Mirza, Jawwad Hassan ¹ ; Kamran, Muhammad ² and Alatawi, Fahad Jaber ³

¹Department of Plant Protection, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
²Department of Plant Protection, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
³✉ Department of Plant Protection, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.

2024 - Volume: 64 Issue: 1 pages: 237-243

ZooBank LSID: 7A794B2D-18CC-4BF1-B2CC-ECE159D430D1

Original research

Keywords

Abstract

Introduction

The mites of the family Teneriffiidae Thor (Acari: Prostigmata: Anystoidea) are moderately sized (about 800 ~ 1000 µm), fast moving predators (Walter et al. 2009; Zmudzinski et al. 2021; Beron 2022). The species have been reported to inhabit both the terrestrial (trees, rocks, caves, mountains, etc.) and marine habitats (Bernardi et al. 2012; Beron 2022). The biology and ecology of teneriffids are poorly known, except for a single observation of an immobile pre larva enclosed in an eggshell (Otto 1997).

The taxonomy of the family Teneriffiidae has been recently revised where only two genera i.e., Teneriffia Thor (10 species) and Parateneriffia Thor (14 species) were recognized (Mirza et al. 2023). The species of both the genera have been reported from different countries over the globe including Austria, Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, India, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Namibia, Paraguay, Spain, Switzerland, Tadjikistan, Turkey, USA, and Yemen (Beron 2022).

Previously, from Saudi Arabia, the superfamily Anystoidea was represented by only the family Anystidae Oudemans, with three genera and four species (Alatawi and Kamran 2017). The present research reports the family Teneriffiidae Thor (Prostigmata: Anystoidea) for the first time from Saudi Arabia, with the genus, Parateneriffia, and a new species, P. abhaensis n. sp. The specimens of the new species were found in soil litter from Southwestern (Abha), Saudi Arabia.

Material and Methods

The specimens were collected from soil debris and leaf litter through Berlese's funnel. The collected mite specimens were directly mounted on slides in Hoyer's medium under a stereomicroscope (SZX10, Olympus, Tokyo, Japan), and identified under a phase contrast microscope (DM2500, Leica, Wetzlar, Germany). Different mite body parts were pictured using an auto–montage software system (Syncroscopy, Cambridge, UK) and then drawn with Adobe Illustrator (Adobe System Inc., San Jose, CA, USA). The notation of the idiosomal setae follows that of Kethley (1990) and the notation of the cupules and female and male genitalia that of Judson (1995). All measurements of the holotype and paratypes (as ranges in parenthesis) are given in micrometers (μm). All specimens of new species have been deposited in KSMA (King Saud University Museum of Arthropods, Acarology section), Department of Plant Protection, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Results

Family Teneriffiidae Thor 1911

Genus Parateneriffia Thor 1911

Type species — Parateneriffia bipectinata Thor 1911

Genus Diagnosis — As emended by Mirza et al. (2023)

Parateneriffia abhaensis n. sp.

ZOOBANK: 03B48185-6E45-492A-A856-322CB3552F9B

Diagnosis

Females with prodorsal shield, oncophysis on palpgenu present, dorsal setae c₂ setae reaching f₁ , five setae on each telofemur III IV, genu II with 8 setae, a solenidion on each tibiae IV and tarsus III, subcapitular setae barbed, and number of setae on trochanter IV.

Female (n = 3)

Idiosoma oval. Body length (base of palp tibial claw to caudal margin) 882 (871–893), excluding gnathosoma 702 (695–712); width 435 (428–440) at level of seta c₂ .

