Ameroseius sculptilis Berlese, 1916: 47

łoharchi, Omid, Döker, İsmail, Yalçın, Kemal & Kazak, Cengiz, 2022, New records of soil-inhabiting mesostigmatic mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) in Turkey, Acarological Studies 4 (2), pp. 70-78 : 71

Ameroseius sculptilis Berlese, 1916: 47 .

Ameroseius sculptilis — Khalili-Moghadam and Saboori, 2021: 412 .

Ameroseius (Ameroseius) sculptilis — Hajizadeh et al., 2013: 150.

More information about the synonyms of this species are available in Mašán (2017: 51).

Specimens examined. Three females; Gölbaşı, Adıyaman, Turkey; 29 May 2014; coll. I. Döker and C. Kazak; unknown plant belongs to family Asteraceae . One female; Kuluşağı, Malatya, Turkey; 30 May 2014; coll. I. Döker and C. Kazak; Anchusa sp. ( Boraginaceae ).

Remarks. Ameroseius sculptilis was described from Italy ( Berlese, 1916) where it was found in moss. The description of this species is brief and both the description and illustrations lack many important details. Bregetova (1977) considered that Ameroseius pulcher Westerboer (in Westerboer and Bernhard, 1963) is a junior synonym of A. sculptilis . However, Bregetova (1977) did not provide any explanation for this decision, nor did she provide the details of the examined specimens. Ameroseius pulcher was described from Germany ( Westerboer and Bernhard, 1963) where it was found in rotting grass. Recently, Mašán (2017) has confirmed this synonymy by examination of type series of both species, we here follow Mašán (2017). Ameroseius sculptilis has also been recorded from Bulgaria, Iran, Japan, Norway, Russia, Slovakia ( Khalili-Moghadam and Saboori, 2021) and it is now recorded in Turkey for the first time, from soil-litter. Morphological characters of our specimens agree very well with the supplementary information presented by Mašán (2017) for this species. Ameroseius sculptilis is easily recognized by the dorsal shield strongly reticulated, between j6 and J2 with subtriangular sculptural pattern ( Fig. 2A ), and with 29 pairs of mostly serrated setae, seta j1 thickened ( Fig. 2C ), most j–J setae not reaching the base of the subsequent seta in the series ( Fig. 2A ), sternal shield almost smooth (or faintly reticulated), except some irregular longitudinal lines laterally ( Figs 2B, 2D ), bearing two pairs of smooth setae, setae st3 located on two small plates adjacent to posterior margin of sternal shield and st4 on soft cuticle near hyaline flap of genital shield ( Figs 2B, 2D ); genital shield reticulate, with nearly parallel margins ( Figs 2B, 2D ), anal shield subpentagonal, coarsely reticulate on surface, bearing only three circum-anal setae ( Figs 2B, 2E ); six pairs of opisthogastric setae present ( Fig. 2B ), metapodal platelets enlarged and rounded ( Fig. 2B ); fixed cheliceral digit with an apical tooth and three robust teeth and movable digit with one small subapical tooth ( Fig. 2F ).

Figures

Figure 2. DIC micrographs of Ameroseius sculptilis Berlese, 1916, adult female: A. Idiosoma in dorsal view; B. Idiosoma in ventral view; C. Vertical setae j1 enlarged; D. Sternal and genital shields; E. Anal shield; F. Chelicera.