Atractides (s. str.) panniculatus K. Viets, 1925

Gerecke, Reinhard, 2021, The water mites of the family Hygrobatidae (Acari, Hydrachnidia) in Italy, Zootaxa 5009 (1), pp. 1-85 : 34-35

Atractides (s. str.) panniculatus K. Viets, 1925

(Figs 30 L-N; 32 D)

Material examined. Calabria: I 433, 1/0/0 slide. Trentino-Alto Adige: I sa 110, 3/4/0 slide.

Previously published records from Italy: Trentino-Alto Adige ( Crema et al. 1996, Gerecke et al. 2009). Records from Sicily (“ Atractides sp. prp. panniculatus ” Gerecke 1991, Ferrito 1994) do not refer to A. panniculatus , but to various different species – the material in question is revised in the present paper.

Remarks: With regard to several measurements, the specimen from Calabria is at the lower level of the range established for Central European populations. The distoventral margin of P-2 is more protruding than in typical Central European specimens, but not as distinct as in A. fissus . The arrangement of the Ac in a close triangle, with Ac-1 nearly touching Ac-3 is observed in both species. Features in the specimen from Calabria found typical for A. panniculatus , in contrast to A. fissus , are major coxal field measurements L 380, in A. fissus <350), relatively small Ac (diameter <60, in A. fissus > 60), and a relatively stout I-I-5 (dL/HB 3.2, in A. fissus > 3.7).

Habitat: Crenobiont. The Calabrian record from a spring in beech forest at high elevation, 1750 m. Distribution: Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor.