Contribution to knowledge of the oribatid mite family Epactozetidae (Acari, Oribatida), with description of a new species of Truncozetes from Guatemala

ABSTRACT

The family Epactozetidae (Oribatida) is recorded in Guatemala for the first time. A new epactozetid species of the genus Truncozetes – T. izabalensis sp. nov. – is described, based on adults collected from the Guatemalan rainforest litter. It is characterized by: number of leg claws (leg I monodactylous, legs II–IV tridactylous); medium-sized lamellar seta inserted in anterolateral part of the lamella; straight translamella; the location of notogastral setae lm and lp (shifted in dorsolateral part from dorsocentral part of notogaster); and the absence of epimeral longitudinal stria. Main family and generic traits are provided. The identification key, distribution and habitat to the known representatives of Epactozetidae are presented.

https://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DF36574B-188B-42B5-8057-2FA34BB759A7

KEYWORDS:

• Oribatid mites
• taxonomy
• morphology
• identification key
• distribution, habitat
• Neotropical region

Acknowledgments

I cordially thank E.E. Lindquist for collecting oribatid mites from Guatemala, W. Knee for facilitating the loan of Guatemalan Acari material from the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes, Ottawa, Canada, and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments.

Disclosure statement

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