Rotundabaloghia bukavuensis, Kontschán, Jenõ, 2008

Kontschán, Jenõ, 2008, Four new species of Rotundabaloghia Hirschmann, 1975 from East Africa (Acari: Uropodidae), Zootaxa 1853, pp. 18-30 : 27-28

Rotundabaloghia bukavuensis sp. nov.

( Figs 24–29 )

Material examined. Holotype. Female, Zaire, Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Kivu province, NW of Bukavu town, bamboo forest, 2400 m. a.s.l., 28–30 August 1991, T. Pócs coll. Paratype. One male, locality and date as f or holotype.

Description. Female. Length of idiosoma 410 µm, width 340 µm (n=1). Shape oval, posterior margin Dorsal idiosoma ( Fig. 24 ). Marginal and dorsal shields fused anteriorly. All dorsal setae long, setiform and their apical part with short hairs ( Fig. 25 ), pattern of marginal and dorsal shield alveolar.

Ve n t r a l idiosoma ( Fig. 26 ). Tritosternum with narrow base bearing two lateral spines, laciniae bifurcate, with some fine branches. Sternal shield without ornamentation, two pairs of sternal setae (St2 and St3) twice longer than other sternal setae. All sternal setae smooth and needle-like. Genital shield linguliform, with spine-like process and alveolate ornamentation. Pattern of ventral shield alveolate, ventral setae as long as St2 and St3, adanal setae as long as the ventral setae. Three ventral setae placed near metapodal line, V7 and V8 with short hairs on their margin, V6 smooth. Stigmata situated between coxae II and III. Peritreme hookshaped.

Gnathosoma ( Fig. 27 ). Internal malae long, smooth and bifurcated. Hypostomal setae h1 long, smooth and setiform, with two spines near the base; h2 shorter than h1, setiform, with serrated margin; h3 longer than h2, setiform, with serrated margin; h4 as long as h2, setiform, with serrated margin. Labrum with long hairs on its apical part; epistome with short apical hairs and basal spines (Fig. 34). Palp trochanter with two serrated setae, other setae of the palp smooth and simple. Chelicera as shown in Fig. 28 .

Male. Length of idiosoma 420 µm, width 370 µm (n=1). Shape oval, posterior margin rounded.

Dorsal idiosoma. Ornamentation and chaetotaxy as for female.

Ve n t r a l idiosoma ( Fig. 29 ). Sternal shield with alveolate pattern. Sternal setae smooth, needle-like; St2 and St3 longer than other sternal setae. Genital shield oval, situated between coxae IV. Ventral setae similar to female.

Gnathosoma . Not clearly visible (covered by coxae I).

Etymology. The name of the new species refers to the village where the specimens were collected.

Notes. The dorsal, ventral and genital shields of the female of this species have alveolar ornamentation. All the marginal and dorsal setae are long and setiform and have some short apical pilosity. Sternal setae St2 and St3 are twice as long as the other sternal setae. The genital shield of the female is linguliform and has a spine-like process. Three pairs of ventral setae are placed near the metapodal line; V6 is smooth, V7 and V8 have short pilosity. This species also belongs to the R. mahunkai species group ( Hirschmann, 1992b). It is similar to R. rwandae but may be distinguished from it by the characters summarised in Table 2 .

Figures

FIGURES 24 – 29. Rotundabaloghia bukavuensis sp. nov. 24. Female, dorsal shield; 25. female, dorsal shield seta; 26. Female, ventral idiosoma; 27. Female, gnathosoma; 28. Female, epistome; 39. Male, ventral idiosoma. Scale bar: a, 100 μm, b, 20 μm, c, 30 μm.