Epicriopsis mirabilis Willmann, 1956

Masan, Peter, 2017, A revision of the family Ameroseiidae (Acari, Mesostigmata), with some data on Slovak fauna, ZooKeys 704, pp. 1-228 : 1

Epicriopsis mirabilis Willmann, 1956

Plates 31 , 32

Epicriopsis mirabilis Willmann, 1956: 218.

Epicriopsis mirabilis . - Karg 1971a: 226; Karg 1971b: VI/7; Bregetova 1977: 169; Kandil 1978: 171; Karg 1993: 225.

Epicriopsis rivus Karg, 1971a: 226. Syn. n.

Epicriopsis rivus . - Karg 1971b: VI/7; Bregetova 1977: 169; Kandil 1978: 171; Karg 1993: 224; Narita and Moraes 2016: 483.

Type depository.

Of Epicriopsis mirabilis - Zoologischen Staatssammlung München, Germany; of Epicriopsis rivus - Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany.

Type locality and habitat.

Of Epicriopsis mirabilis - Czech Republic, Králický Sněžník Mt., southern slope with growth of European white hellebore ( Veratrum album ), in moss ( Sphagnum sp., Hypnum sp.); of Epicriopsis rivus - Germany, Quarmbeck, Suderode/Harz, leaf litter under beech tree.

Comparative material.

Czech Republic: 1 ♂ (ZSM: Coll. Hirschm. / Willm. 42/8, 43/8, holotype) - W10/11, W10/13, no collection data, det. C. Willmann. Germany: 1 ♀ (ZMB: 41221, holotype) - 10. 10. 1963, Suderode, Harz, Friedr. brunn, Laub, am Bach, 2927 ; 2 ♀♀ (ZMB: 41223, 41224, paratypes) - 4. 11. 1965, Nähe Hasselfelde/Harz, Kahlschlag, Moos, Humusschicht, Buchenlaub, 2929-2930 (all labelled Epicriopsis rivus ); 1 ♀ (IZSAV) - 25. 4. 2007, Bavarian Prealps Mts. , Flintsbach am Inn, Peterskirchlein, altitude 800 m, spruce forest, wet soil detritus, leg. P. Mašán. Netherlands: 1 ♂ (RMNH: ACA.P.4064) - 9. 4. 1896, Delden , in rottende bladen, leg. Oudemans (labelled Nph II, Epicriopsis horridus ) .

Published material from Slovakia.

Malá Fatra Mts.: Terchová Village, Rozsutec Mt., Skalné Mesto Forest ( Kalúz 1998, cited as Epicriopsis rivus ). Oravská Magura Mts.: Oravská Lesná Village, Paráč Forest ( Kalúz 1996, cited as Epicriopsis rivus ).

New material from Slovakia.

Kozie Chrbty Mts.: 3 ♀♀ - 9. 7. 2003, Svit Town , Lopušná Dolina Valley, spruce forest ( Piceetum abietinum ) with beech ( Fagus sylvatica ), wet growth of Petasites sp. in brook alluvium, moss, altitude 900 m, leg. P. Mašán. Moravsko-Sliezske Beskydy Mts. : 1 ♀ - 30. 6. 1997, Klokocov Village , Malý Polom Forest, peat-bog in spruce forest ( Piceetum abietinum ), moss and soil detritus, altitude 1,000 m, leg. P. Mašán. Vtáčnik Mts. : 1 ♂ - 4. 11. 2003, Ostry Grun Village , Hlboká Dolina Valley, Pokuty, alluvium of brook with Petasites sp., mixed forest ( Ulmus sp., Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba ), moist soil detritus and moss, altitude 650 m, leg. P. Mašán.

Remarks.

There are two apparently original slides of Epicriopsis mirabilis with a dissected male in comparatively good condition in the Hirschmann/Willmann Collection in München (gnathosoma, chelicera and leg I are separately mounted on a slide), labelled No. 42/8 and 43/8. The male may be considered as holotype by monotypy. My examination of this Willmann‘s specimen confirmed the conspecificity of E. mirabilis with the species Epicriopsis rivus Karg 1971. According to Karg (1971a) and the followers, the only reliable diagnostic feature for distinguishing E. mirabilis from E. rivus seemed to be the form of the epistome. In E. mirabilis , the epistome was misinterpretated by Willmann (1956) and illustrated as a trilobate structure while the epistome of E. rivus was correctly understood to be a sharply pointed structure. There is a relatively clearly visible epistome in dissected gnathosoma on slide No. 43/8, with the anterior margin produced into a medial acute process, as in E. rivus . The type specimens of both species are also identical in relation to all other morphological features, including the peculiar sculpture composed of polygonal instead of star-shaped tubercles.

Figures

Plate 31. Epicriopsis mirabilis, female, dorsal idiosoma.

Plate 32. Epicriopsis mirabilis, female. A Dorsal idiosoma with legs B-C Epistome, variant forms D Dorsal shield, anterior part E Dorsal idiosoma F Dorsal shield, medial part.