Atropacarus (Atropacarus) niedbalai sp. nov., an extreme case of neotrichy in oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida: Phthiracaridae)

Abstract

A new species of oribatid mite from New Zealand, Atropacarus (Atropacarus) niedbalai sp. nov. (Phthiracaridae), shows extreme neotrichy of the prodorsum, notogaster, genitoaggenital and anoadanal plates. The combination of these features is unique and is reported for the first time for a species of oribatid mite. This new species is the most hairy known ptyctimous mite and maybe the most neotrichous case in Oribatida (109–115 pairs of notogastral setae). Meanwhile, this species is the second example of neotrichy on the prodorsum in ptyctimous mites, and the second example of neotrichy on the genitoaggenital plates in Phthiracaridae.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:509952FF-5722-4094-A343-F9B03658CDF3

Keywords:

• soil mites
• Oribatida
• Phthiracaridae
• Atropacarus
• new species
• neotrichy
• New Zealand

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Prof. Jun Chen, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for supplying references to the first author. We thank all the people who collected specimens for us. Sincere thanks are also due to the two anonymous reviewers for their critical reading of the manuscript and valuable suggestions. The first author’s work was supported by the Funds for The Excellent Youth Scholars of “NEIGAE, CAS” (DLSYQ2012004), the Knowledge Innovation Programs of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2-EW-Z-8), the Major Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China – Fauna Sinica (31093430), the key research program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KZZD-EW-TZ-16), the financial support from the China Scholarship Council and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31101617). The second author’s research on defining New Zealand mites was supported by Core funding for Crown Research Institutes from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Science and Innovation Group.