Minicaraboacarus Hajiqanbar and Khaustov

Hajiqanbar, Hamidreza, Khaustov, Alexander, Kamali, Karim & Saboori, Alireza, 2008, A new genus and species of mites of the family Caraboacaridae (Acari: Heterostigmata) associated with carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from Iran, Zootaxa 1788, pp. 57-65 : 58-59

Genus Minicaraboacarus Hajiqanbar and Khaustov n. gen.

Type species: Minicaraboacarus quadridiscalis Hajiqanbar and Khaustov sp. n. by its monotypy.

1. (Number of solenidia in parentheses) Diagnosis: Female: Gnathosoma is nearly two times wider than its length. Stylets relatively short, less robust and recurved basally. Idiosoma: dorsum; Tergite EF with only one pair of seta f, seta e absent. Tergite H with seta h 1, seta h 2 absent.

Idiosomal ventrum: Epimeres 1 with one pair of simple seta 1 b and one pair of suckers (modified setae 1 a), epimeres 2 with two pairs of seta 2 a and 2 b and one pair of large suckers (modified setae 2 c). Epimeres 3 and 4 with three pairs of setae each. Aggenital plate with two pairs of aggenital setae. Pseudoanal segment with one pair of setae.

Legs ( Figs 3–6): leg I; five segmented, tarsus without claws and setal formula: Tr 1 - Fe 4 - Ge 3 -Ti 6 (1)-Ta 12 (1). Leg II; tarsus with 2 claws and large empodium. Its setal formula Tr 1 - Fe 3 - Ge 3 -Ti 4 (1)-Ta 7 (1). Leg III; tarsus with 2 claws and large empodium. Its setal formla Tr 1 - Fe 2 - Ge 3 -Ti 4 (1)-Ta 7. Leg IV; thicker than other legs, tibia and tarsus distinctly separated. Tarsus without claws, with large empodium. Seta tc” modified, its setal formla Tr 1 - Fe 2 - Ge 2 -Ti 4 (1)-Ta 6.

Differential diagnosis: The new genus differs from the genus Caraboacarus by the absence of seta e and h 2 on hysterosomal dorsum (present in Caraboacarus ), by presence of large suckers on epimeres II (absent in Caraboacarus ), by absence of solenidia ω 2 on tarsus I and φ 2 on tibia I (present in Caraboacarus ), by presence of 12 seta on tarsus I: p’, p”, tc’, tc”, ft’, ft”, pl’, pl”, pv’, pv”, u’, u” (in Caraboacarus seta u’ and u” absent, Fig. 7), by distinctly separated tibia and tarsus IV (in Caraboacarus tibia and tarsus IV coalesced into tibiotarsus).

Etymology: The name of the new genus refers to exteremly small size of the body relative to species of the genus Caraboacarus .