Atractides fonticolus (K. Viets, 1950)

Gerecke, Reinhard, 2014, The water mites of the genus Atractides Koch, 1837 (Acari, Hydrachnidia: Hygrobatidae) in Corsica and Sardinia, Zoosystema 36 (4), pp. 735-759 : 748

Atractides fonticolus (K. Viets, 1950)

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Sardinia. I 346, 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀ ; I 349, 1 ♀, 11 dn; I 368, 1 ♀ ( MNHN). Sardinia. I 340, 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 1 dn ; I 346, 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀; I 1181, 1 ♂ (Coll. RG). DISTRIBUTION. — Most parts of Europe, Kaukasus, Israel. Not reported from the British Isles and Northern Fennoscandia. First records from the area covered. HABITAT. — Crenophilous. Rheocrenes and low order streams, at middle altitude, in the area covered from 250 to 850 m.

REMARKS

The specimens collected in Sardinia agree only in part with the definition given by Gerecke (2003). In two of the three males, palps display characters typical for A. pennatus (K. Viets, 1920) (ventral sectors P-4, 2:1:3, sword seta anterior to distoventral seta), but the lower genital setae number is typical for A. fonticolus . In addition, palps of two males show particular deformations (multiplication of setae and atypical arrangement of P-4 setae).Females are typical in the relatively stout I-L-5 (L/H 3.6-4.0 [4.4]) and relatively short S-1/-2, but in size and proportions of I-L-6 (L 135-170, L/H ratio 5.6-6.5) they cannot be separated from A. pennatus . By the moment, the majority of the character states suggest to attribute the Sardinian specimens to A. fonticolus , but the diagnostic features of A. fonticolus and A. pennatus need reconsideration at a larger geographical scale.