Aegyptobia juniperi, Çobanoğlu, Sultan, Ueckermann, Edward Albert & Sağlam, Hayriye Didem, 2016

Çobanoğlu, Sultan, Ueckermann, Edward Albert & Sağlam, Hayriye Didem, 2016, The Tenuipalpidae of Turkey, with a key to species (Acari: Trombidiformes), Zootaxa 4097 (2), pp. 151-186 : 153-156

Aegyptobia juniperi sp. nov. Ueckermann, Çobanoğlu & Sağlam

( Figs 1–23 )

Diagnosis. Adult female, nymphs: opisthosoma with 13 pairs of coarsely barbed, lanceolate setae slightly expanding distally (f2 present); prodorsum striate-reticulate, ornamentation can be vague centrally, dorsal opisthosoma striate-reticulate; anterior margin of prodorsal shield with short notched rounded projection medially; venter with transverse striae between 1a to 3a and posterior to 4a, cuticle between setae 3a -4a smooth; ventral plate weakly developed, smooth; setae ps3 shortest and ps1 longest; seta l' present on femur I – II; seta d present on femur III; seta l ′ present on genu I – III; seta tc'' present on tarsi I – IV; femur I – III d, genu I – II d slender and serrate; trochanter III l ′ serrate, femur II l’ short and smooth; palp 0, 1, 0, 2, 2(1); setae ps1 – 3, g1 – 2, ag slightly serrate. Tarsal claws uncinate. Adult female: spermatheca short, terminating in a small oblong vesicle. Deutonymph: l", d present on genu I – III; l' absent on femora I–II.

Description. Female— Dimensions. Length of body excluding gnathosoma (between v2 and h1) 224 (212– 232); width 105 (97–107), length of gnathosoma 68 (65–73). Leg lengths: I 84 (83–88); II 81 (75–82); III 72 (65– 72); IV 74 (66–76). Setal lengths: v2 21 (18–22); sc1 20 (17–23); sc2 21 (18–23); c1 22 (20–22); c2 21 (15–21); c3 17 (16–19); d1 13 (13–18); d2 17 (13–17); d3 18 (14–20); e1 15 (13–17); e2 18 (13–20); e3 15 (15–21); f2 16 (15– 19); f3 18 (15–21); h1 18 (17–21); h2 19 (19–23).

Dorsum ( Figs 1, 2 ). Anterior margin of prodorsum with short notched rounded projection medially. Dorsum mainly striated, prodorsum with smooth patch dorsocentrally; opisthosoma rugose medially, with diagonal striations laterally; dorsal body setae lanceolate and serrate, subequal in length. Band of transverse striae between prodorsum and opisthosoma.

Venter ( Figs 3, 4). Venter with transverse striae between setae 1a–3a and posterior to setae 4a; cuticle between setae 3a–4a smooth; pregenital and genital region smooth with longitudinal striae laterally; anal shields striate. Pregenital area with weakly developed ventral plate. Both setae 3a and 4a long and whip like. One pair of aggenital and two pairs of genital setae, slightly serrate and subequal in length. Genital setae transversely aligned along posterior margin of genital shield. Three pairs of serrate anal setae with ps3 shortest and ps1 longest. Spermatheca a slender tube terminating into oblong vesicle ( Fig. 4).

Gnathosoma ( Fig. 5 ). Infracapitulum nearly reaching anterior margin of tibia I. Palp five-segmented. Tarsus with two eupathidia (ul’ and ul”) and solenidion (ω), tibia with two setae (d, l”), genu and trochanter without setae and femur with one seta (d).

Legs ( Figs 6–8 ). Counts of setae and solenidia (included in counts) on podomeres of legs I–IV: coxae 2-2-1-1, trochanters 1-1-2-1, femora 4-4-2-1, genua 3-3-1-0, tibiae 4-4-3-3, tarsi 9(ω)-9(ω)-5-5. Leg chaetotaxy as follows: coxa I 1 b, 1c; cx II 2 b, 2c; cx III 3 b; cx IV 4 b; trochanters I, II, IV v’; tr III l’, v ’; femora I–II d, v’, bv”, l’; fe III d, ev ’; fe IV ev ’; genua I–II l’, d, l”; ge III l’; ge IV nude; tibiae I–II d, l’, v’, v”; ti III–IV d, v’, v”; tarsus I–II u’, u”, p’, p”, tc’, tc”, ft’, ft”, ω; ta III–IV u’, u”, tc’, tc”, ft’. Dorsal setae on femora and genua I–II slender and serrate. Tarsal claws uncinate, empodium pad-like.

