Ulyxes species B

Shaw, Matthew D., 2014, Ulyxes, a new Australopapuan mite genus associated with arboreal nests (Acari: Laelapidae), Zootaxa 3878 (3), pp. 261-290 : 286

Ulyxes species B

Specimen examined. 1 female ( QM S99209 ), Massey Creek, Queensland 17˚ 37’ 38”S145˚ 33’ 45”E, 1 Dec 1998, coll. A. Johnson, M. Shaw, ex humus from floor of tree hollow “Helen’s Den” in rainforest regularly occupied by Trichosurus vulpecula johnstoni Northern Brushtail Possum ,

Description of female. Dorsum. Large mite, 860 long. Dorsal shield becoming glabrous centrally, margins and opisthonotal portion with reticulations, bearing 38 pairs of setae, z3 absent. Unpaired setae present below J3. Z5 smooth.

Gnathosoma . Epistome appears to have smooth margin although view obscured. Fimbriae on lateral arms of internal malae with distinctly expanded tips. Fixed digit with a single tooth. Cheliceral setae dorsal. Palp genu al1 blunt-ended with hyaline lateral edges. Palp trochanter av seta slightly broadened 4 wide. Deutosternal groove with six rows of denticles with up to six denticles per row, flanked by only two lateral lines. Subcheliceral shelf with two apical tines and two subapical irregular tines.

Venter. Sternal shield anterior edge not subcuticular, excavated immediately lateral of st1 (cf U. ulysses and U. calypso ), posterior edge mildly concave. Exopodal IV well-developed, 28 wide. Post-stigmatal shield abbreviated, with usual three pore-like structures. Genito-ventral shield broad and long, reaching to within 2 of anal shield; with six broad serially-regular transverse striae. Primary metapodal shield a narrow oval, 58 long, 24 wide; secondary metapodal shields present. Anal shield very broad 190 wide at mid opening, 160 deep, 225 maximum width. Cribrum with four rows of denticles. Opisthogaster hypertrichous bearing twenty-seven pairs of setae excluding Jv1–3 and Zv1–2.

Legs. Chaetotaxy holotrichous for Laelapidae as defined by Evans (1963). Genu IV with single seta on pl face, proximally placed. Only slight thickening of some femoral setae: Femur I ad1 30 long and 4 wide; Femur II ad1 ad 1 36 long and 4 wide. The following setae are apically bifid: femur 1 ad1 and pd2, femur II ad1 and pd2, femur III ad1, femur IV ad1 and ad2, trochanter IV ad1 and trochanter IV pl. Coxa II and coxa III anterior setae strong and stout.

Remarks. In contrast to the new Papuan species U. theoclymenus above, there are good prospects for recovering more specimens of this species in NE Queensland so I refrain from formally naming this singleton specimen here. The brief notes are given to allow initial identification and comparison of material that may be collected in future. The tree hollow this mite was collected from had been carefully monitored for several years and the resident possum and its den use were well known, but note that the area where this specimen was collected has a remarkably high diversity of arboreal marsupials. Thus host association needs to inferred with care.