A new species of spider mites, Schizotetranychus tjumeniensis n. sp., is described based on females and males collected from Timothy grass, Phleum pratense L. (Poaceae), in the city of Tyumen, Russia. The new species belongs to the schizopus species group and subgroup, and it is most similar to Sch. tbilisiensis Reck and Sch. tumidus Wang.
Stigmaeopsis saharai Saito and Mori, 2004 was recorded from Russia for the first time. Additionally, Bryobia praetiosa Koch, 1836, Eotetranychus thujae (McGregor, 1950), and Oligonychus lagodechii Livshits and Mitrofanov, 1969 were listed from the Russian Far East.
Our recent examination of museum collections has produced new data on the taxonomy and distribution of chigger mites parasitizing bat and bird hosts in Tropical Africa. Two new species are described in this article: Hypotrombidium nigeriense sp. n. from two bird species in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Riedlinia (Trombigastia) maritzburgensis sp. n. from the Geoffroy’s horseshoe bat in the Republic of South Africa. An incompletely described species Neoschoengastia mirafra Radford, 1942 was redescribed based on the holotype and additional specimens from Nigeria. A subspecies, Heaslipia gateri africana Vercammen-Grandjean and Audy, 1957, was synonymized with Heaslipia gateri (Womersley and Heaslip, 1943). An undescribed species, Trombigastia wago (nomen nudum), proposed by Vercammen-Grandjean based on specimens collected from the Bates’s slit-faced bat in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was found to be identical with R. (T.) maritzburgensis sp. n. An undescribed species, Trombigastia asmaraensis (nomen nudum), proposed by Vercammen-Grandjean based on the specimens collected from an unidentified bat in Eritrea (currently the State of Eritrea), was synonymized with Riedlinia (Trombigastia) mounti (Radford, 1954), described from the same locality. Seven new country records and some new host records have been reported.
A new feather mite species, Dermonoton avdeyuki sp. n. (Pterolichoidea: Kramerellidae), is described from the Blakiston’s fish owl, Ketupa blakistoni (Seebohm), in the Kuril Islands of the Russian Far East. Of six previously known species, the new species is closest to D. longiventer (Mégnin and Trouessart, 1884). It differs from D. longiventer in having setae c3 shorter than trochanters III in both sexes, the terminal cleft approximately as wide as the opisthosomal lobes and setae 4b posterior to the level of epimerites III tips in males, and the posterior margin of opisthosoma widely rounded in females. World checklist, host associations and distribution of Dermonoton species are provided.
For the first time, unknown protists were found in the midgut of larvae Hirsutiella zachvatkini (Schluger, 1948) (Trombiculidae), feeding on a bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus in the Pskovskaya Oblast (Russia). The same protozoans were also identified in the tissues of the vole. Generally, these cells were spindle-shaped, around 4 µm in length, exhibiting a violet cytoplasm and a blue centrally located elongated nucleus, as highlighted by staining. Most probably, these cells represent one of the Babesia (Piroplasmida) species in a single-cell stage (e. g., sporozoites), which got into the vole accidentally as a result of a possible tick bite. Alternatively, these cells represent one of the Toxoplasma (Eimeriida) species in the individual cell form (e. g., tachyzoites or sporozoites) that may be encountered in other animals. However, a single instance of the presence of protozoans in trombiculid larvae may suggest that (i) the circulation of protozoans among the population of voles or trombiculids in northwestern Russia is highly restricted and is not of an epidemiological importance and (ii) this path of infection is blind and may cause the subsequent death of both the larva and the protists.
This article provides the first data on the mites of the family Tenuipalpidae in Asian Russia. Two species, Tenuipalpus parsii Khosrowshahi and Arbabi and Colopalpus kvavadzei Arabuli, are recorded from Russia for the first time. Tenuipalpus parsii was collected from Plantago urvillei Opiz (Plantaginaceae) in the city of Tyumen and in the Altaisky Krai. Colopalpus kvavadzei was collected from Agrostis vinealis Schreb (Poaceae) in the city of Tyumen. The female and male of T. parsii are redescribed, and immatures are described for the first time, based on the materials from Western Siberia. This is the northernmost record of the Tenuipalpus mites in the world.
The genus Camerobia Southcott (Acariformes: Camerobiidae) is a small but morphologically distinctive group within the superfamily Raphignathoidea. It currently comprises six described species worldwide, with one species—C. turcica Koç and Kara—from Türkiye. In this study, another species, C. exnuda sp. n., is described from Türkiye based on female specimens. The new species is distinguished by its dorsocentral setal arrangement; namely, the absence of a pair of central setae (ex), which serves as a key diagnostic character. An updated key to the known species of Camerobia is also provided. Additionally, a pair of cupule-like depressions (ih) is described from the anogenital region of C. exnuda sp.n., resembling the fosssette-like paired micro-areas known from Stigmaeidae, and the possible homology of these structures is briefly discussed. Taken together, these findings expand the known distribution and diversity of Camerobia and provide additional data for understanding camerobiid morphology and taxonomy.
