Yezonychus Ehara

Beard, Jennifer & Walter, David Evans, 2010, New spider mite genus (Prostigmata: Tetranychidae) from Australia & New Zealand, with a discussion of Yezonychus Ehara, Zootaxa 2578, pp. 1-24 : 2

Yezonychus Ehara

Type species: Yezonychus sapporensis Ehara, 1978

Diagnosis. Three pairs of prodorsal setae, nine pairs of dorsal opisthosomal setae, seta f2 absent, setae h1–3 present; empodia elongate with basal stalk split distally into two claw-like prongs (stalk clearly visible in dorsoventral perspective; Fig. 1 ); tenent hairs elongate, fine. Insertion of posterior dorsal opisthosomal setae h2 posterior to insertion of setae h1 (h2 inserted in commonly observed position). Female with spinneret (suζ) longer than broad. Dorsal setae longer than distance to base of setae in next setal row.

Remarks. Monotypic genus of the “little web” or LW-s life-type sensu Saito (1983; 1985; 2009), i.e. mites spin life lines while walking, but have no other use of threads. Yezonychus mites attach their eggs to the tips of leaf hairs, and quiescent stages also rest in similar position.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Yezonychus sapporensis Ehara, A. female empodium I dorsal aspect, showing basal stalk (indicated by arrow); B. female empodium IV lateral aspect; C. male empodium II dorsal aspect, note basal stalk; D. male empodium I lateral aspect. Scale bar = 20 μm.