Gaeolaelaps Evans & Till, 1966

Kazemi, Shahrooz, Rajaei, Asma & Beaulieu, Frédéric, 2014, Two new species of Gaeolaelaps (Acari: Mesostigmata: Laelapidae) from Iran, with a revised generic concept and notes on significant morphological characters in the genus, Zootaxa 3861 (6), pp. 501-530 : 504-505

Genus Gaeolaelaps Evans & Till, 1966

Hypoaspis (Gaeolaelaps) Evans & Till, 1966: 159 .

Type species: Laelaps aculeifer G. Canestrini, 1884 , by original designation

The short diagnosis below was modified from the genus diagnosis in Beaulieu (2009). The subsequent detailed diagnosis is similar to the genus description in Beaulieu (2009), but excludes several characters of lesser significance at the genus level.

Short diagnosis. Hypoaspidine laelapid mites with the following combination of characters: dorsal shield usually bearing 39 pairs of simple, short to moderately elongate setae, sometimes with 0–3 additional unpaired median setae; adult female sternal shield longer than broad (rarely broader than long), presternal area weakly sclerotised, usually lineate and granulate; epigynal shield tongue-shaped or flask-shaped, not markedly broadened posteriorly, bearing a pair of setae, and usually well separated from, and never touching, the subtriangular or pearshaped anal shield; opisthogastric cuticle usually with 7–9 pairs of simple setae (rarely more); epistome margin rounded or subtriangular, denticulate; six (rarely five or seven) deutosternal rows with at least five denticles each (rarely 1–4); chelicerae strong, chelate-dentate, pilus dentilis setiform; leg setation normal for Laelapidae , including nine setae on genu IV (pl2 absent); av on femur II, ventral setae on genu and tibia II-IV, and subapical setae of tarsi II–IV usually slightly thickened to spine-like. However, there are numerous exceptions within the genus (see detailed diagnosis below, and genus description in Beaulieu, 2009).

Detailed diagnosis

1. Dorsal shield partly or completely covering dorsal idiosoma, not extending ventrally, suboval to strongly tapered from level of setae r3–4, oval in several cockroach, carabid and scarab beetle associates ( Strong & Halliday, 1994; Faraji & Halliday, 2009).

2. Dorsal shield usually bearing 39 pairs of simple, short to moderately elongate setae, including Px2–3 (occasionally absent, including in some arthropod associates), and 0–3 unpaired median setae (Jx); z3 occasionally absent, and rarely a few others; setae, especially J4–5, Z5, sometimes inconspicuously barbed, rarely other setae, e.g. all dorsal setae except j1 and z1 barbed in G. jondishapouri .

3. Lateral soft cuticle with 1–8 pairs of marginal (r–R) and 0 to few UR setae, rarely more, with at least 18 pairs of setae in G. millipedus Rosario (1981) and G. angustiscutatus ( Willmann, 1951) , and 32 – 37 in the carabid associate G. carabidophilus Trach (2012) .

4. Dorsal shield with 16 pairs of poroids (five podonotal and 11 opisthonotal) and 4–6 gland pores (2–3 podonotal, gd2 sometimes absent, gd4 usually absent; 2–3 opisthonotal, gd6 sometimes absent; see discussion); gd4 present in some specimens of G. oreithyiae ( Walter & Oliver, 1989) (Kazemi, personal observation).

5. Presternal region weakly sclerotised and granulate and/or lineate, rarely with a pair of well sclerotised platelets, e.g. in G. orbiculatus Nemati & Mohseni (2013) .

6. Sternal shield longer than wide; rarely broader than long, mostly in arthropod associates, sternal shield length 0.9 x width in free-living G. jondishapouri .

7. Posterior margin of sternal shield straight, or slightly convex or concave; rarely deeply indented, e.g. in the cockroach associate G. concavus ( Faraji & Halliday, 2009) .

8. Sternal shield bearing three pairs of simple setae and two pairs of poroids; rarely setae st1 off shield, e.g. G. aculeiferoides ( Teng, 1982) , G. debilis ( Ma, 1996) , G. krantzi ( Arutunian, 1993) , or borne on paired anterior extensions of shield in G. jondishapouri ; rarely poroids iv3 captured by sternal shield e.g. in G. carabidophilus .

9. Setae st4 on soft cuticle, rarely on separate platelets; in some cases, e.g. G. minor ( Costa, 1968) , st 4 may wrongly appear to be inserted on the endopodal platelet, probably due to the soft cuticle bearing st4 being folded over the platelet (Kazemi, personal observation).

