Trhypochthonius tectorum, : Berlese, 1904

Weigmann, Gerd & Raspotnig, Günther, 2009, Comparative morphological and biometrical studies on Trhypochthonius species of the tectorum species group (Acari: Oribatida: Trhypochthoniidae), Zootaxa 2269 (1), pp. 1-31 : 4-5

The tectorum -species-group

We propose a tectorum -species-group for those species having at least some long blunt notogastral setae (more than 50 µm), and at least some setae are ornamented with spinose setulae up to the end. In typical forms the setae are distally broadened.

Typical Holarctic species with strongly broadened notogastral setae are: Trhypochthonius tectorum , T. americanus , T. fujinitaensis , and T. stercus .

Less typical Holarctic species with barely broadened setae are: Trhypochthonius japonicus , T. silvestris , and T. misumaiensis . These species have likely been confused with T. tectorum in some literature.

The European species T. nigricans Willmann, 1928 , occurring in wet bogs, has notogastal setae with short setulae, not broadened distally (redescribed by Weigmann 1997b —partly as the synonymous T. sphagnicola 1 —and by Szywilewska-Szczykutowicz & Olszanowski 2007). The species is not further discussed.