Neoaulonastus quelea, Skoracki, Maciej, Hromada, Martin & Unsoeld, Markus, 2013

Skoracki, Maciej, Hromada, Martin & Unsoeld, Markus, 2013, Three new quill mite species of the genus Neoaulonastus Skoracki (Acari: Syringophilidae) parasitizing passerines in Tanzania, Zootaxa 3616 (4), pp. 367-377 : 372

Neoaulonastus quelea sp. nov.

( Figs. 4 and 5 )

Description. FEMALE (holotype). Gnathosoma . Infracapitulum punctate. Each medial branch of peritremes with 2 chambers, each lateral branch with 4 chambers. Stylophore 115 long. Idiosoma . Propodonotal shield weakly sclerotized on anterior margin, punctate, bearing bases of setae ve, si and c1. Length ratio of setae ve: si 1:1. Setae se and c1 situated at same transverse level. Hysteronotal shield absent. Setae c1 and se subequal in length. Setae c1 about 4 times longer than setae d2 and 9 times longer than setae d1. Length ratio of setae d1: d2 1:2.3. Pygidial shield very weakly sclerotized, margins invisible, sparsely punctate. Length ratio of setae f1: f2 1:3. Length ratio of aggenital setae ag1: ag2: ag3 1:1.2:1.5. Genital setae g1 and g2 subequal in length. Genital plate absent. Coxal fields I and II punctate. Setae 3c 1.7 times longer than 3b. Legs. Fan-like setae p’ and p” of legs III and IV with 5 tines. Setae tc” of legs III–IV 1.3 times longer than tc” III–IV. Lengths of setae: ve 15, si 15, se 115, c1 135, c2 105, d1 15, d2 35, e2 55, f1 20, f2 60, h1 20, ps2 15, g1 and g2 20, ag1 70, ag2 90, ag3 105, tc’ III–IV 30, tc” III–IV 40, 3 b 15, 3c 25.

MALE (1 paratype). Total body length 315. Gnathosoma . Infracapitulum punctate. Each medial branch of peritremes with 1 chambers, each lateral branch with 5 chambers. Length of stylophore 90. Idiosoma . Propodonotal shield weakly sclerotized, bearing bases of setae ve, si and c1, punctate. Length ratio of setae ve: si 1:1. Setae se situated anterior to level of setae c1. Hysteronotal and pygidial shields absent. Length ratio of setae f2: h2 1:2. Length ratio of aggenital setae ag1: ag2 1.3:1. Setae g1 situated anterior to level of setae g2. Legs. Fan-like setae p’ and p” of legs III and IV with 4 tines. Lengths of setae: ve 10, si 10, se 15, c1 20, c2 15, d1 10, d2 10, e2 10, f2 15, h2 30, ag1 20, ag2 15.

Type material. Female holotype and paratypes: 2 males, 2 tritonymphs, 3 protonymphs from quills of body feathers of Quelea quelea Linnaeus ( Passeriformes : Ploceidae ); TANZANIA, Arusha, Usa-River, coll. Dr. V. Nagy. Host specimen is deposited in the ZSM [Reg. number absent]. Mites removed by M. Skoracki.

Type material deposition. All material is deposited in the AMU (Reg. No. AMU-SYR.386).

Etymology. The name of this new species refers to the latin name of the host.

Differential diagnosis. This species is morphologically similar to above described species. In females of both species, the hysteronotal shield is absent; the propodonotal and the pygidial shields are present; setae f2 are distinctly longer than f1. This new species differs from N. tanzanicus by the features as follows. In females of N. quelea , the lateral branch of the peritremes has 4 chambers; setae c1 are 4 times longer than d2, and the length of d2 is 35; setae f2 are 3 times longer than f1; the length ratio of setae d1: d2 is 1:2.3. In females of N. tanzanicus , the lateral branch of the peritremes has 5–6 chambers; setae c1 are twice as long as d2, and the length of d2 is 70–80; setae f2 are 4–5 times longer than f1; the length ratio of setae d1: d2 is 1:2.6–3.5.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Neoaulonastus quelea sp. nov., female. A and B, dorsal view; C and D, ventral view; E, peritremes; F, fan-like seta p’ III. Scale bars: A – D = 50 µm; E, F = 20 µm.

FIGURE 5. Neoaulonastus quelea sp. nov., male. A, dorsal view; B, ventral view; C, fan-like seta p’ III; D, peritremes. Scale bars: A, B = 50 µm; C, D = 20 µm.