Dorsum — (Figure 1) Prodorsal shield almost oval, 313 (310–318) long, 210 (210–217) wide at level of setae sce, apparently without pores and with weak regular longitudinal striations, two pairs of eyes adjacent to setae sce on body integument, anterior and posterior pairs 32 (30–31) and 41 (40–42) in diameter, respectively. Hysterosoma with three pairs of cupules (ia, im and ip) near setae d₁ , f₁ and h₁ . Prodorsal shield with four pairs of setae of which two pairs trichobothria (sci and vi); opisthosoma striated, bearing seven pairs of barbed setae (c₁ , c₂ , d₁ , e₁ , f₁ , h₁ , h₂ ). Stigmatic opening anterior to setae vi and near to base of chelicera, with about 13 rows of elongate alveoli at opening of peritremes. Lengths of dorsal setae as follows: vi 102 (103–105), ve 140 (138–141), sci 151 (150–153), sce 185 (180– 197), c₁ 175 (172–179), c₂ 292 (288–298), d₁ 175 (168–177), e₁ 165 (162–167), f₁ 150 (148–156), h₁ 126 (124–128), h₂ 80 (75–86). Distances between dorsal setae: vi–vi 45 (40–45), ve-ve 162 (160–167), sci-sci 131 (129–132), sce-sce 203 (196–202), vi-ve 75 (72–74), sci-ve 19 (15–20), sce-sci 74 (70–73), sce-c₁ 175 (174–175), c₁ -c₁ 125 (122–127), c₁ -c₂ 55 (53–56), c₂ -c₂ 232 (228– 237), c₁ -d₁ 73 (70–75), d₁ -d₁ 153 (150–152), d₁ -e₁ 65 (63–66), e₁ -e₁ 125 (120–124), e₁ -f₁ 80 (79– 82), f₁ -f₁ 78 (75–76), f₁ -h₁ 85 (82–85), h₁ -h₁ 35 (32–34), h₂ -h₂ 121 (118–123). Ratios between vi/vivi 2.26 (2.3–2.57); ve/ve-ve 0.86 (0.84–0.86), sci/sci-sci 1.15 (1.15–1.16), c₁ /c₁ -c₁ 1.4 (1.41); c₂ /c₂c₂ 1.26 (1.24–1.26); d₁ /d₁ -d₁ 1.14 (1.12–1.16); e₁ /e₁ -e₁ 1.32 (1.31-1.35); f₁ /f₁ -f₁ 1.92 (1.97–2.05); h₁ /h₁ -h₁ 3.65 (2.76–3.8); h₂ /h₂ -h₂ 0.66 (0.67).

Venter — (Figure 2) Ventral cuticle striated. Coxisternal shields smooth, bearing 14 pairs of setae (la, 1b, 1c, 1d, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 4a, 4b and 4c); coxisternal shields of legs I and II is fused, separated from those of legs III and IV. Aggential area with six pairs of setae (ag_{1 -6} ), genital valves with six pairs of genital setae (g_{1 -6} ), four pairs of eugenital setae (eug_{1 -4} ), three pairs of papillae associated setae (k_{1 -3} ), and three pairs of genital papillae; anal valves with three pairs of pseudanal setae (ps_{1 -3} ). Measurements of setae: g₁ 18 (16–20), g₂ 17 (16–18), g₃ 18 (17–18), g₄ 19 (17–19), g₅ 15 (14–16), g₆ 21 (20–21); ag₁ 42 (41–44), ag₂ 41 (38–40), ag₃ 38 (36–37), ag₄ 48 (47–49), ag₅ 53 (52–55), ag₆ 46 (44–45), k₁ 6 (5–7), k₂ 8 (7–8), k₃ 7(8), eug₁ 18 (17–20), eug₂ 22 (21-22), eug₃ 15 (14–15), eug₄ 11(10–11), ps₁ 42 (40–44), ps₂ 40 (38–40), ps₃ 42 (41–42). Distances between setae: g₁ -g₁ 15 (11–14), g₂ -g₂ 20 (17–19), g₃ -g₃ 28 (27–29), g₄ -g₄ 33 (32–33), g₅ -g₅ 29 (28-30), g₆-g₆ 23 (21–22); g₁ -g₂ 8 (7–8), g₂ -g₃ 10 (9–10), g₃ -g₄ 15 (13–15), g₄ -g₅ 13 (12–13), g₅ -g₆ 16 (15– 17); ag₁ -ag₁ 95 (93–96), ag₂ -ag₂ 95 (94–95), ag₃ -ag₃ 121 (120–122), ag₄ -ag₄ 190 (188–190), ag₅ -ag₅ 170 (165–168), ag₆ -ag₆ 65 (62–65), ag₁ -ag₂ 31 (29-33), ag₂ -ag₃ 38 (37–38), ag₃ -ag₄ 33 (31– 33), ag₄ -ag₅ 77 (75–77), ag₅ -ag₆ 62 (62–64), ps₁ -ps₁ 50 (49–50), ps₂ -ps₂ 65 (65–68), ps₃ -ps₃ 63 (62–64). Setae ps_{1 -3} fine and barbed.

