Geckobiella boneti (Cunliffe)

Paredes-León, Ricardo, Klompen, Hans & Pérez, Tila M., 2012, Systematic revision of the genera Geckobiella Hirst, 1917 and Hirstiella Berlese, 1920 (Acari: Prostigmata: Pterygosomatidae) with description of a new genus for American species parasites on geckos formerly placed in Hirstiella, Zootaxa 3510, pp. 1-40 : 9

Geckobiella boneti (Cunliffe) new combination

Hirstiella boneti Cunliffe, 1952: 166 .

Diagnosis. Female. Prodorsal shield pentagonal with 2 pairs of setae (vi and sci) ( Fig. 2 C); with long dorsal body setae that extend to bases of next row.

Male. Similar to female but without dorsal shield; palpal femur with short, almost conical seta d; genua IV with enlarged, spinelike ventral seta ( Cunliffe 1952).

Type. Female HOLOTYPE ( USNMC 1859), 4 female, 1 male PARATYPES ( USNMC).

Type locality. Unknown.

Type host. Ctenosaura acanthura (Shaw) (cited as C. multispinis by Cunliffe 1952).

Material examined. Female HOLOTYPE and 1 female, 1 male PARATYPES ex Ctenosaura acanthura (cited as C. multispinis ), 22 November 1923, coll. P. Spong ( USNMC). 2 females, 1 male, 6 deutonymphs, 2 larvae ex iguana (undetermined but probably Ctenosaura pectinata based on geographic distribution), MEXICO, Morelos, Coatetelco, 15 April 1949, coll. W. G. Downs ( CNAC 006996–007006).

Remarks. This species appears to be a specific ectoparasite of Iguanidae lizards (see Table 2 ). The host type was a specimen of Ctenosaura multispinis in the College Reptile Collection, Wayne, Nebr. The type locality of C. multispinis (now C. acanthura ) is Dondomingovillo (sic), Oaxaca, Mexico ( Uetz et al. 2007). The specimens from Morelos correspond to the collection of Geckobiella texana mentioned by Hoffmann (1969), however the original label says: “ex Iguana ”. This does not necessarily imply that the host is Iguana sp. Based on geographic distribution the host is most likely Ctenosaura pectinata instead of Iguana iguana (Reynoso pers. comm.).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Prodorsal shields of the species of Geckobiella. A, G. trombidiiformis; B, G. p e l a e z i; C, G. boneti; D, G. bakeri; E, G. pyriformis; F, G. javieri; G, G. diolii; H, G. donnae sp. nov. Scale bar 100 µm.