Conoppia

Luxton, M., 1990, A Redescription of Conoppia palmicinctum (Michael, 1880) (Acari, Cryptostigmata), Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 126, pp. 163-166 : 163-164

[Genus Conoppia ]

The genus Conoppia was established by Berlese in 1908 with Oppia microptera Berlese , 1885 as type-species. In 1913 Berlese named another genus, Phyllotegeus , to accommodate Leiosoma (= Liacarus) palmicincta Michael , 1880. Grandjean (1936) concluded that Leiosoma palmicincta and Oppia microptera were synonymous, a view subsequently reinforced by Perez-lnigo (1972, 1986) and Subias & Iturrondobeitia (1978). By common consent the two genera are currently considered to be equivalent.

The work of some authors suggests that the distribution of Conoppia is typically south-European with evident extensions into the Lusitanian regions of the British Isles and the warmer Atlantic islands. Such localities include south-west England (Michael 1880, Magor 1881, Turk 1972), south-west Ireland (Halbert 1923), central Italy, southern Germany, many regions of France (Willmann 1931, Grandjean 1936), Madeira (Willmann 1939), Canary Islands (Perez-lnigo 1972, 1986), central Pyrenees (Subias & Iturrondobeitia 1978) and the Azores (Perez-lnigo 1987). Other authors have characterized its distribution differently. Schatz (1983), for example, considered it a montane/high alpine species citing a number of such localities in Austria. It has also been recorded in alpine regions of Switzerland (Schweizer 1956) and, its northernmost point, the Finnish coast of the Gulf of Bothnia (Karppinen 1966). The distribution of Conoppia is so readily divided into two distinct climatic zones that the presence of at least two species remains a strong possibility and, in the absence of detailed descriptions of types, it cannot yet be discounted that C. palmicinctum and C. microptera are distinct. Willmann (1939) suggested that the descriptions of Berlese and of Michael referred to different species - O. microptera was yellowish, L. palmicincta almost black. However, these colours certainly refer to the relative ages of the adults since the specimen designated as the lectotype of C. palmicinctum (see later) is yellowish and identified on the slide label as "bred" (i.e. in Michael's terms, newly moulted from a captive tritonymph). The quoted size range for species of Conoppia is variable, between 800 and 1200 µm, but this might be associated with sexual dimorphism of the same species (see later). Nonetheless, Berlese (1910) defined a further species of Conoppia ( C. grandis ) which is distinctly smaller (620 µm) than the above range and was described as having lamellae reaching only 2/3 of the way to the rostrum (in C. palmicinctum the lamellae reach virtually to the tip). Additionally, Grandjean (1936) suggested that Oribates globosus C.L. Koch , 1844, common in central Europe, is a Conoppia (other authors (e.g. Sellnick 1928, Willmann 1931) mistakenly ascribed Koch's O. globosus to Liacarus ). Finally, Ghilarov & Krivolutsky (1975) stated that at least three species of Conoppia were to be found in the USSR which they conditionally figured under the name of C. microptera pending a revision of the genus. Other authors have also drawn attention to the necessity of a revision of the species of the genus ( Schmölzer 1962, Marshall et al. 1987) and the following redescription of the adult of Michael's Conoppia palmicinctum , together with the designation of a lectotype, is intended to assist this process.

Conoppia Berlese

Conoppia Berlese, 1908: 7.

Type-species Oppia microptera Berlese , 1885