Humerobates species

SchatzK, Heinrich, 2024, Some Ceratozetoidea species (Acari: Oribatida: Ceratozetidae, Humerobatidae) from the Galapagos Islands, Acarologia 64 (2), pp. 463-479 : 477

4. Humerobates species in the Neotropical Realm

From the Neotropical realm only one questionable record of Humerobates rostrolamellatus has been reported so far from Mexico ( Hammer 1969, sub Humerobates sp. ? fungorum, found at a plant quarantine station in the U.S.A. and brought with orchids from Mexico). Another species of the genus ( Humerobates flechtmanni Pérez-Íñigo & Pérez-Íñigo jr., 1993) is known from Brazil and Venezuela.

Humerobates rostrolamellatus differs from H. flechtmanni by the broader shape of the notogaster (almost round, ratio length/width 1,08 vs. smaller in H. flechtmanni – ratio 1,25,

Pérez-Íñigo and Pérez-Íñigo jr. 1993, their fig. 1), translamella (continuous in H. rostrolamellatus from Galapagos vs. interrupted in H. flechtmanni - albeit, in other populations of H.

rostrolamellatus the translamella is very faint to interrupted), by the shorter tip of the tutorium,

by the shape of notogaster (nearly round vs. much narrower), by the presence of notogastral setae (very short vs. presented only as alveoli in H. flechtmanni ), by the shape of the porose area A 1 (oval vs. irregular formed in H. flechtmanni ).

The origin of Humerobates rostrolamellatus on the Galapagos Island of Floreana is uncertain. One possible explanation is the introduction by European settlers with agricultural products in the first half of the 20th century ( Treherne 1983).