10. Epigynal shield tongue- or flask-shaped, not markedly broadened posteriorly, bearing one pair of simple setae, and not touching anal shield; ornamented with two slightly curved diagonal lines that typically join medially (as such forming an inversed V, or joined by a transverse line) and enclose posteriorly a reticulated area comprising several cells, posterior area without typical reticulation in the following species: smooth in G. minor and G. negevi ( Costa, 1969) (considered to be a junior synonym of G. gracilis ( Meledzhaeva, 1963) by Bregetova, 1977); with eight long narrow cells in G. schusteri ( Hirschmann, 1966 sensu Costa 1974), and G.

theodori ( Costa, 1974) ; with a series of diagonal lines oriented posteromedially (forming a series of Vs) in the ant associate G. glabrosimilis ( Hirschmann et al., 1969) , and G. franzi ( Van Aswegen & Loots, 1970); with a few similar diagonal to semi-circular lines in G. ruggi ( Strong & Halliday, 1994) and G. etiopicus ( Berlese, 1918 sensu Van Aswegen & Loots, 1970); with slightly curved, almost transverse lines in G. rosei ( Strong & Halliday, 1994) ; with somewhat longitudinal lines in G. circularis ( Hyatt, 1964) .

11. Anal shield small, inversely pear-shaped or subtriangular, more or less rounded anteriorly, narrowed posteriorly, rarely oval or pentagonal; nearly rounded in G. orbiculatus , oval in G. millipedus and G. rosei ( Strong & Halliday, 1994) and pentagonal in G. brevior ( Faraji & Halliday, 2009) and G. segregatus ( Faraji & Halliday, 2009) ; with two ‘shoulders’ or bulging laterally at position of pore gv3 (and level of para-anal setae) in G. farajii Nemati & Mohseni, 2013 .

12. Postanal seta usually slightly longer than para-anal setae, exceptionally absent in the fire-ant associate G. invictianus Walter & Moser, 2010 .

13. Cribrum typically with 3–4 rows of spicules; anteriormost row sometimes extending anteriorly to level or near level of para-anal setae, e.g. in G. khajooii and G. jondishapouri .

14. Peritrematal shields narrow, connected to dorsal shield anteriorly, not extending beyond coxae IV posteriorly; nearly always free from exopodals. Parapodal and metapodal elements small, inconspicuously developed.

15. Peritremes narrow, usually reaching anteriorly to the level of coxae I, sometimes shorter, ending near middle of coxae II, exceptionally short in G. carabidophilus , reaching only mid-level of coxa III.

16. Soft opisthogastric cuticle usually with 7–9 pairs of simple setae; hypertrichous in G. carabidophilus , if considering ventrally inserted R–UR setae.

17. Male with holoventral shield, sometimes eroded laterally; rarely with a genitiventral shield eroded in opisthogastric region and a separate anal shield, e.g. in G. invictianus .

18. Epistome always denticulate, with rounded or subtriangular anterior margin, sometimes more or less straight e.g. in G. zhoumanshuae ( Ma, 1997) and G. dactylifera ( Fouly & Al-Rehiayani, 2011) ; rarely pronounced and pointed anteriorly e.g. in G. brevior and G. segregatus .

19. Deutosternal groove with six rows of denticles, rarely five or seven; seven rows in G. dasypus ( Menzies & Strandtmann, 1952) , collected from an armadillo’s nest; each row bearing usually at least five denticles; rarely fewer, e.g. 1–5 denticles per row in G. jondishapouri .

20. Palp tarsal claw usually two-tined, rarely three-tined; third tine long, or short and basal as in G. jondishapouri .

21. Chelicerae well-developed, chelate-dentate; fixed digit often with a serrated row of small teeth proximal to the short, setiform pilus dentilis; movable digit with two teeth, exceptionally separated by a row of smaller teeth (in G. angustiscutatus ).

22. Leg chaetotaxy normal for Laelapidae ; nine setae on genu IV, including only one posterolateral; ventral and/or subapical setae of tarsi II-IV usually slightly thickened or modified into spines; av on femur II and ventral setae on genua and tibiae II-IV usually thickened or spine-like; femur IV occasionally with ad1 elongate, and often with ad2 and pd thickened; tarsus IV occasionally with 1–4 elongate setae (typically pd2–3, but also ad2–3).