Exothorhis saudiensis, Khan & Kamran & Rehman & Mirza & Alatawi, 2024

Khan, Eid Muhammad, Kamran, Muhammad, Rehman, Muneeb Ur, Mirza, Jawwad Hassan & Alatawi, Fahad Jaber, 2024, Two new species of Eupalopsellidae (Acari: Prostigmata: Raphignathoidea) and key to the world species of Exothorhis Summers, Journal of Natural History 58 (13 - 16), pp. 511-526 : 518-523

Exothorhis saudiensis sp. n.

( Figures 9–16 )

Diagnosis (based on female)

Dorsum of idiosoma coarsely punctate, without visible striae except for anterior to setae vi and sce; all dorsal body setae densely denticulate, tips truly spatulate, present on prominent tubercles; relatively long, reaching to the bases of setae next in line; coxal area with fine punctations and coxae III with one seta.

Description (n = 10). Measurement of holotype followed by nine paratypes as ranges (in parentheses).

Dorsum. ( Figure 9 ) Length of body (excluding gnathosoma) (v 1 –h 2) 365 (354–374), width 235 (228–248). Dorsum of idiosoma covered by five indistinct shields and coarsely punctate, without visible striae except for anterior to setae vi and sce; all dorsal body setae strongly denticulate, truly spatulate, on prominent tubercles; relative long, reaching to the base of setae next in line; a pair of eyes present anterolaterally near the base of setae sci; postocular bodies located between setae sci and sce; Length of setae: vi 58 (55–61), ve 70 (67–73), sci 67 (64–72), sce 70 (67–74), c 1 73 (70–78), c 2 68 (65–73), d 1 64 (60–69), d 2 68 (63–73), e 1 68 (65–73), e 2 84 (79–88), f 1 78 (75–83), h 1 45 (41–49), h 2 32 (30–35). Distance between setae: vi–vi 15 (30–34), ve–ve 85 (81–89), vi–ve 43 (40–48), ve–sci 47 (43–50), sci– sce 68 (63–72), sci–sci 15 (13–17), sce–sce 146 (140–160), c 1 –c 1 15 (11–17), c 1 –c 2 70 (68– 73), c 2 –c 2 144 (137–150), c 1 –d 1 62 (60–67), d 1 –d 1 25 (22–28), d 2 –d 2 137 (131–150), d 1 –d 2 75 (72–78), d 1 – e 1 58 (55–60), d 2 –e 2 73 (69–78), e 1 – e 1 18 (16–20), e 1 – e 2 45 (41–48), e 2 –e 2 105 (99–107), e 1 –f 1 63 (60–68), f 1 –f 1 67 (63–70), f 1 –h 1 63 (59–68), f 1 –h 2 48 (43–52), h 1 –h 1 37 (35–40), h 1 –h 2 22 (18–25), h 2 –h 2 72 (70–74).

Venter. ( Figure 10 ) First two pairs of anteromedial ventral setae (l a and 3 a) are very long and whip like; the posterior pair (4 a) is almost half the length of the former two setae; venter entirely striated; the anogenital area bears seven pairs of setae; three pairs of aggenital and four pairs of anogenital setae; all setae are relatively long except the fourth pair of anogenital setae, relatively short. Length of setae: l a 78 (73–80), 1 b 35 (30–40), 1 c 32 (29–35), 2 b 42 (39–45), 3 a 65 (61–70), 3 b 34 (31–36), 4 a 34 (30–40), 4 b 29 (26–32). Three pairs of aggenital setae (ag 1 –ag 3), ag 1 37 (35–39), ag 2 32 (30–35), ag 3 30 (28–34). Anogenital area with coarse areolae sculpturing and three setae (ps 1–3) and one pair of genital setae (g 1), setae g 1 44 (41–48), ps 3 25 (23–28), ps 2 22 (20–25), ps 1 20 (18–23). Distances between genital setae: ag 1 –ag 1 39 (36–43), ag 2 –ag 2 35 (33–38), ag 3 –ag 3 45 (42– 48), g 1 –g 1 24 (22–26), ps 3 –ps 3 25 (22–28), ps 2 –ps 2 30 (27–32), ps 1 –ps 1 18 (16–20). Distances between ventral setae: 1 a –1 a 30 (28–32), 3 a –3 a 42 (40–45), 4 a –4 a 66 (62–69), 1 b –1 c 15 (12–17), 1 a –3 a 89 (85–95), 3 a –4 a 48 (45–52), 4 a–ag 42 (38–45), ag 1 –g 1 38 (35–41), g 1 –ps 3 19 (16–22), ps 3 –ps 2 15 (12–17), ps 2 –ps 1 10 (9–12).

