Gymnolaelaps laevis (Michael)

Keum, Eunsun, Jung, Chuleui & Joharchi, Omid, 2017, New species and new records of the family Laelapidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from Republic of Korea, Zootaxa 4353 (3), pp. 485-505 : 490

Gymnolaelaps laevis (Michael)

Laelaps laevis Michael, 1891: 648 .

Hypoaspis laevis .— Evans & Till, 1966: 220.

Hypoaspis (Gymnolaelaps) laevis .— Bregetova, 1977: 524 Gymnolaelaps laevis .— Joharchi & Halliday, 2013: 44. Pseudoparasitus (Gymnolaelaps) laevis .— Karg, 1978: 207; 1981: 218; 1989: 334. Pseudoparasitus laevis .— Gwiazdowicz, 2008: 101.

Specimens examined. One female, Chilgok, Gyeongbuk province, Republic of Korea, 36°03' N, 128°21' E, alt. 72 m, 27 April 2014, E. Keum coll., from soil of organic apple orchard (deposited in PMANU).

Notes. Gymnolaelaps laevis was described from Corsica ( Michael, 1891), and has been recorded from Ukraine, Russia, west Kazakhstan, Turkmenia, Western Europe ( Bregetova, 1977), England ( Evans & Till, 1966) and Iran ( Joharchi & Halliday, 2013). It has been found with several genera of ants, and is now recorded in Republic of Korea for the first time, from soil in an organic apple orchard. Our specimen agrees very well with the description given by Evans & Till (1966). There are two postero-lateral setae on genu IV (2 2/1 3/0 2), and the dorsal shield has 41 pairs of short pointed setae and seven unpaired supernumerary Jx setae. Evans & Till (1966) show a median notch in the anterior margin of the sternal shield, which is not present in our specimen.