Phyllhermannia Berlese, 1916

Phyllhermannia Berlese, 1916, p. 65.

Berlese created Phyllhermannia as a subgenus of Hermannia, with Hermannia phyllophora (Michael, 1908, p. 140, pl. XX figs. 17-23) from New Zealand as type. He did not give a diagnosis and probably he had not seen the type-species.

In the Michael Collection in the British Museum (Natural History) I found a specimen labelled as Hermannia palmifer, which is certainly the one described by Michael as H. phyllophora; it originates from the same locality (Ruahine Range, New Zealand). The slide is not suited for a detailed study, but I could observe that there are lanceolate hairs on the notogaster, which Michael overlooked. The specimen must, however, be remounted for further study.

For the moment the systematic position of Phyllhermannia phyllophora remains therefore doubtful; it has a superficial resemblance to Hermannia, but in other characters it reminds of the higher Oribatei.