Oxus (Oxus) orientalis Walter, 1915

Smit, Harry, 2004, Water mites from Pacific Islands (Acari: Hydrachnidia), Zootaxa 588, pp. 1-20 : 3-4

Oxus (Oxus) orientalis Walter, 1915

( Fig. 1 )

Walter, 1915: 99; Cook 1986:47; Smit 1992: 95; Harvey 1998: 137; Smit 2002: 175.

Description

Male: body 559–672 long. Excretory pore lying free in the integument, but some sort of incomplete sclerite visible ( Fig. 1 ). Lengths of PI–PV: 38, 44, 40, 57, 20. Lengths of Ileg­4­6: 78, 124, 114. Lengths of IV­leg­5­6: 200, 194; seta at tip of IV­leg­6 80 long.

Female: body 753–1045 long. Lengths of PI–PV: 48, 54, 47, 64, 25. Lengths of I­leg­ 4­6: 102, 142, 118. IV­leg­6 206 long, seta at tip of this segment 62 long. Excretory pore as in male.

Remarks

The leg segments of this species vary considerably, specimens with the shortest segments are found in Vanuatu, the longest in Australia and those of New Caledonia are of intermediate length. The excretory pore of specimens from New Caledonia and Australia lack an incomplete sclerite. The specimens from Vanuatu agree well in all other aspects, and are therefore assigned to O. orientalis . The species has only been found in the aforementioned countries.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Oxus orientalis, Walter. Genital field, male. Scale line = 50 µm.