Gaeolaelaps queenslandicus (Womersley)

Joharchi, Omid & Negm, Mohamed W., 2020, Soil-inhabiting mites of the family Laelapidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from Assiut Governorate, Egypt, Zootaxa 4759 (4), pp. 488-510 : 499-501

Gaeolaelaps queenslandicus (Womersley)

Androlaelaps queenslandicus Womersley, 1956: 577 .

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

Gaeolaelaps queenslandicus .— Hyatt, 1964: 472; Beaulieu, 2009: 37; Nemati et al., 2018: 713; Joharchi et al., 2019d: 6, 2019e: 569.

Hypoaspis queenslandicus .— Costa, 1966: 141; Zeman, 1982: 233; Zaher, 1986: 191.

Hypoaspis tripodiger Berlese, 1916: 167 (synonymy by Nemati et al., 2018b: 713).

Gaeolaelaps tripodiger .— Nemati et al., 2018b: 716.

Androlaelaps trifurcatus Wang & Li, 1965: 238 (synonymy by Nemati et al., 2018b: 713).

Gaeolaelaps trifurcatus .— Nemati et al., 2018b: 716 .

Androlaelaps trifurcatoides .— Yan & Ma, 1999 (synonymy by Nemati et al., 2018b: 713).

Gaeolaelaps trifurcatoides .— Nemati et al., 2018b: 717 .

Hypoaspis (Hypoaspis) angustus Karg, 1965: 274 (synonymy by Nemati et al., 2018b: 713).

Specimens examined. Three females; 27°03’ N, 31°20’ E, Sahel Seleim, Assiut; 17 June 2015; coll. A.S. Abdelgayed; ex. soil under mandarin trees.

Remarks. Gaeolaelaps queenslandicus was originally described as a species of Androlaelaps , based on a single specimen collected from litter at Taringa, Queensland, Australia ( Womersley, 1956). G. queenslandicus has been recorded many times, from North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Zaher (1986) recorded this species from soil in Egypt for the first time and we have had the opportunity to examine specimens to confirm this identification. Our newly collected material agrees very well with the description given by Costa (1966) with modifications by Nemati et al. (2018b). The species is recognised by the presence of 37 pairs of simple setae on the dorsal shield (with variation, sometimes 38 pairs) (Nemati et al., 2018), with three-tined palp tarsal claw, peritreme long (reaching to coxa I) and with spine-like setae on femur and tarsus II.