One new species of Symbioribates (Oribatida, Symbioribatidae) is described, based on adults collected from tree branches in the Kon Chu Rang Nature Reserve, central Vietnam. Symbioribates sacculus sp. n. is characterized by the presence of saccules and a heavy granulate cerotegument on the notogaster.
An adult and a tritonymphal instar of a new arboreal species—Scapheremaeus prodigialis sp. n. (Oribatida, Cymbaeremaeidae)—are described from the Kon Chu Rang Nature Reserve, central Vietnam. The adult is characterized by: costula with long, broad and rounded distally cusp; lamellar seta comparatively long, thickened; interlamellar and exobothridial setae absent; circumdorsal scissure absent; dorsocentral region of notogaster sparsely tuberculate, with two large, weakly developed raised parts and three weakly visible transverse furrows; nine pairs of notogastral setae with c, dm and dp short, weakly swollen distally, la, lm, lp and h1–h3 comparatively long, thickened, weakly dilated in distal half, c and la located close to each other, lm, lp and h1–h3 located in posterolateral position. The tritonymph is characterized by: flattened and comparatively broad body; sparsely plicate gastronotic surface; short, acicular bothridial seta; vestigial bothridium; long, setiform lamellar and interlamellar setae; long, setiform gastronotic setae c3, la, lm, lp, h1–h3 and p1 inserted on large tubercles; and short, acicular gastronotic setae c1, c2, da, dm and dp.
A new species, Robustocheles (Robustocheles) alani sp. n., is described from the Tsey Gorge in the Central Caucasus. The new species is most similar to R. (R.) montana but differs in the presence of a spiniform famulus on rhagidial organ II, six setae on coxal fields III and 12 setae on tarsus III in adults. This is the second species of the genus Robustocheles discovered in the Central Caucasus and in Russia.
This article presents the results of a taxonomic processing of hard ticks (Ixodida: Ixodidae) from the caves of Crimea and the Caucasus. All studied material was collected in caves, from the habitats of their potential hosts. As a result of the present study, the hard tick fauna from the caves of Crimea and the Caucasus presently amounts to four species from two genera. The species Ixodes redikorzevi was recorded from caves by us for the first time. One of the recorded species, I. vespertilionis, is an eutroglophile that is a specialized parasitize on bats. Other species, I. hexagonus, I. redikorzevi and Hyalomma marginatum, are trogloxenes, entering the caves with their hosts during periodic visits.
Two new species of Microdispidae (Acari: Pygmephoroidea), Dolichodispus neotropicus sp. n. and Cochlodispus mexicanus sp. n. are described from the forest litter in Mexico. The genus Dolichodispus Khaustov is recorded from the Neotropical region for the first time. The current diagnosis of the genus Cochlodispus Mahunka is discussed. In addition, a key to the species of the Dolichodispus genus is provided.
The present article reviews the main parasite–host model systems that have been used in recent studies in the molecular genetic analysis and in the investigation of the morpho-functional traits of mite gallogenesis on the leaves of angiosperms. The aforementioned works focused on the development of galls with a chamber, while other types of mite galls, including the most simply organized (erinea), remain virtually unstudied. Our article discusses the possible role of endosymbiotic bacteria in the induction of mite gallogenesis, as well as changes in the adaxial-abaxial polarity of the leaf and the expression of host plant genes during gallogenesis. The need for additional testing of the hypothesis regarding the participation of bacteria of the genera Wolbachia and Rhodococcus in the induction of gallogenesis is demonstrated. We have revealed certain convergent similarities in the gallogeneses induced by the grape phylloxera and by the gall mites. In particular, in both instances, the nutritive tissue is formed, the primary gall-inducing stimulus is produced by the feeding of females on young leaves, and the gall formations are accompanied by the abaxialization of the leaf. A review of the literature suggests that the Hearn’s hypothesis about the similarity of arthropod gallogenesis with the somatic embryogenesis of plants, as well as Wolpert’s embryological concept of the positional information in its classical form, are not appropriate for the modeling of gallogenesis. Finally, a new impetus for the study of gallogenesis could be provided by the studies that investigate the link between the genetic heterogeneity of different zones of the leaf blade and the developmental patterns of galls formed in these zones under the influence of plant parasites.
