Uroobovella multisetosa, Kontschán & Starý, 2011

Kontschán, Jenő & Starý, Josef, 2011, Uropodina species from Vietnam (Acari: Mesostigmata), Zootaxa 2807, pp. 1-28 : 10-12

Uroobovella multisetosa sp. nov.

( Figs 26–31 )

Material examined. Holotype. Female ( HNHM), Vietnam, Da Lat, Thac Datanla waterfall, litter and humus samples from rock crevices and from the base of bushes. 1200 m, 0 7 December 1994, S. Mahunka, Gy. Sziráki and L.

Zombori coll. Paratypes. Four females and three males (one male and two females in ISB, other paratypes in HNHM). Locality and date same as holotype.

Description. Female. Length of idiosoma 510–540 µm, width 430–440 µm (n=5). Shape oval.

Dorsal idiosoma ( Fig. 26 ). Marginal and dorsal shields fused anteriorly. Dorsal shield with smooth, short (ca 10–15) and needle-like setae, its surface without sculptural pattern, two strongly sclerotised transverse lines present in caudal area. Marginal setae similar in shape and length to dorsal setae, anterior margin of posterior area of marginal shield crenulate.

Ventral idiosoma ( Fig. 27 ). Ornamentation on sternal shield absent. Sternal setae short (ca 5–7 µm), smooth and needle-like. St1 situated near antrior margin of genital shield, St2 at level of central region of coxae II, St3 and St4 at level of central region of coxae III, St5 near posterior margin of genital shield. Ventral setae of three types: those situated on metapodal lines smooth, needle-like and ca 15 µm long; those in central region of ventral shield, smooth, needle like and short (ca 10 µm); those near caudal margin of idiosoma ca 20 µm long, smooth and needle-like, but twice as thick as other ventral setae. Surface of ventral shield smooth. Stigmata situated between coxae II and III. Peritremes with complex shape, including two short posterior branches and a long recurved anterior branch. Genital shield scutiform, without sculptural pattern or anterior process. Base of tritosternum vase-shaped, tritosternal laciniae subdivided into three marginally pilose branches ( Fig. 28 ).

Gnathosoma ( Fig. 29 ). Corniculi horn-like, with smooth surface, internal malae longer than corniculi, their margins smooth. Hypostomal setae h1 smooth, phylliform, ca 40 µm long, situated near anterior margins of gnathosoma, h2 smooth, ca 8 µm, h3 smooth, ca 15 µm, h4 not clearly visible (covered by coxae I). Epistome marginally serrate. Chelicerae with internal sclerotised node, movable digit shorter than fixed digit ( Fig. 30 ).

Legs with smooth and simple setae, leg I with ambulacral claws.

Male. Length of idiosoma 530–540 µm, width 420–440 µm (n = 3). Shape of idiosoma, ornamentation, and chaetotaxy of the dorsal parts as in female. Sternal setae smooth, short (7–8 µm), needle-like, St1-St4 situated anterior to genital shield, St5 near posterior margin of genital shield. Surface of sternal shield smooth, genital shield oval, situated between coxae IV ( Fig. 31 ). Ventral setae and ornamentation similar to those of female, except that five pairs of ventral setae placed on metapodal lines.

Etymology. The name of the new species refers to the numerous ventral setae.

Remarks. The new species belongs to the Uroobovella micherdzinskii group, based on the following characters ( Hirschmann, 1989): leg I with claws, five pairs of sternal setae, marginal shield present and caudal section of marginal shield with crenulate anterior margin. Eight species belong to this group ( U. japonica Hiramatsu & Hirschmann , U. levigata Hirschmann & Hiramatsu , U. makilingensis Hirschmann & Hiramatsu , U. micherdzinskii Hirschmann & Zirngiebl-Nicol , U. mitakensis Hiramatsu & Hirschmann , U. pauxilla Hiramatsu , U. pauxillaoides Hirschmann , U. similitakensis Hirschmann , U. topali Hirschmann ). The following species are similar to the new species, on the basis of smooth dorsal, ventral and female genital shield: U. levigata Hirschmann & Hiramatsu ; U. makilingensi s Hirschmann & Hiramatsu and U. pauxillaoides Hirschmann. The other species from this group have ornamented ventral, dorsal and female genital shields. These three species without ornamentation do not have wide setae on the caudal margins of the ventral shield like those in U. multisetosus .

Figures

FIGURES 26 – 31. Uroobovella multisetosa sp. nov., female. 26, dorsal view; 27, ventral view; 28, tritosternum; 29, ventral view of gnathosoma and coxae I; 30, chelicerae; 31, male, intercoxal region. (scale bar: 100 μm).