III> leg II; setation of legs I–IV (solenidia in parentheses) (including famulus): trochanters (
Tr
) 1-1-2-1, femora (Fe) 4-4-3-2, genua (Ge) 3(1)-3(1)-1(1)-2, tibiae (Ti) 4(2)-3(1)-2(1)- 2(1), tarsi (Ta) 16(2)-15(2)-15-11 (see
Table 1
for setation detail); seta
u
proximally dilated, tapering into long slen- der sharp tip; seta
p
on Ta I shorter than on legs II–IV, seta
l”
on Ge I–II, Fe I–II, seta
l’
on Ge III–IV, Fe III phylliform, heavily barbed; paraxial surface of Fe I–IV,
Tr
III–IV punctate, antiaxial surface of Fe III–IV,
Tr
III–IV punctate, rugulose towards the edges.
TABLE 1.
Setae on legs I–IV (parentheses denote pairs of setae). Leg setation is the same for
Austrocarabodes nortoni
sp. nov.
,
A. longisetosus
sp. nov.
,
A. crassimarginatus
sp. nov.
and
A. pinnatus
Mahunka, 1986
.
Trochanter Femur Genu Tibia Tarsus
Leg I v’ d, (
l
),
bv”
(
l
),
v’
, σ (
l
), (
v
), ϕ1,ϕ2 (
ft
) ω1, ω2, ε, (
tc
), (
it
), (
p
), (
u
),
s
, (
a
), (
pv
) Leg II v’ d, (
l
),
bv”
(
l
),
v’
, σ (
v
),
l’
, ϕ (
ft
) ω1, ω2, (
tc
), (
it
), (
p
), (
u
),
s
, (
a
), (
pv
) Leg III l’, v’
d
,
l’
, e
v’ l’
, σ (
v
), ϕ (f
t
), (
tc
), (
it
), (
p
), (
u
),
s
, (
a
), (
pv
) Leg IV v’
d
, e
v’ d
,
l’
(
v
), ϕ
ft”
, (
tc
), (
p
), (
u
), (
a
),
s
,
pv’
Etymology.
This species is named in honour of Prof. Roy Norton from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, New York,
USA
, for his insightful comments and guidance in various previous papers of mine.
Differential diagnosis and remarks.
The combination of the form of the sensillus (clavate head with dark patch), the smooth phylliform notogastral setae, the barbed lamellar seta and the particular ornamentation makes
A. nortoni
unique.
The most apparent characteristic of this species is the clavate, barbed sensillus with a darker patch in the middle of the head. Other species with a similar form of sensillus include
A. falcatus
Hammer, 1973
,
A. bacilliger
Mahunka, 1978
,
A. spathulatus
Mahunka, 1978
,
A. boninensis
(
Aoki, 1978
)
,
A. vaucheri
Mahunka, 1984
,
A. latissimus
Mahunka, 2000
,
A. obscurus
Aoki, 2006
and
A. patakii
Mahunka & Mahunka-Papp, 2009
. However, none of these species have a darker patch in the middle of the sensillar head. Another clear characteristic of
A. nortoni
is the smooth phylliform notogastral setae which end in very sharp, slightly bent tips. Other species with smooth phylliform notogastral setae are
A. sphaerula
Balogh, 1970
,
A. haradai
(
Aoki, 1978
)
,
A. sinuosociliatus
Mahunka, 1983
,
A. flabellifer
Mahunka, 1986
,
A. tarandus
Mahunka, 1986
,
A. ocellatus
Mahunka, 1987
,
A. picturatus
Mahunka, 1987
,
A. polytrichus
Balogh & Mahunka, 1978
,
A. rimosus
Mahunka, 1987
,
A. bellicosus
Balogh, 1988
,
A. mixtus
Mahunka, 1996
,
A. bituberculatus
Aoki, 2006
,
A. obscurus
Aoki, 2006
,
A. falcatus
,
A. boninensis
,
A. latissimus
and
A. luciensis
. The notogastral setae of
A. haradai
are the most similar to
A. nortoni
, also ending in very sharp, slightly bent tips.
Austrocarabodes nortoni
has barbed lamellar seta (
le
) while all the other dorsal setae are smooth. Other species with this characteristic are
A. polytrichus
and
A. latissimus
. The particular ornamentation on the notogaster of
A. nortoni
(foveolate, regions around setal alveoli without ornamentation) is very similar to that of
A. bellicosus
.
FIGURE 1.
Austrocarabodes nortoni
sp. nov.
holotype male, A. Dorsal view (100 μm). Magnifications of sensillus (
ss
), lamellar seta (
le
), notogastral seta
da
(50 μm); B: ventral view (100 μm).
FIGURE 2.
Austrocarabodes nortoni
sp. nov.
legs: A: Leg I, left, paraxial view; B: Leg II, left, paraxial view.
FIGURE 3.
Austrocarabodes nortoni
sp. nov.
legs: A: Leg III, left, paraxial view; B: Leg IV, left, antiaxial view.
Type
material.
The
holotype
(3303.14.1) and 10
paratypes
(3303.14.2) were sampled at Kogel Bay in the Western Cape (
34º02’S
,
18º43’E
) in humid soil and decomposed plant debris near the beach by C. M. Engelbrecht,
4.v.1983
. The
holotype
and
paratypes
are deposited in the Acarology collection of the National Museum, Bloemfontein,
South Africa
.
Collection data.
Known distribution of
A. nortoni
is indicated by filled squares on the map of
South Africa
,
Fig. 4
. Abbreviations for provinces: KZN = KwaZulu-Natal; EC = Eastern Cape; WC = Western Cape.
Glentana WC (
34º01’S
,
22º18’E
, humid soil in indigenous forest); Kogel Bay WC (
34º02’S
,
18º43’E
, humid soil and decomposed plant debris near beach); Umtata River mouth EC (
31º56’S
,
29º11’E
; humid soil with organic material); Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve KZN (
30º07’S
,
30º23’E
; soil and decomposed plant debris); Hluleka Nature Reserve Transkei EC (
31º49’S
,
29º15’E
, soil from under driftwood in the supralittoral region of a sandy bay).