Geholaspis (Geholaspis) pennulatus, Babaeian, Esmaeil, Halliday, Bruce & Saboori, Alireza, 2015

Babaeian, Esmaeil, Halliday, Bruce & Saboori, Alireza, 2015, A new species of Geholaspis Berlese (Acari: Mesostigmata: Macrochelidae) from Northern Iran, Zootaxa 3925 (3), pp. 422-430 : 424-426

Geholaspis (Geholaspis) pennulatus sp. nov.

( Figs 1‒16 )

Diagnosis. Dorsal shield oval, with reticulate and micropunctate ornamentation. Dorsal setae z1 and j2 barbed, seta j5 displaced posteriorly and inserted at a level behind setae j6 and z6. Setae j5, j5, z5, z6, J2 and J5 smooth and needle-like. Sternal shield punctate-reticulate (some punctation linearly arranged), ventri-anal shield wide, bearing five pairs of smooth and needle-like pre-anal setae.

Material examined. Holotype, female, Kheyroodkenar forest. Nowshahr, Mazandaran province, E. Babaeian coll. Leaf-litter, 36˚35.265’ N, 051˚34.271’ E, alt. 532 m, 5 July 2014. Paratypes: seven females, two males, same data as holotype (in JAZM and ANIC).

Description. Female

Dorsal idiosoma ( Fig. 1 ). Dorsal shield oblong, length 957–978, width 649–667 (n=4), punctate-reticulate over whole surface and a complement of 28 pairs of setae (j1–j6, z1, z2, z4–z6, s2, s4–s6, r2–r4, J2, J5, Z1, Z2, Z4, Z5, S1, S2, S4, S5) and 22 pairs of pores (including 16 pairs of lyrifissures and six pairs of gland pores), seta j1 with separate base, plumose for its entire length, seta z1 long and barbed, setae j5, j6, z5, z6, J2 and J5 smooth and needle-like, remaining dorsal setae plumose in the distal 2/3. Seta j5 displaced behind setae j6 and z6. Measurements of setae: j1 37–45, j2 92–97, z1 104–110, z5 93, J5 87–99, Z5 83–87.

Ventral idiosoma ( Fig. 2 ). Tritosternum with columnar base 27–30 and two pilose laciniae 97–104. Sternal shield ( Fig. 11 ) ornamented with micropunctate sculpture and with distinct sculptural lines, 174–186 long, 196–205 wide at level of setae st2–st2, slightly wider than long (ratio of length/width ≈ 0.93), bearing pilose st1 (78–87), st2 (55–68), st3 (54–74) and two pairs of lyrifissures; st4 (48–50) smooth, and third pair of sternal lyrifissures iv3 on oval and free metasternal plates. Epigynal shield (210‒223 long, 260–307 wide at level of epigynal setae) as defined in genus, surface of the shield with lines bordered by fine punctation ( Fig. 12 ); st5 52–58 long and smooth. Ventri-anal shield ( Fig. 13 ) ornate with lines and fine punctation, large and greatly widened (411–428 long, and 501‒517 wide at greatest point, ratio of length/width ≈ 0.84); with five pairs of smooth preanal setae (Jv1 67–85; Jv2 102–114; Jv3 94–99; Zv1 106–119; Zv2 70–77), a pair of para-anal setae (33–37) and a post-anal seta (12–14). Cribrum well developed, anterolateral extensions of cribrum reaching bases of para-anal setae. Metapodal platelets small. Peritrematal shields ( Fig. 6 ) with three pairs of gland pores gp and two pairs of lyrifissures ip, peritremes long and extending anteriorly and laterally and reaching to level of insertions of z1 and with three pairs of lyrifissures.

Gnathosoma ( Figs 3–5 , 14 ). Epistome with triangular and sharply denticulate base, and a bifid median process ( Fig. 4 ); subcapitulum typical for genus ( Fig. 3 ). Hypostomatal (h1, h2, h3) and capitular setae simple and smooth, 70–74, 21–25, 50 and 20–22 long, respectively. Deutosternal groove with five wide transverse rows of fine denticles. Internal malae slender, pointed and densely pubescent, labrum prominent, blade-like and pilose on surface. Corniculi slender and horn-like, 88–94 long, salivary styli conspicuous and flanked by corniculi. Chelicerae robust, with tridentate movable digit (100–104 long), a blunt proximal tooth, a larger backwardlydirected subdistal tooth, and a large tooth adjacent to minute distal hook; middle segment 245–270 long, fixed digit (101–106 long) with four teeth, external face with two adjoining teeth and a minute distal one, a terminal hook and smooth dorsal seta ( Figs 5 , 14 ). Arthrodial brushes pilose. Chaetotaxy of palp trochanter, femur and genu 2–5–6. Palp apotele with three subequal teeth.