Male. Unknown.

Deutonymph ( Figs 9–13 ). Dimensions. Length of body excluding gnathosoma 182–218; width 81–92, length of gnathosoma 51–59. Legs: I 64 –76; II 59 –64; III 50 –60; IV 54 –62. Setae: v 2 17–21; sc 1 17–22; sc 2 16–19; c 1 14–16; c 2 13–15; c 3 13–17; d 1 10–12; d 2 13–15; d 3 14–17; e 1 10 –13; e 2 11 –14; e 3 11 –17; f 2 12–15; f 3 10–18; h 1 11–13; h 2 14–20. Prodorsum with weak longitudinal striae; dorsal opisthosoma with broadly separated transverse lines, and weakly developed pygidial shield capturing setae e1, f1–2 and h1–2, with few longitudinal striae. Anterior margin of prodorsum smoothly rounded, without notched projection. Setae similar to that of female. Venter completely striate with setae 1a, 3a, 4a, ag, g1, ps1–3. Gnathosoma similar to that of female. Legs as in female except, femora I–II with three setae (d, v’, bv” present; l’ absent in all specimens (usually appears in deutonymph, but here it is delayed to adults) and trochanter IV nude (v ’ absent); coxal setae 2c and 4b added ( Figs 11, 13 ).

Protonymph ( Figs 14–18 ). Dimensions. Length of body excluding gnathosoma 168–176; width 74–79, length of gnathosoma 44–45. Legs: I 60 –61; II 54 –58; III 54 –55; IV 51 –52. Setae: v 2 17–18; sc 1 13–17; sc 2 11–13; c 1 11–15; c 2 10–13; c 3 12–13; d 1 10–11; d 2 11–13; d 3 10–13; e 1 9 –10; e 2 11 –12; e 3 12 –15; f 2 11–12; f 3 10–17; h1 9; h 2 11–13. Dorsum similar to that of deutonymph except pygidial shield not formed. Venter similar to deutonymph except with weaker striae; setae 1a, 3a, ag, ps1–3 present, setae 4a absent. Leg chaetotaxy as in female and deutonymph, except: trochanter I–II nude (v’ absent), trochanter III with only l’ present (v’ absent); genua I–III with only l’ present (d, l” absent); tarsus IV with ft’, u’, u” present (tc’, tc” absent); coxal setae 1c added. Gnathosoma similar to that of female ( Figs 16, 18 ).

Larva ( Figs 19–22 ). Dimensions. Length of body excluding gnathosoma 139; width 71, length of gnathosoma 24. Legs: I 53; II 49; III 49; IV absent. Setae: ve 13; sci 10; sce 14; c1 12; c2 10; c3 12; d1 10; d2 11; d3 10; e1 11; e2 13; e3 18; f2 13; f3 22; h1 13; h2 22. Dorsum similar to that of deutonymph and protonymph. Ventral cuticle with similar pattern to deutonymph; with setae 1a, 3a, ps1–3. Leg chaetotaxy of legs I–III: trochanters I–III nude; fe I–III, ge I–III, ti I–III as in protonymph; tarsi I–III as in protonymph except setae tc’ and tc” absent; only coxal setae 1b present ( Figs 21–22 ).

Remarks. Seta l’ on femora I–II usually first appears in the deutonymph ( Seeman & Beard 2011; Beard et al. 2014) but in this species it is delayed to the adult which is unique for the genus. However, this seta is also sometimes absent, such as in Aegyptobia tragardhi , A. nummulus Chaudhri, 1972 and A. pomaderrisae Collyer, 1969 ( Seeman & Beard 2011; Khanjani et al. 2012a).

