Schizotetranychus krungthepensis, Naing, Htar Htar, Chandrapatya, Angsumarn, Navajas, Maria & Auger, Philippe, 2014

Naing, Htar Htar, Chandrapatya, Angsumarn, Navajas, Maria & Auger, Philippe, 2014, New species and new records of Tetranychidae (Acarina, Prostigmata) from Thailand, Zootaxa 3802 (2), pp. 257-275 : 258-263

Schizotetranychus krungthepensis sp. nov. Naing & Auger

(Figures 1–14)

Type-specimens. Holotype (male), 2 male and 4 female paratypes on 7 preparations from sugarcane ( Saccharum officinarum L.) ( Poaceae ), Ram Intra, Bangkok, Thailand, 17/11/2010, Leg. H. H. Naing. Holotype, 1 male and 3 female paratypes deposited in the Insect Museum of Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand; 1 male and 1 female deposited in the collection of the Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations (CBGP), coll. Auger-Migeon N° 1819-1820, 34988 Montferrier-sur-Lez, France.

Diagnosis. Female idiosoma oval-shaped, with transverse dorsal hysterosomal integument striae on dorsocentral area, dorsocentral hysterosomal setae about as long as longitudinal distance to base of seta next behind, genital area provided with genital flap and area anterior to it bearing transverse striation and with 7 tactile setae and 1 solenidion on tibia I. End of peritreme hooked. Male aedeagus bent dorsad with slender distal part slightly curved caudad.

FIGURES 1–2. Schizotetranychus krungthepensis sp. nov., female. 1, dorsal aspect; 2, lobes on dorsal striae between f 1 and h 1 setae (enlarged).

Description. Male: Holotype 320 µm long, 2 males measured, 314–378 µm long (including gnathosoma).

Dorsum. Dorsal body setae short, subequal in length, sc 1 the longest. Except for sc 2 and c 3 setae, dorsal setae widened in their proximal portion. Dorsocentral setae c 1, d 1, e 1, f 1, and sc 1 the most widened, f 2 and h 1 setae poorly widened proximally: v 2 28 (29–31); sc 1 33 (32–35); sc 2 23 (22–23); c 1 28 (31–32); c 2 22 (23–27); c 3 26 (25); d 1 28 (29–31); d 2 22 (23–27); e 1 25 (26–28); e 2 21 (21–24); f 1 25 (25–28); f 2 23 (21–23); h 1 22 (22–25).

Gnathosoma. Palptarsus terminal sensillum between two and two and half times as long as broad, 4.7–5 µm long, 1.9–2.5 µm wide. Peritreme hooked distally.

Venter. Ventral striae without lobes.

Legs. Empodia I–IV similar, composed of two claws without appendant hairs. Leg setal counts as follows:

I 2 − 1 − 10 [9] − 5[4] − 7 + (2) – 10 + (1) + 2 duplexes; II 2 − 1 – 6 – 5 – 5 + (1) − 9 + (1) + 1 duplex; III 1 − 1 − 2 − 3 – 4 – 7 + (1);

IV 1 − 1 − 2 – 3/2 – 5 − 7 + (1).

One tactile setae proximal to proximal duplex on tarsus I, one solenidion at or near proximal duplex level. One tactile setae and one solenidion proximal to duplex of tarsus II.

Aedeagus. Bent dorsad at right angle with shaft dorsal margin, abruptly tapering, with acute tip pointing caudad.

Female: 4 females measured. Idiosoma: length 475–524 µm (including gnathosoma), width 260–285 µm. Dorsum. Dorsal body setae widened near base, tapering distally not well exceeding base of seta next behind but barely reaching base or about as long as longitudinal interval to base of seta next behind (variations of 4 paratypes): v 2 (50–53); sc 1 (48–51); sc 2 (41–44); c 1 (44–49); c 2 (41–45); c 3 (56–58); d 1 (46–49); d 2 (42–45); e 1 (44–48); e 2 (42–44); f 1 (44–46); f 2 (44–46); h 1 (49–52). Setae sc 2 and c 3 not widened proximally, obviously pubescent, h 1 slightly broadened proximally and distally pubescent. Other dorsal setae widened proximally, e 2 and f 2 less widened basally. Distances between setae: c 1- c 1 44–49; d 1- d 1 46–49; e 1- e 1 44 –48; c 1- d 1 44–48; d 1- e 1 43 –49.

Hysterosomal striation transverse with rounded to oblong lobes, most of them wider than tall.

Gnathosoma. Palptarsus spinneret about 1.5 as long as broad, 5.2–5.4 µm long, 3.4–3.5 µm wide. Peritreme hooked distally.

Venter. Ventral striation without lobes, genital flap and area immediately anterior to it bearing transverse striation. Two pairs of ventrocaudal (h 2-3) and two pairs of pseudanal setae (ps 1-2) present.

Legs. Empodia I–IV similar, as in male. Leg setal counts as follows:

One tactile setae proximal to proximal duplex on tarsus I, one solenidion at or near proximal duplex level. One tactile setae proximal to duplex of tarsus II, no solenidion present.

Etymology. The species designation krungthepensis is named after the location where the specimens were found, in Krungthep, meaning the City of Angels, the Thai name for capital city, Bangkok.

Biological observations. The adult females are yellowish green in colour with two pairs of maculae. Eggs are white translucent becoming yellow with age. This species produces web-nests ( Saito 1983) on the under-surface of the leaves.

Remarks. Schizotetranychus krungthepensis n. sp. and five other species belong to the 8th group of Schizotetranychus ( Flechtmann 2012) . In this group, the new species can be separated from Schizotetranychus andropogoni (Hirst) by the shape of the distal part of the peritreme (hooked distally in S. krungthepensis n. sp. vs. dilated distally and straight in S. andropogoni ), by the distal part of the aedeagus (thinner in its distal portion and tapering distally in S. krungthepensis vs. wider and not tapering distally in S. andropogoni ), by the spinneret size (about 2–2.5 and 1.5 as long as broad in male and female of S. krungthepensis n. sp., respectively, whereas three times as long as wide and slightly longer than wide in male and female of S. andropogoni , respectively).

In addition, the fine appendant hairs observed in the empodium of S. andropogoni by Ehara & Wongsiri (1975) are absent in S. krungthepensis n. sp. The new species differs from S. camur Pritchard & Baker by the male spinneret (absent in males of S. camur ), by the overall appearance of the aedeagus (despite a similar sigmoid shape in the two species, the upturned part of the aedeagus of S. camur does not gradually narrow as in S. krungthepensis n. sp.) and by the leg setal counts. It can be distinguished from S. paraelymus Feres & Flechtmann by the shape of the distal end of the peritreme (slightly bent in S. paraelymus ), by the anterogenital striation (irregularly longitudinal in S. paraelymus ), by the size and the shape of the palptarsus terminal sensillum (cylindrical in S. paraelymus ) and by the leg setal counts. It can be separated from S. undulatus ( Beer & Lang) mainly by the shape of the end of the peritreme (only bent in S. undulatus ) and by the shape of the aedeagus (upturned part bent at an angle of about 45° and distal part not curved caudad with a right angle in S. undulatus ). The last species of the group 8, S. youngi Tseng , can be easily distinguished from S. krungthepensis n. sp. by its aedeagus strongly Sshaped.