Chelaseius lativentris Karg

Lofego, Antonio Carlos, Barbosa, Marina Ferraz De Camargo, Demite, Peterson Rodrigo & Moraes, Gilberto José De, 2024, Phytoseiidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) of the subfamily Amblyseiinae from Brazil, Zootaxa 5439 (1), pp. 1-306 : 70-72

Chelaseius lativentris Karg ( Figure 50)

Chelaseius lativentris Karg, 1983: 309 .

Chelaseius lativentris . — Moraes et al., 1986: 34, 2004b: 57; Chant & McMurtry, 2004a: 214, 2007: 83; Mineiro et al., 2012: 600.

Chelaseius (Chelaseius) lativentris . — Denmark & Kolodochka, 1990: 232.

Chelaseius (Chelaseius) brazilensis Denmark & Kolodochka, 1990: 227. New synonymy.

Chelaseius brazilensis . — Chant & McMurtry, 2004a: 214; 2007: 83; Moraes et al., 2004b: 56.

Given the proposed synonymy of C. brazilensis under C. lativentris , the measurements presented subsequently for each character refer to value of the latter provided by Denmark & Kolodochka (1990) and of the original description of the former. Female dorsal shield smooth, 360, 328 long and 141, 204 wide. Setal lengths: j1 29, 40; j3 57–60, 53; j4, j5 and j6 5, 5; J2 6, 9; J5 11, 12; z2 8, 8; z4 8, 5; z5 5, 5; Z1 20, 10; Z4 93–140, 142; Z5 230–240, 207; s4 88–110, 101; S2 22, 16; S4 22, 19; S5 17, 18; r3 11, 14 and R1 11, 11. Peritreme extending to level of j1. Spermathecal calyx short-saccular, 12, 6 long; atrium inconspicuous. Fixed cheliceral digit with three relatively large teeth next to pilus dentilis, followed distally by two larger teeth and 1–2 subterminal tiny teeth; movable digit toothless. Macrosetae of legs I–IV, length not provided .

Distribution in Brazil. São Paulo ( Karg, 1983).

Distribution elsewhere. Not reported.

Remarks. Species described from Brazil. The synonymy of C. brazilensis under C. lativentris is here proposed because the small morphological differences between them is considered to refer to intraspecific variations. Concurred to this decision the fact that their type localities (respectively Piracicaba and Cabreúva) are ecologically very similar, belonging to the same biome (Atlantic Forest), and only about 100 km apart in straight line. Chelaseius caudatus is also morphologically very similar to what has been reported for C. brazilensis and C. lativentris , and the type locality of C. caudatus is 50 to 100 km away from the type localities of the other two nominal species. We refrain from considering C. caudatus a synonym of those species because, by being larger, C. caudatus would be expected to have more, not less, teeth on the fixed cheliceral digit. Further collections of specimens should allow the confirmation of that decision. Both C. brazilensis and C. lativentris were described from Brazil and known only from their type specimens. Several dorsal and most ventral setae were missing on the holotype and therefore were not shown in the illustration of the original description, namely j3, z5, Z4, St2, St5, Jv1, Jv2 and Zv2.