Notophthiracarus quasiuluguruensis sp. nov.

(Figure 1)

Material examined

Holotype. Holotype is deposited at DATE from the locus typicus: TAN-016, Tanzania, Uluguru Mts, Bunduki village, 26 November 2010, 07°01 ′ 17 ″ S, 37°39 ′ 10 ″ E, altitude 1592 m asl, mid-altitude afromontane deciduous forest, litter sifting, leg. V. Grebennikov.

Measurements of holotype

Prodorsum: length 243, width 197, height 96, sensillus 78, prodorsal setae: in 15, le 13, ro 35; notogaster: length 465, width 343, height 313, setae: c 1, h 1 and ps 1 56; genitoaggenital plate 126 × 109, anoadanal plate 164 × 101.

Description

Colour light brown. Surface of body porose and with well-developed sculpture.

Prodorsum with well-developed, joined sigillar fields, with deep sinus between rostral setae; lateral carinae absent, posterior furrows feeble. Sensilli long, with pedicel narrow proximally, slightly dilated in the middle part and again narrow with small dilated head covered with minute spines. Setae needleform, rough, except exobothridial setae vestigial.

Notogaster with needleform, short notogastral setae (c 1 /c 1 – d 1 = 0.5), setae of row c remote from anterior border of notogaster, setae c 2 more than setae c 1 and c 3. Two pairs of lyrifissures ia and im present. Vestigial setae f 1 and f 2 not observable.

Ventral region, setae h of mentum shorter than distance between them. Formula of genital setae: 5 + 4: 0; genital setae g 1 – 4 smaller than setae g 5 – 9. Anoadanal plates with five pairs of unequal in length of setae, ad 2> an 2> ad 3> an 1> ad 1, adanal setae ad 1 and ad 2 in unusual position, posteriorly of anal setae.

Legs, chaetome of legs of ‘incomplete type’, setae v ′ of femora I absent, setae d of femora I slightly remote from distal ends of the articles.

Etymology

The prefix quasi is Latin meaning ‘near’ and refers to the similarity of the new species to another new species from Tanzania – Notophthiracarus uluguruensis sp. nov.

Comparison

The new species is very similar to Notophthiracarus uluguruensis sp. nov. in the shape and length of the setae, the joined sigillar fields of the prodorsum and the unusual position of the adanal setae ad 1 and ad 2. It is distinguishable by porose surface of body (versus surface covered by mosaic), the totally different shape and length of the sensilli, which are long, dilated in the middle with a small head with short spines (versus short, fusiform and rounded), shorter prodorsal setae, absence of lateral carinae of prodorsum (versus presence of carinae), considerably shorter setae h of the mentum than the distance between them (versus h> h – h), longer an 2 setae and the absence of v ′ setae of the femora I.