Scarabaspis orientalis (Berlese)

Halliday, R. B., 2010, Revision of the Australian Eviphididae (Acari: Mesostigmata) 2596, Zootaxa 2596 (1), pp. 1-60 : 21-22

Scarabaspis orientalis (Berlese)

Iphidozercon orientalis Berlese, 1920: 169 ; Karg, 1963: 278.

Scarabaspis aspera Womersley, 1956: 590 ; Karg, 1963: 278. Synonymy by Evans (1957).

Scarabaspis orientalis .— Evans, 1957: 410.

Material examined. Types. “ Allotype ” male ( J10629 ) and 1 “ Paratype ” female ( J10628 ), with scarab on low flowers, nr Dorrigo NSW, 9 January 1952, I. M. Mackerras. (in SAMA) .

Other material examined. Australian Capital Territory. 21 females, 7 males, 4 DN, Piccadilly Circus , 10 January 1985, E. Holm coll., on Onthophagus hoplocerus in wombat dung ; 5 females, 5 males, 17 March 1976, E. Holm coll., on Onthophagus granulatus flying to wombat dung; 2 females, Blundells Flat , March 1964, G. Bornemissza coll., on Onthophagus pexatus ; 1 female, Blundells Flat , 29 January 1976, M.M.H. Wallace and E. Holm coll., with Onthophagus pexatus in wombat dung ; 2 females, Bulls Head , 1 February 1964, G. Bornemissza coll., on Onthophagus mutatus . New South Wales. 1 female, Lee Creek Road (18 km S of Bylong), 19 February 1976, M.M.H. Wallace and E. Holm coll., in wallaby dung . Tasmania. 1 female, St. Columba Falls , alt. 315 m, 14 February 1980, A. Newton and M. Thayer coll., in trap baited with dung . Victoria. 3 females, Gunyah , 12 May 1963, G. Bornemissza coll., on Onthophagus posticus ; 3 females, same data except Onthophagus mutatus ; 1 female, same data except Onthophagus hoplocerus ; 2 females, 1 male, Gunyah , 2 June 1963, G. Bornemissza coll., on Onthophagus mutatus ; 1 male, Boolarra , 4 June 1963, G. Bornemissza coll., on Onthophagus fuliginosus . (all in ANIC) .

Notes. Womersley (1956) described and illustrated the epistome of this species as having three blunt points of equal length. However, as pointed out by Evans (1957), this is an error, and the epistome actually has a typical eviphidid form, with a long pilose central point. There are other discrepancies in Womersley’s description – in the female, the posterior margin of the sternal shield is at the level of coxa III, not coxa IV, and the epigynal shield is twice as long as wide, not half as long as wide. There are also discrepancies in the labels of the type specimens. The male specimen is labelled “ Allotype ” and the female “ Paratype ” (although not in Womersley’s handwriting), while Womersley refers to a holotype female. The collector is identified on the labels as I. M. Mackerras, not M. J. Mackerras.

Apart from its occurrence in Java, S. orientalis occurs in southeastern Australia, in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory. It has been collected phoretic on six species of dung beetles in the genus Onthophagus , in the dung of wombats and wallabies, and in a trap baited with dung.