Rotundabaloghia erinacea, Kontschán, Jenõ, 2008

Kontschán, Jenõ, 2008, Four new species of Rotundabaloghia Hirschmann, 1975 from East Africa (Acari: Uropodidae), Zootaxa 1853, pp. 18-30 : 25-26

Rotundabaloghia erinacea sp. nov.

( Figs 19–23 )

Material examined. Holotype. Female, Rwanda, Nyungwe Forest Reserve, Uwinka station, Cyangugu Prefecture, montane rain forest in valley near waterfalls, 2000 m. a.s.l., 14 August 1991, T. Pócs coll. Paratypes. Two females, Rwanda, Nyungwe Forest Reserve, Uwinka station in Cyangugu Prefecture, mesic evergreen forest, 2150 m a.s.l., 14 August 1991, T. Pócs coll.

Description. Female. Length of idiosoma 400 µm, width 370 µm (n=3). Shape oval, posterior margin rounded.

Dorsal idiosoma ( Fig. 19 ). Marginal and dorsal shields fused anteriorly. All dorsal setae long and setiform, very short hairs on their margin ( Fig. 20 ). Sculpture of marginal and dorsal shield maculate.

Ve n t r a l idiosoma ( Fig. 21 ). Sternal shield without ornamentation, all sternal setae short, smooth and needle-like. Pattern of ventral shield alveolate, ventral setae are the follows: V2 short, smooth and setiform, V7 trifurcate ( Fig. 22 ), V8 star-like ( Fig. 23 ), adanal setae longer than V2, smooth and setiform. Stigmata situated between coxae II and III. Peritreme hook-shaped. Genital shield linguliform and without process on its apical part. Ornamentation of genital shield maculate.

Gnathosoma . Not clearly visible (covered by coxae I). Basal part of epistome with spines, apical part bearing short hairs.

Etymology. The name of the new species is derived from the name of the hedgehog, Erinaceus , referring to its long and conspicuous dorsal shield setae.

Notes. This species may be recognised by the dorsal and genital shields of female having maculate ornamentation. All the marginal and dorsal setae are long and setiform, and their margins have short pilosity. The genital shield of the female is linguliform and lacks an anterior process. One pair of ventral setae near the metapodal line are star-like, while the other setae near the metapodal line are trifurcate.

This species belongs to the R. mahunkai species group ( Hirschmann, 1992b), which contains only four species ( R. rwandae , R. erinacea , R. ukoguruensis and R. dodomae Hirschmann, 1992 ), all of which have an ornamented ventral shield and two pairs of pilose ventral setae (V7, V8). Apart from Africa there are several species of this group in New Guinea and Colombia. The shape of the setae V7 and V8 of the new species are unique in this species group and in the genus Rotundabaloghia .

Figures

FIGURES 19 – 23. Rotundabaloghia erinacea sp. nov. 19. Female, dorsal shield; 20. Female, dorsal shield seta; 21. Female, ventral idiosoma; 22. Female, seta V 7; 23. Female, seta V 8. Scale bar: a, 100 μm, b, 30 μm.