Cheletomimus (Philippicheyla) crowei, Bochkov & Otto, 2010

Bochkov, Andre V. & Otto, Jurgen C., 2010, Five new species of predaceous cheyletid mites (Acari: Prostigmata: Cheyletidae), Zootaxa 2727, pp. 1-20 : 9

Cheletomimus (Philippicheyla) crowei sp. nov.

( Figs. 6, 7)

Description. FEMALE (holotype). Body including gnathosoma, 525 long (475, 485 in 2 paratypes), 285 wide (275, 300). Gnathosoma 175 long (160, 170), 150 wide (135, 145). Palpal femur 75 long (60, 70), 70 wide (60, 65). Seta d of palpal femur smooth, filiform, 50 long (55, 60). Setae v’, v” of palpal femur, and l”G (situated on palpal femur) smooth filiform. All setae of palpal tibia smooth, filiform. Eupathidium acm with 20–22 tines, eupathidium sul with 18–19 tines. Rostrum with pair of distinct lateral teeth. Palpal claws with 8 teeth. Peritremes with 7 pairs of segments. Setae ao1 shorter than ao2. Idiosoma. Propodonotal shield 125 long (110, 135), 155 wide (135, 150), distinctly punctuated, bearing 5 pairs of serrate and slightly thickened setae (vi, ve, si, c1, and c3), 20–25 long; setae se similar with other propodonotal setae, situated off propodonotal shield; setae c2 smooth filiform, about 80 long. Hysteronotum bearing 8 pairs of setae, of which 7 pairs, d1, d2, e1, e2, f1, f2, and h2 similar to propodonotal setae and one pair, h1, slightly shorter than these. Bases of setae d1 and d2 as well as e1 and e2 situated almost at same level; bases of setae f2 situated distinctly anterior to bases of f1, and bases of setae h2 situated distinctly anterior to h1. Three pairs of pseudoanal setae present, filiform, ps1 about 2/3 of length of ps2 and ps3. Legs. All setae of tarsi I–IV present, setae vs smooth filiform on tarsi I and II and serrate basally on tarsi III and IV, solenidion ω 1 I about 25 long, solenidion ω 1 II about 15 long, situated laterally; tibiae I–IV with 4 smooth filiform setae (d, l’, l”, v’) each; genua I–IV with 2 setae each (d and l’), setae d of genua III and IV slightly serrate filiform, other genual setae smooth; femora I and II with 2 setae (d and v), femora III and IV with 1 seta (d) each, femoral setae d serrate filiform, v smooth; coxal setae 3b serrate filiform, other coxal setae smooth.

MALE. Unknown.

Type material. Female holotype and 1 female paratype ( ANIC # 42–000002 ), Australian border interception ( V127799 ) from avocado imported from New Zealand, 12 October 2006, coll. M. Mazumder ; female paratype, Australian border interception (N129560) from avocado imported from New Zealand, 8 March 2010, coll. T. Lynch.

Etymology. This species is named in honour of Bill Crowe for his role in establishing a “National Acarology Coordinator” position at the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service.

Remarks. The subgenus Philippicheyla was revised by Fain et al. (2002); it includes four species along with the new species described above. The new species is close to Cheletomimus filipina ( Corpuz-Raros, 1972) and C. notelaeae ( Gerson, 1994) . In all these three species, the median setae of the idiosoma are narrowly lanceolate or thickened filiform. The new species is clearly distinguished from C. filipina and C. notelaeae by smooth filiform setae dF of the palpal femur, smooth idiosomal humeral setae c2, the presence of pseudoanal setae ps3, setae se located off the propodonotal plate, bases of setae e1 located almost at the same level with bases of e2, and by the propodonotal shield in the shape of inverted trapezium. In the other two species, setae dF of the palpal femur and humeral setae c2 are narrow/widely lanceolate or thickened serrate, setae ps3 are absent, setae se are located on the propodonotal plate, the bases of setae e1 are located significantly posterior to level of e2 bases, and the propodonotal shield has the posterior margin distinctly longer than the anterior one.

Cheletomimus crowei sp. nov. differs from C. filipina also by the presence of a pair of the prominent lateral teeth on the rostrum and by the absence of solenidion on tibia II. In C. filipina , the rostrum is without lateral teeth and solenidion on tibia II is present. It differs from C. notelaeae by the presence of four setae on tibiae II–IV, two setae on genu IV, one seta on femur III, and by setae ao1 shorter than ao2. In C. notelaeae , tibiae II–IV are with three setae each, genu IV is with one seta, femur III bears two setae, and setae ao1 are distinctly longer than ao2.