Myrmozercon diplogenius ( Berlese, 1903 )

Joharchi, Omid, Babaeian, Esmaeil & Seeman, Owen D., 2015, Review of the genus Myrmozercon Berlese (Acari: Laelapidae), with description of a new species from Iran, Zootaxa 3955 (4), pp. 549-560 : 558

Myrmozercon diplogenius ( Berlese, 1903)

Myrmonyssus diplogenius Berlese, 1903: 16 .

Myrmonyssus diplogenius . — Berlese, 1904: 438.

Diagnosis. Body length 650; dorsal shield truncate posteriorly, bearing approximately 37 pairs of dorsal setae. Sternal shield subrectangular, not eroded, yet bearing setae st2 only; setae st1 and st 3 in soft cuticle; setae st4 present. Anus terminal, anal shield small, bearing post-anal seta only. Peritreme not extending further than anterior margin of coxa III. Legs moderately short, legs I about two thirds length of body; legs I subequal in length with legs IV, both longer than legs II–III. Chelicerae with fixed digit slender, about two thirds length of movable digit. Host: Camponotus aethiops (Latreille) .

Remarks. Berlese (1903) illustrated the dorsum and venter of M. diplogenius and later ( Berlese, 1904) illustrated the palp, epistome, anus and chelicera of this species. The sternal shield, bearing only setae st2, is unusual and unique in Myrmozercon and requires confirmation.