Alliphis Halbert, 1923

Halliday, R. B., 2010, Revision of the Australian Eviphididae (Acari: Mesostigmata) 2596, Zootaxa 2596 (1), pp. 1-60 : 7

Genus Alliphis Halbert, 1923

Copriphis (Alliphis) Halbert, 1923: 369 . Type species Gamasus halleri G. & R. Canestrini 1881: 1077, by monotypy.

Diagnosis of genus. Eviphididae with a normally-developed sternal shield bearing three pairs of setae; coxal setae unmodified, setiform; anal shield with one pair of para-anal setae and an unpaired post-anal seta; opisthsogastric skin otherwise unsclerotised; trochanter I with six setae; genu III with two ventral setae; peritrematal shields well developed, extending forward at least as far as mid-level of coxa I, not greatly expanded behind coxae IV; epistome with a long serrated medial process; palp tarsus without macroeupathidia.

Notes on the genus. Identification of species of Alliphis is difficult. The best available key is that of Mašán (1994), but it only includes 10 of the 28 species currently placed in the genus. The recent study of the genus by Mašán & Halliday (2010) includes only the European fauna. A complete review of the genus will need to include, for example, the species described in recent years from Armenia ( Arutunian 1991, 1992), India ( Ramaraju & Mohanasundaram 1996) and China (e. g. Gu & Fan 1997a; Ma & Wang 1998; Li 2001). Mašán & Halliday (2009) described three new genera of Eviphididae , two of which were based on species that were previously included in Alliphis . According to the key of Mašán (1994), and descriptions of other species, the females of all species of Alliphis that are adequately known have the first pair of sternal lyrifissures oriented either obliquely or parallel to the long axis of the body. The description and illustrations of A. oviforme (Schweizer) and A. serratochaetae Ramaraju & Mohanasundaram are not adequate to allow this decision to be made, and the females of a few species are unknown. The Australian fauna includes the first species in which the first pair of sternal lyrifissures are unequivocally transverse in the adult female, and this species also has several unusual character states for the genus.