Leptus agrotis Southcott, 1993

Seeman, Owen D. & Palmer, Christopher M., 2011, Parasitism of Apteropanorpa tasmanica Carpenter (Mecoptera: Apteropanorpidae) by larval Leptus agrotis Southcott (Acari: Erythraeidae) and Willungella rufusanus sp. nov. (Acari: Microtrombidiidae), Zootaxa 2925, pp. 19-32 : 21-22

Leptus agrotis Southcott, 1993

Holotype larva (not examined): Australian Capital Territory, Mt Gingera, 14.xii.1954, I.F.B. Common, on antenna Agrotis infusa (Boisduval). In South Australian Museum.

Material examined

AUSTRALIA (Tasmania): 20 larvae, Mt Mawson, Mt Field National Park, 19 April 2002, C.M. Palmer, ex Apteropanorpa tasmanica ; 5 larvae, same data except Mt Roland, 7 May 2002. Two specimens deposited in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart ( TMAG); 23 specimens deposited in the Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia (QM).

Distribution

Australian Capital Territory (Mt Gingera), Tasmania (Mt Mawson, Mt Roland)

Hosts

Agrotis infusa ( Lepidoptera : Noctuiidae), Apteropanorpa tasmanica ( Mecoptera : Apteropanopidae).

Remarks

The Leptus removed from Apteropanorpa in Tasmania matched the type specimens of L. agrotis in most measurements ( Table 2 ). Setation was identical, and of 45 characters measured three fell outside of the range reported for the type specimens ( Table 2 ). Two characters, the ratios AW/ISD and TiIII/TiI, were 0.01 outside of the range. The greatest difference was the distance between the base of the anterior sensillum and the anterior margin of the prodorsal scutum (ASBa). In L. agrotis from Apteropanorpa , this distance is 15–21 µm, but in the type specimens the distance is 25–33 µm. We consider this difference minor, and without collections from numerous hosts and localities across southeastern Australia, must consider the specimens from Tasmanian scorpionflies to be the same as L. agrotis described by Southcott (1993).

Southcott's Range in µm Range in µm Southcott's Range in µm Range in µm Code Code

Our collections are the first record of this species outside of the Australian Capital Territory. The original collections were from adult Bogong Moth, Agrotis infusa (Boisduval) ( Lepidoptera : Noctuidae ), a species also found in Tasmania ( Hill 2007). This species is well known for its migratory behaviour ( Common 1954), giving ample opportunity for moths to transport L. agrotis to Tasmania.

Tables

TABLE 2. Comparison of the type specimens of Leptus agrotis larvae from Southcott (1993) with L. agrotis collected from the scorpionfly Apteropanorpa tasmanica (ranges, μm).

	L. agrotis type series (n = 10)	Scorpionfly L. agrotis (n = 25)	L. agrotis type series (n = 10)	Scorpionfly L. agrotis (n = 25)
AW	96–109	97–118 TiII/GeII	1.33–1.49	1.33–1.37
PW SBa	109–124 12–16	124–133 GeIII 16–20 TiIII	128–142 211–246	118–138 194–228
SBp ASBa	16–22 25–33	20–26 TaIII(L) 15–21 TaIII(H)	120–144 28–36	126–148 26–28
ISD L	73–86 109–122	58–75 TiIII/GeIII 94–110 AW/ISD	1.55–1.76 1.22–1.39	1.62–1.84 1.40–1.78
W A–P	122–135 15–30	128–144 ISD/A–P 20–24 AW/A–P	2.83–4.87 3.53–6.50	2.83–3.04 4.93–5.90
AL PL	65–80 71–86	70–77 StI 66–89 StII	44–57 37–50	42–51 29–40
ASE PSE	48–61 80–110	50–54 CxI 76–88 CxII	73–91 32–42	74–84 34–38
DS GeI	68–82 127–146	58–68 CxIII 130–146 TiI/AW	47–62 1.68–1.96	31–50 1.30–1.75
TiI TaI(L)	164–204 129–149	184–206 TiIII/AW 142–168 AW/AL	2.01–2.39 1.24–1.60	1.38–2.09 1.52–1.69
TaI(H) TiI/GeI	33–39 1.19–1.46	30–38 TiIII/TiI 1.41–1.45 TiII/PW	1.18–1.38 1.26–1.57	1.05–1.17 0.88–1.31
GeII TiII	117–127 156–182	110–128 L/W 146–158 PW/AW	0.83–0.95 1.08–1.24	0.68–0.85 1.05–1.18
TaII(L) TaII(H)	113–131 28–37	118–140 AL/PL 32–34	0.79–1.01	0.96–0.97