Gaeolaelaps queenslandicus ( Womersley, 1956 )

Nemati, Alireza, Gwiazdowicz, Dariusz J. & Khalili-Moghadam, Arsalan, 2018, New data on the knowledge of Gaeolaelaps mites (Acari: Mesostigmata: Laelapidae), Acarologia 58 (3), pp. 710-734 : 713-716

Gaeolaelaps queenslandicus ( Womersley, 1956)

Androlaelaps queenslandicus Womersley, 1956: 577 .

Androlaelaps queenslandicus . — Wang and Li 1965: 239.

Geolaelaps queenslandicus . — Ryke 1963: 13; Walter and Oliver 1989: 295; Farrier and Hennessey 1993: 73.

Gaeolaelaps queenslandicus . — Hyatt 1964: 472; Beaulieu 2009: 37; Kavianpour et al. 2013:

8; Nemati and Kavianpour 2013: 71; Kavianpour and Nemati 2014: 321.

Hypoaspis queenslandicus . — Costa 1966: 141; Zeman 1982: 233. Nasr and Nawar 1989: 70;

Nawar et al. 1993: 347.

Hypoaspis (Hypoaspis) queenslandicus . — Aswegen and Loots 1970: 190; Hafez et al. 1982:

4.

Hypoaspis (Geolaelaps) queenslandicus . — Karg 1979: 81; Tenorio 1982: 265; Karg 1993a:

141; Karg 1993b: 266.

Hypoaspis (Gaeolaelaps) queenslandica . — Faraji et al. 2008: 207.

Gaeolaelaps queenslandica . — Trach 2012: 162.

Hypoaspis tripodiger Berlese, 1916: 167 . New synonymy.

Androlaelaps trifurcatus Wang and Li, 1965: 238 . New synonymy.

Androlaelaps trifurcatus . — Kazemi et al. 2014: 519; Li et al. 1998: 266; Moreira 2014: 185;

Ren and Guo 2008: 328; Wang and Liao 2000: 27.

Androlaelaps trifurcatoides Yan and Ma, 1999 . New synonymy.

Androlaelaps trifurcatoides . — Moreira 2014: 185; Ren and Guo 2008: 328; Yan and Ma

1999: 149.

Hypoaspis (Hypoaspis) angustus Karg, 1965: 274 . New synonymy.

Hypoaspis angustus . — Costa 1966: 145; Zeman 1982: 233; Ma 1996: 51.

Hypoaspis (Hypoaspis) angustus . — Karg 1971: 171; Karg 1978: 15.

Hypoaspis (Geolaelaps) angustus . — Bregetova 1977: 504 .

Hypoaspis (Geolaelaps) angustus . — Karg 1979: 81; Karg 1982: 239; Karg 1993a: 141; Ruf and Koehler 1993: 197.

Geolaelaps angustus . — Walter and Oliver 1989: 295.

Hypoaspis angustus . — Farrier and Hennessey 1993: 77; Ruf and Koehler 1993: 197. Gaeolaelaps angustus . — Beaulieu 2009: 36.

Gaeolaelaps angustus . — Kavianpour et al. 2013: 7; Nemati and Kavianpour 2013: 70; Kavianpour and Nemati 2014: 321.

Berlese (1916) described Hypoaspis tripodiger that collected from Cl. Bruck ”La Plata”

in nest of Acromyrmex lundi (Guérin-Méneville) . Some of the morphological characters that explained concerning this species by him are as follows: “idiosoma elongated, dorsal shield covered with setae of varied length. Sternal shield in the shape of a bowl, and rounded at the height of legs II. Epigynal shield expands posteriorly to leg IV. Anal shield small, oval, elongated. Jugularia are narrow. Epistome arched with fine teeth. Legs II are much thicker than the other legs. Femur armed with spine-like setae, the genu is weak, and the tibia and tarsus have spine-like setae. Legs II and IV are also armed with spine-like setae like Hypoaspis aculeifer . Length of idiosoma is 600 μm and width 280 μm”. We’ve examined specimens at queenslandicus ( Fig 2 ) specimens from Iran.

