Atractides (Atractides) conflatus, PešićK & SmitK & GurungK, 2023

PešićK, Vladimir, SmitK, Harry & GurungK, Mer Man, 2023, Five new species of water mite genus Atractides Koch, 1837 from Bhutan with new records (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Hygrobatidae), Acarologia 63 (1), pp. 148-168 : 155-158

Atractides (Atractides) conflatus sp. nov.

Zoobank: 7A6E86EB-25AC-443A-A8A5-B1EF6ACFB0E2

Figures 5-6

Type material — Holotype ♂, dissected and slide mounted ( NBC), Bhutan, Royal Botanical Park , Lampelri, 27.50750°N, 89.75269°E, 2667 m asl, 10 Aug. 2016, leg. W. Klein. Paratypes: 2♀, same site and data as the holotype, 1♀ dissected and slide mounted ( NBC).

Diagnosis — Characters of the nodipalpis species group (integument finely striated, muscle insertions unsclerotized; males with anteriorly indented genital field, P-2 with distoventral projection and ventral margin of P-4 projecting); Vgl-1 separate from Vgl-2; coxae in male fused forming a coxal shield.

Description — General features – Integument striated; dorsal and ventrocaudal idiosoma without sclerotized muscle insertions. Acetabula large, in triangular arrangement. Excretory pore smooth; Vgl-1 separate from Vgl-2. Palp with a strong sexual dimorphism in the shape of P-2 and P-4, in both sexes medial peg-like seta inserting between ventral setae. Legs: I-L-5 with dorsal and ventral margins diverging distally, S-1 and S-2 distanced with blunt tips, I-L-6 curved and slender, maximum height proximally ( Figures 6 D-E).

Male – Coxae fused, forming a coxal shield ( Figure 5A). Genital plate anterior indented, with a narrow central notch, posterior margin deeply indented ( Figure 5A); ventral margin P-2 with a strongly developed distoventral protrusion, P-3 concave, P-4 strongly thickened near proximoventral seta ( Figures 5 B-C).

Female – P-2 ventral margin slightly convex, P-3 dorsal margin straight, P-4 slender than in male ( Figure 6C).

Measurements — Male – Idiosoma L 788, W 625; maximum diameter Dgl-4, 24. Coxal shield L 463; Cx-III W 494; Cx-I+II mL 156, Cx-I+II lL 338. Genital field L/W 178/234, ratio

0.76, L Ac-1-3: 78-81, 88-91, 94. Ejaculatory complex L 147.

Palp – Total L 441; dL/H, dL/H ratio: P-1, 44/42, 1.04; P-2, 102/86, 1.18; P-3, 111/59, 1.87;

P-4, 139/50, 2.78; P-5, 45/17, 2.63; L ratio P-2/P-4, 0.73. Chelicera total L 306.

Legs – I-L-5 dL 308, vL 206, dL/vL ratio 1.49, maximum H 98, dL/maximum H 3.13, S-1

L 139, L/W ratio 8.9, S-2 L 106, L/W ratio 5.65, distance S-1-2, 30, dL ratio S-1/2, 1.31; I-L-6

dL 200, central H 27, dL/central H ratio 7.35; L I-L-5/6 ratio 1.54.

Female – Idiosoma L 925, W 688; maximum diameter Dgl-4, 22. Coxal shield L 419; Cx-III W 550; Cx-I+II mL 131, Cx-I+II lL 269. Genital field L/W 213/222, genital plates L

159, pregenital sclerite W 69, gonopore L 172, L Ac-1-3: 56-60, 72-75, 61-63.

Palp – Total L 406; dL/H, dL/H ratio: P-1, 39/33, 1.3; P-2, 84/59, 1.42; P-3, 117/45, 2.59;

P-4, 127/36, 3.58; P-5, 39/17, 2.27; L ratio P-2/P-4, 0.66.

Legs – I-L-5 dL 273, vL 178, dL/vL ratio 1.54, maximum H 71, dL/maximum H 3.85, S-1

L 137, L/W ratio 11.7, S-2 L 106, L/W ratio 6.48, distance S-1-2, 37, dL ratio S-1/2, 1.29; I-L-6

dL 186, central H 22, dL/central H ratio 8.5; L I-L-5/6 ratio 1.45.

Etymology — The specific name comes from the Latin conflatus , meaning fused and referring to the shape of coxae in male.

Discussion — The new species belongs to the nodipalpis group (for diagnostic features of the group see under diagnosis of the new species). The latter group includes a number of species known from the Himalayas, i.e., A. nodipalpis acutidens Lundblad, 1969 , a species originally described as a form of its stem species on the basis of a single male collected in a stream at Kambaiti Pass in Myanmar ( Lundblad 1969), A. angulipalpisanus Jin, 1997 , A. menglaensis Jin, 1997 , A. binodipalpis Jin, 1997 , and A. arcusocellus Jin, 1997 , described by Jin (1997) from Yunnan province in China, and A. indicus Pešić & Smit, 2019 , a species recently described from Uttarakhand State of India ( Pešić et al. 2019). Males of the new species from Bhutan differ from these species in the coxae fused to a coxal shield.

Distribution — Bhutan ; know from the high-order stream at an elevation of 2667 m.