Leitneria pugio ( Karg, 1961 )

Farahi, Sara, Shishehbor, Parviz & Nemati, Alireza, 2018, Some mesostigmatic mites (Acari: Parasitiformes) of Khuzestan province, southwestern Iran, Persian Journal of Acarology 7 (4), pp. 323-344 : 327

Leitneria pugio ( Karg, 1961)

Saprolaelaps pugio – Karg (1961): 132.

Leitneria pugio – Karg (1962): 75.

Diagnosis

Dorsal shield is reticulated and consisting podonotal and opisthonotal shields whereas the only congeneric species L. granulatus (Halbert, 1923) has no reticulated dorsal shield. Evans (1957) mentioned “ventrianal shield considerably wider than long” as a character of the genus according to the only known species at that time ( L. granulatus ). However, ventrianal shield of L. pugio is not as Evans' description and has an approximately equal length and width, although its posterior margin is a bit wider than its anterior margin ( Fig. 1 ). Epistome is denticulate with a long and acute projection in the middle. However, in L. granulatus epistome is finely dentate and considerably projected in the middle.

Note – This species has been recorded in Europe ( Karg 1993), Poland ( Gwiazdowicz and Kmita 2004, litter), Spain ( Moraza 2010, soil litter and humus), Austria ( Wissuwa et al. 2012: soil) and Crimea ( Kaczmarek and Marquardt 2008: soil). Both of the genus and species are new records for Asia. There are only two species of L. pugio and L. granulatus in the genus Leitneria . Leitneria granulatus was first described in Halolaelaps . The species pugio was also first described in Saprolaelaps but subsequently transferred to Leitneria together with granulatus ( Karg 1993) . Characters of Our specimen agree with data presented in Karg (1962).

Distribution and habitats in Iran – This is the first record for Iran mite fauna.

Material examined – One female, Ahvaz, 31° 23' 02" N, 48° 38' 38" E, 18 m a.s.l., 24 April 2015

(horse manure).

Figures

Figure 1. Female of Leitneria pugio (Karg, 1961) – Ventral view of idiosoma.