Legs. Tarsus I without ambulacrum and claw; tarsi II–IV with well developed ambulacra and claws. Length of legs (except ambulacrum): leg I, 582‒594, leg II, 630–686, leg III, 515‒599, leg IV, 866‒903; tarsus II as in Fig. 7 . Chaetotaxy: Leg I: coxa 0 0/1 0/1 0, trochanter 1 0/1 0/2 1, femur 2 3/1 2/3 2, genu 2 3/1 2/1 1, tibia 2 3/2 2/1 2. Leg II: coxa 0 0/1 0/1 0, trochanter 1 0/1 0/2 1, femur 2 3/1 2/2 2, genu 2 3/1 2/1 2, tibia 2 2/1 2/1 2. Leg III: coxa 0 0/1 0/1 0, trochanter 1 1/1 0/1 1, femur 1 2/1 1/0 1, genu 1 2/1 2/0 1, tibia 1 1/1 2/1 1. Leg IV: coxa 0 0/0 0/1 0, trochanter 1 1/2 0/1 0, femur 1 2/1 1/0 1, genu 1 2/1 2/0 0, tibia 1 1/1 2/1 1. Tarsi II–IV with 18 setae: 3 3/2 3/2 3 + mv, md. All leg setae pilose, except for some smooth setae on tibia I (ad, pd, al and pl) and tibia II (al and av). All tarsal setae smooth.

Male. Dorsal idiosoma ( Fig. 8 ). Dorsal shield oblong, length 834‒850, width 611‒638 (n=2), similar in ornamentation and setation to female.

Ventral idiosoma ( Figs 9 , 16 ). Holoventral shield punctate-reticulate throughout, widened posteriorly. Ventral adenotaxy and poroidotaxy as in female.

Gnathosoma . As in female, except chelicera ( Figs 10 , 15 ) with movable digit length 79–84, bidentate, with a blunt proximal tooth and a larger backwardly directed subdistal one. Middle segment length 214–220, fixed digit length 81–85, with five teeth and ending a terminal hook, external face with two teeth, dorsal seta smooth. Spermatodactyl short. Arthrodial brushes pilose.

Legs. Length of legs (except ambulacrum): leg I, 511‒527, leg II, 553–577, leg III, 515‒522, leg IV, 763‒794.

Etymology. The name " pennulatus " refers to the feather-like appearance of dorsal shield setae j1 and z1.

Notes. Geholaspis (G.) pennulatus sp. nov. differs from most other species in the subgenus in the position of dorsal shield seta j5, which is strongly displaced posteriorly to a position behind seta j6. Only G. (G.) pauperior shares this character state. In the other species, seta j5 is at a level between setae z5 and j6. In G. (G.) pennulatus sp. nov. the dorso-central setae on the dorsal shield (z5, j5, j6, z6, J2 and J5) and the pre-anal setae on the ventrianal shield are needle-like, while in G. (G.) pauperior these setae are flattened and blade-like.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 7. Geholaspis (Geholaspis) pennulatus sp. nov., female: 1. Dorsal shield; 2. Ventral idiosoma; 3. Hypostome; 4. Epistome; 5. Chelicera; 6. Peritrematal shield; 7. Tarsus II, right side ..

FIGURES 8 – 10. Geholaspis (Geholaspis) pennulatus sp. nov., male: 8. Dorsal shield; 9. Ventral idiosoma; 10. Chelicera.

FIGURES 11 – 16. Geholaspis (Geholaspis) pennulatus sp. nov., 11. Female, sternal shield; 12. Female, epigynal shield; 13. Female, ventri-anal shield; 14. female, chelicera; 15. Male, chelicera; 16. Male, ventral idiosoma.