Gnathosoma. ( Figures 11–12 ) Chelicerae slender, nearly one and a half times as long as movable digits (103:62); Palp tapered, palpgenu about thrice as long as palptibia (31:10), palptibial claw small but distinct, dorsal seta l ’ T (3) about one-ninth length of l (16); terminal palptarsal slender, counts of setae and solenidion from palptrochanter to palptarsi: 0, 3, 1, 3, 3 + 1 ω + 2 subterminal eupathidia + 1 terminal eupathidium; subcapitular setae m 52 (47–58), n 48 (45–51), m–m (18–21), n–n 15 (13–17) and m–n 20 (19–23). or 1 17 (15–20), or 2 22 (20–25), or 1 – or 2 5 (4–7), or 1 – or 1 4 (3–5) and or 2 – or 2 10 (8–12).

Legs. ( Figures 13–16 ) Length of leg I 274 (256–279); leg II 250 (240–263); leg III 213 (204–224); leg IV 200 (192–214). Tarsal claws uncinated. Setal formulae of leg segments as follows: coxae 2–1–1–1; trochanters 1–1–1–1; femora 4–4–3–1; genua 1 + 1 Κ –1–1–1; tibiae 4 + 1 φ ρ–4 + 1 φ ρ–4 + 1 φ ρ–4 + 1 φ ρ; tarsi 10 + 1 ω –9 + 1 ω –6 + 1 ω –6. Tarsus I and II with solenidion, Iω 17 (15–19), IIω 16 (14–17), slender and tapering rather than rod like.

Etymology. The specific epithet is derived from the name of the country, Saudi Arabia, where the type specimens were collected.

Type materials. Holotype female, three paratype females, Ziziphus mucronata Willd ( Rhamnaceae ), Taif, Saudi Arabia, 21.083562°N, 40.316697°E, 11 October 2016, coll. Muneeb Ur Rehman and M. Kamran; four paratype females, Punica granatum ( Lythraceae ), Taif, Saudi Arabia, 21.500145°N, 40.466723°E, 10 September 2017, coll. Eid M. Khan and Muneeb Ur Rehman; two paratype females, Tamarix aphylla (L.) Karst. ( Tamaricaceae ), Taif, Saudi Arabia, 21.233458°N, 40.466766°E, 10 September 2017, coll. Eid M. Khan and Muneeb Ur Rehman.

Remarks. Exothorhis saudiensis sp. n. is morphologically close to E. kenyae Bolland in having dorsal body setae mostly spatulate, and idiosoma covered by five thin shields. However, the new species differs from later species by punctate dorsal shield (vs smooth dorsal shield), coxa III with one seta (vs without setae) and coxal area with punctations (vs coxal area smooth in E. kenyae ).

Figures

Figure 9. Exothorhis saudiensis sp. n. Female, dorsum.

Figure 10. Exothorhis saudiensis sp. n. Female, venter.

Figures 11, 12. Exothorhis saudiensis sp. n. Female, 11 – Sub-capitulum; 12 – Palp.

Figures 13–16. Exothorhis saudiensis sp. n. Female, 13 – Leg I; 14 – Leg II; 15 – Leg III; 16 – Leg IV.