Axonopsis latipalpis, Smit, Harry & Pešić, Vladimir, 2014

Smit, Harry & Pešić, Vladimir, 2014, Water mites from Mount Kinabalu and the Crocker Range, Borneo, Malaysia (Acari: Hydrachnidia), with the description of 34 new species, Zootaxa 3876 (1), pp. 1-71 : 53-54

Axonopsis latipalpis n. sp.

( Figs. 33A–C )

Type series. Holotype male, Unnamed creek Bansadon Trial, Inobong, Crocker Range, Borneo, Malaysia, 5º 51.456 N 116º 0 8.403 E, alt. 436 m asl, 18-ix-2012 ( RMNH).

Diagnosis. Idiosoma shape, P-3 without ventral extension, P4 with longitudinal lineation, expanded ventrally to form an obtuse angle near the insertion of two setae in distal third (one strong, the other thin).

Description. Male: Colour yellowish, in posterior idiosoma reddish, idiosoma 340 long and 263 wide. Dorsal shield broadly fused anteriorly with ventral shield, 236 wide, with six pairs of glandularia, sixth pair not visible in dorsal view, flanking excretory pore which is fused with dorsal shield. Gnathosomal bay V- shaped, posteriorly pointed. First coxae not extending to anterior idiosoma margin. Lateral margin of coxae denticulate, but not hooked. The ridge extending from near the fourth leg sockets to the lateral idiosoma margin extending posteriorly. Between fourth leg sockets and genital field one pair of small glandularia and one pair of larger glandularia. Genital field with three pairs of acetabula. Length/height of P1–P5: 24/11, 32/28, 22/18, 50/25, 22/7; P4 with longitudinal lineation, expanded ventrally to forming an obtuse angle near the insertion of two setae in distal third (one strong, the other thin). Length of I-leg-4–6: 38, 50, 44. Length of IV-leg-4–6: 56, 70, 62. Fourth legs not modified. All legs with the same lineated pattern as P4. Number of swimming setae: II-leg-5, 3; III-leg-4 and –5, 3; IV-leg-4 and -5, 2.

Female: Unknown.

Etymology. Named for the broad P4.

Remarks. The new species is assigned to the subgenus Brachypodopsis , but differs from the typical members of this subgenus in the broad fusion of the dorsal and ventral shield. Moreover, the heavy seta of the ventral margin of P4 is shifted anteriorly. The new species is therefore intermediate in characters between Axonopsis s. str. and Brachypodopsis . A P-4 similar in shape and lineation is found only in Axonopsis mikawaensis Imamura,1957 from Japan, a species differing in idiosoma shape (broader and truncated anteriorly) and presence of a ventral extension on P-3.

Distribution. Borneo; known from the locus typicus only.

Figures

FIGURES 33 A – C. Axonopsis latipalpis n. sp., holotype male. A = dorsal view; B = ventral view; C = palp. Scale bars = 50 Μm.