Cosmolaelaps lutegiensis (Shcherbak)

Joharchi, Omid, Döker, Ismail & Khaustov, Vladimir A., 2022, New species and new records of Cosmolaelaps Berlese (Acari: Laelapidae) from Russia, with a review of the Russian species of the genus, Zootaxa 5133 (4), pp. 486-508 : 501

Cosmolaelaps lutegiensis (Shcherbak)

Hypoaspis lutegiensis Shcherbak, 1971a: 76 .

Cosmolaelaps lutegiensis .— Moreira et al. 2014: 319; Ramroodi et al. 2014: 542; Joharchi & Trach 2019: 486; Joharchi et al. 2020a: 479 .

Specimens examined. Five females, near the Moinakskoye Lake , Yevpatoria, Western Crimea, Russia, 45°11'31.0"N 33°19'59.0"E, 13 June 2021, O. Joharchi coll., from soil (in TSUMZ) .

Remarks. Cosmolaelaps lutegiensis was described from Kiev, Ukraine ( Shcherbak, 1971a). It has been found from soil-litter of a pine forest and is now recorded from Russia for the first time, from the soil. Our newly collected material agrees very well with the description given by Shcherbak (1971a). Ramroodi et al. (2014), Joharchi & Trach (2019), and Joharchi et al. (2020a) have reported the species from Iran, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, respectively. They stated inaccurately that the dorsal shield has 38 pairs of lancet-like setae, but there are 39 pairs (including two pairs of Zx setae between J and Z setae, and three unpaired setae Jx between J3 and J5) as stated in the original description (see Shcherbak, 1971a). Bregetova (1977) suspected Cosmolaelaps lutegiensis maybe a junior synonym of H. helianthi Samšiňák, 1958 . We have not had the opportunity to examine the type specimens of H. helianthi in order to confirm that synonymy, but by comparing the descriptions and figures of these two species, we found some distinguishing morphological differences: (1) sternal seta st1 is off the sternal shield in H. helianthi (see Figure 4- 1 in Samšiňák, 1958), while in C. lutegiensis it is obviously on the shield (see Fig. 21 in Joharchi et al., 2020a); (2) dorsal setae smooth and mostly do not reach to base of next setae in series (see Figure 5- 1 in Samšiňák, 1958), while in C. lutegiensis all setae have a small basal protuberance and are mostly long enough to reach base of next setae in series (see Figures 20 , 22 in Joharchi et al., 2020a); (3) sternal shield with reticulate ornamentation throughout H. helianthi (see Figure 4- 1 in Samšiňák, 1958), while in C. lutegiensis shield smooth almost throughout, except a longitudinally lateral part between iv1 and st3 faintly reticulated with curved lines (see Fig. 21 in Joharchi et al., 2020a). Therefore, we believe these are two distinct species.

Figures

FIGURES 1–7. DIC micrographs of Cosmolaelaps chianensis (Gu), female. 1, idiosoma in dorsal view, enlarged section not to scale; 2, idiosoma in ventral view; 3, sternal shield; 4, general view of opisthogastric area; 5, chelicera; 6, dorsal aspect of femur, genu and tibia leg I; 7, ventral aspect of femur, genu and tibia leg I.

FIGURE 21–24. Cosmolaelaps lasiophilus Joharchi sp. nov., female. 21, leg I (trochanter-tibia); 22, leg II; 23, leg III; 24, leg IV.

FIGURES 13–20. DIC micrographs of Cosmolaelaps lasiophilus Joharchi sp. nov., female. 13, idiosoma in dorsal view; 14, idiosoma in ventral view; 15, general view of some podonotal setae; 16, general view of some opisthonotal setae; 17, general view of part of opisthogastric area; 18, subcapitulum; 19, distal portion of palp, with focus on tarsal claw; 20, insemination structures.