Pseudotritia ardua (C. L. Koch, 1841)

Hoplophora ardua C. L. Koch, 1841, fasc. 32 (15).

Tritia lentula, Berlese, 1887a, fasc. 36 (3); 1896b, p. 20.

Phthiracarus canestrinii Michael, 1898, p. 81.

Phtiracarus canestrinii, Berlese, 1913a, p. 55.

Tritia ardua, Sellnick, 1923, p. 12, figs. 1, 12, 23, 24.

Oribotritia ardua, Sellnick, 1928, p. 39.

Pseudotritia ardua, Jacot, 1930, p. 243, pl. 38 figs. 44-51; Märkel, 1958, p. 486, fig. 5.

Oribotritia loricata, Willmann, 1931, p. 194, fig. 358.

Berlese's figure of Tritia lentula (non lentula C. L. Koch) demonstrates that the species has one lateral ridge on the aspis, and a slightly thickened sensillus; it is therefore identical with Pseudotritia ardua (C. L. Koch), and different from the related species P. duplicata Grandjean (cf. Märkel, 1958).

In the Berlese Collection I studied two slides (nos. 215/41, 42) with speciniens from Torino that are ardua indeed.

I remark that Michael's arduus is duplicata, whilst he gave the name canestrinii to our ardua. Berlese (1913a) apparently accepted this opinion, for at that time he mentioned arduus as well as canestrinii. Probably both species are present in the Collection, because Lombardini (1936, p. 50) mentioned both Tritia ardua and Tritia lentula (Michael's canestrinii) in his Catalogue.