We compared our new species with all the species listed in Mesa et al. (2009) with special attention to those collected from Cupressaceae . It resembles A. iranensis Khanjani et al., 2008 in most respects. However, a close examination revealed that it differs from the latter in the ornamentation of the dorsal shields and form of the dorsal setae. The ornamentation of the prodorsal shield in A. juniperi has many broken lines, including some in the medial portion of the shield, whereas in A. iranensis these lines are complete and do not extend into the medial portion of the prodorsal shield; similarly, the opisthosomal shield is irregularly rugose in A. juniperi , but in A. iranensis this shield is reticulate. Also, the dorsal setae of A. iranensis are slender and finely serrated, opposed to coarsely serrated and slightly expanded distally in A. juniperi (personal communication with Prof M. Khanjani). Furthermore, the rostrum of the new species reaches to the base of tarsus I compared with to tibia I in A.iranensis ( Khanjani et al. 2008) ; and setae ft’ on tarsus I and d on tibia I of A. iranensis are depicted as serrated but in A. juniperi they are smooth.

This species also closely resembles A. cupressus . However, it differs to material borrowed from the Smithsonian (USNM), Beltsville, Washington D.C., USA in that the opisthosoma of A. juniperi is irregularly rugose, as opposed to striate in A. cupressus ; the shape of the spermatheca is a long slender tube terminating in an oblong vesicle in the new species, instead of a short tube terminating in a round bulb ( Fig. 23 ) as found in A. cupressus ; and A. cupressus has a swirl pattern on the cuticle between setae c1 and c2 that is absent in A. juniperi ( Baker & Tuttle 1972) .

Distribution. Ankara, Turkey.

Type material. Turkey—Holotype female, 7 paratype females, 1 paratype deutonymph, 1 paratype protonymph and 1 paratype larva, from Juniperus horizontalis (Moench) (Cupressaceae) , Subayevleri/Ankara, 13 July 2006; 1 paratype deutonymph, 2 paratype protonymphs and one paratype larva from Thuja orientalis L. ( Cupressaceae ), Nasuh Akar Parkı/Ankara 23 June 2006; 2 paratype females and 3 paratype deutonymphs from T. orientalis, Subayevleri /Ankara, 14 July 2006; 6 paratype females from J. horizontalis, Kalecik /Ankara, 0 3 August 2006; 6 paratype females and 1 paratype protonymph from Juniperus virginiana L. cv skyrocket ( Cupressaceae ), Elvankent/Ankara, 29 August 2006; 2 paratype females from J. horizontalis, Elvankent /Ankara, 29 August 2006; 2 paratype females, 2 paratype deutonymphs and one paratype protonymph from Juniperus media Van Melle ( Cupressaceae ), Elvankent/Ankara, 29 August 2006; 14 paratype females from Thuja horizontalis, Elvankent /Ankara, 29 August 2006; 4 paratype females from J. horizontalis, Eryaman /Ankara, 31 August 2006; 4 paratype females from J. horizontalis, Kurtuluş /Ankara, 0 8 September 2006; 2 paratype females from J. horizontalis, Abdi İpekçi Parkı /Ankara, 0 8 September 2006.

Type deposition. Holotype female and paratype females, deutonymphs, protonymphs and larvae are kept at University of Ankara, Plant Protection Department, except for 2 paratype females and 3 deutonymphs (Slide numbers: 195/2, 195/3, 195/4, 363/6 and 225/1) deposited at the ARC-Plant Protection Research Institute, Queenswood, Pretoria, South Africa.

Etymology. The species is named for one of its host genera Juniperus .

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2. Aegyptobia juniperi sp. nov. Female. 1. Dorsal view. 2. Dorsal seta c 1.

FIGURES 5 – 8. Aegyptobia juniperi sp. nov. Female. 5. Palp. 6. Leg I, left. 7. Leg III, right. 8. Leg IV, right.

FIGURES 9 – 10. Aegyptobia juniperi sp. nov. Deutonymph. 9. Dorsal view. 10. Ventral view.

FIGURES 11 – 13. Aegyptobia juniperi sp. nov. Deutonymph. 11 Leg I, left. 12. Leg III, left. 13. Leg IV, left.

FIGURES 14 – 15. Aegyptobia juniperi sp. nov. Protonymph. 14. Dorsal view. 15. Ventral view.

FIGURES 16 – 18. Aegyptobia juniperi sp. nov. Protonymph. 16. Leg I, left. 17. Leg III, right. 18. Leg IV, right.

FIGURES 19 – 20. Aegyptobia juniperi sp. nov. Larva. 19. Dorsal view. 20. Ventral view.

FIGURES 21 – 23. 21 – 22. Aegyptobia juniperi sp. nov. Larva. 21. Leg I, left. 22. Leg III, right. 23. Aegyptobia cupressus Baker & Tuttle. Female, spermatheca.