1 - Attributes lacking data indicate that no measurements provided during our study, or this attribute was not measurable in slide.

the Berlese Collection identified as Hypoaspis tripodiger (see material examined). One slide of “co-types” of H. tripodiger (myrmec. 9/1, cotipi) contains specimens, but was unfortunately deemed not suitable for study. However, the specimen that was apparently identified as the “type” by Berlese (myrmec. Tipico, nidi: Acromyrmex lundi, Laplata ), which we therefore consider it as the holotype, was in sufficiently adequate shape to make some measurements ( Table 4), and the following observations. Dorsal shield possesses 37 pairs of smooth acicular setae. The lengths of lateral dorsal shield setae are slightly longer than the other setae on the shield. Epistome is deeply denticulate. Chelicerae chelate dentate, moveable digit with two and fixed digit multidentate (difficult for determination of teeth number). Presternal shields

Left slightly curved Right slightly curved Two sides slightly curved G. queenslandicus

Seta n=6 n=4 n=10 n=2

(Iranian specimens) (Iranian specimens) (Iranian specimens) (Australian specimens)

j1 32–36 30–34 32–34 28–30

j2 41–46 40–44 42–45 38–40

j3 42–46 42–44 40–44 41–42

j4 40–44 42–44 39–44 35–40

j5 39–44 39–42 42–44 38–42

j6 30–39 32–36 32–40 31–32

z1 42–44 40–42 39–43 40–42

z2 38–42 40–44 42–44 38–40

z3 44–48 46–50 48–52 40–44

z4 44–46 44–49 44–47 41–44

z5 42–45 44–46 44–49 41–42

z6 38–41 40–44 38–44 30–33

s1 30 –32 29–34 30–34 30–34

s2 29 –34 37–44 39–44 43–45

s3 49 –55 47–51 48–57 49–54

s4 47 –49 47–49 49–52 43–47

s5 49 –51 47–49 49–55 46–50

s6 40 –49 44–47 39–45 49–52

r2 44–48 44–49 42–45 40–44

r3 59–62 55–66 58–64 57–60

r4 42-44 42–44 40–47 40–44

r5 49–51 49–51 45–48 39–45

J1 28–30 30–34 30–32 30–32

J2 26–32 28–32 29–35 28–32

J3 33–35 30–34 30–34 28–30

J4 28–32 28–34 29–34 32

J5 25–32 26–30 26–32 29–32

Z1 44–52 42–49 44–49 39–46

Z2 38–40 39–44 38–46 41–44

Z3 30–38 36–42 34–46 36–39

Z4 40–44 40–42 38–42 42–45

Z5 38–49 39–54 42–57 48–59

S1 38 –42 38–44 40–47 42–46

S2 38 –44 38–44 39–42 35–40

S3 38 –47 39–44 38–44 39–44

S4 40 –44 39–42 39–44 37–40

S5 40 –48 40–46 42–49 43–49

queenslandicus (specimens from Australia), G. angustus -like in Iran, G. queenslandicus -like in Iran.

G. angustus G. tripodiger G. queenslandicus Character * G. angustus -like G. queenslandicus -like (type materials, n=6) (type) ( Australia) n=4 Dorsal shield length 480–485 605 480–489 482-499 490-495 Idiosomal length 570–580 - 630–646 564-614 611-655 Dorsal shield width 245–255 287 280–285 299–334 324–368 Sternal shield length 188–194 186 178–195 188–198 198–207 Sternal shield width at level of st2 113–122 136 119–126 120–129 120–126 st1, st2, st3 28–32 – 32–35; 27–30; 27–30 32–34 32–36 Epigynal shield length 190–195 185 163–184 167–189 159–162 Epigynal shield width 80–87 – 90–97 67–83 76–79 Para anal setae 20–22 – 20–23 26–29 27–29 Post-anal seta 19–22 – 19–22 26–29 29–31 * Male specimens have had similar morphological characters in all Iranian populations (see male description).

with lineate reticulate, granulated and similar to those in G. angustus . Sternal shield is longer than wide and reticulated in most surface, with three smooth acicular setae and two pairs of lyrifissures (iv1–2). Metasternal setae and iv3 located posterior of shield on soft skin. General appearance of well-reticulated epigynal shield is similar to G. angustus . The data of some dorsal shield setae and morphological characters appeared in Tables (1, 4). The legs chaetotaxy of this species is identical to those in Figures (13A, B). Palp-tarsal claw is three-tined.

The oldest available name for this species is Gaeolaelaps tripodiger ( Berlese, 1916) . However, that name is almost completely unknown, and to use it as valid now would cause taxonomic confusion. We continue to use the widely known name Gaeolaelaps queenslandicus ( Womersley, 1956) for this species, in the interests of stability.

Figures

Figure 2 Gaeolaelaps queenslandicusfemale from Iran. Opisthonotal region: A – lateral view; B – lateral and posterior view of dorsal shield (arrows showing typical curvature of the margin).