Gnathosoma — (Figure 3) Palp five segmented, palptarsus reduced, with eight setae including a solenidion 3 (4) long; palptibia with one robust terminal spur (o1) 50 (50–51), two subterminal spurs (o2-3), 17 (16–18) and 14 (15) long, respectively, plus one serrated seta; palpfemur and genu each with one seta, 123 (121–122) and 70 (70–71) long, respectively; oncophysis on distal end of genu 11 (11–12) long. Chelicerae 175 (176), movable digit 30 (29–31), with setae cha 38 (38–39) and chb 72 (71–72); with one pair serrated subcapitular setae (m) and three pairs of adoral setae: m 65 (62–65); or1 46 (45–46), or2 10 (9–10) and or3 13 (12–13), or3 distinctly forked; distances between setae: m-m 44 (43–43), or1-or1 80 (80–81), or2-or2 32 (30–32), or3-or3 30 (29–30).

Legs — (Figures 4-5) Leg IV much longer than total length of body; each side of claws on tarsi I II with 12 strong pectinations without empodial claw; tarsi III IV claws with weak pectinations and each with one median pectinate empodium. Measurements of legs from trochanter to tip of true claws as follows: leg I 775 (770–776); leg II 780 (775–779); leg III 875 (869–873); leg IV 1075 (1072–1081). Setal formulae of leg (I IV) segments as follows (solenidia in parenthesis): coxae 4 3 4 3; trochanters 1 2 2 2; basifemora 5 6 4 4; telofemora 5 5 5 5, genua 8(1σ) 8(1σ) 7(1σ) 7; tibiae 12(1φ)(1κ) 12(1φ) 12(1φ) 12(1φ); tarsi 27(3ω) 27(3ω) 23(1ω)+1tric 23(2ω)+1tric; ω1I 16(16), ω2I 20 (18–19), ω3I 10 (9–10), ω1II 20 (19–20), ω2II 17 (16), ω3II 10 (11), ω1III 15 (16), ω1IV 18 (17–18), ω2IV 17 (16–17), κTiI 7 (8), φI 21 (19–20), φII 22 (22–24), φIII 23 (22– 23), φIV 21 (20–21); σI 31 (30–31), σII 28 (27–29), σIII 33 (32–33). Tarsi III IV with one long bothridial seta each, 118 (115–120) and 135 (135–136) long, respectively.

Etymology

The specific epithet (abhaensis) is derived from the name of region, Abha, where the type specimens of the new species were collected.

Type Material

One holotype (KSMAAS-19-Ten-Par-01) and two paratype females (KSMAAS-19-Ten-Par-02, KSMAAS-19-Ten-Par-03), soil litter and leaf debris, Wadi Al Gharr, Abha, 19.02250°N, 42.12192°E, October 29, 2019, coll. M. Kamran & H.M.S. Mushtaq.

Remarks

The new species, P. abhaensis n. sp., is morphologically close to P. khorramabadiensis (Khanjani et al. 2014) and P. shiraziensis (Khanjani et al. 2013) based on the presence of prodorsal shield, oncophysis on palpgenu, leg genu IV without solenidion and number of setae on leg basifemora I-IV. However, P. abhaensis n. sp. is distinct from both of the species based on number of setae on telofemora III-IV (5-5 in new species vs 4-4 in both species), genu II excluding solenidion (8 in new species vs 7 in both species) and number of solenidion on tibiae IV (one in new species vs three in both species), tarsus III (one in new species vs two in P. shiraziensis and absent in P. khorramabadiensis). Further, P. abhaensis n. sp., can be differentiated from P. khorramabadiensis due to subcapitular setae barbed vs simple; Parateneriffia abhaensis n. sp., can also be distinguished from P. shiraziensis based on length of setae c2 setae (reaching f₁ vs reaching h₁ ) and number of setae on trochanter IV (2 vs 3).

Funding

The authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the researchers supporting project number (RSPD2024R807), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the researchers supporting project King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for funding the research work. The authors are also thankful to Hafiz Muhammad Sajid Ali, Nasreldeen Ahmed Elgoni and Muhammad Waleed Shakoor (Acarology Research Laboratory) for their technical support.

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