Reassignment of Epitrimerus violarius Liro, 1941 (Acariformes: Eriophyoidea) to the genus Leipothrix, with a supplementary description of the species

ABSTRACT

Morphological measurements and genetic analysis of Epitrimerus violarius Liro (Acariformes: Eriophyoidea) with illustrations of males, females, and immature stages are presented in this paper. This species was reported for the first time in Poland and was collected from the leaves of Viola uliginosa in Cracow. The findings of this research provide insights for reassignment from the genus Epitrimerus Nalepa to the genus Leipothrix Keifer, within the family Eriophyidae. Aside from the molecular analysis that confirms the association with the proposed genus, the reassignment is also supported by the absence of femoral seta (bv) on both pairs of legs, and the presence of bifurcate gnathosomal seta, which are unique for Leipothrix.

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8E5B7C0A-ED93-4409-A5B4-D289B486A650

KEYWORDS:

• Eriophyoid mites
• Eriophyidae
• new synonymy
• taxonomy
• Viola

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Błażej Ślązak (The W. Szafer Institute of Botany Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow, Poland) and Prof. Małgorzata Kiełkiewicz (Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland) for providing plant and animal materials for this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).