Cosmochthonius foliatus Subias 1982
Creators: name: Seniczak, Stanisław
name: Penttinen, Ritva
name: Seniczak, Anna
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Sarcoptiformes
Cosmochthoniidae
Cosmochthonius
Cosmochthonius foliatus

description: Cosmochthonius foliatus Subías, 1982 (Figs 8 B, 9B, 10B. 11, 12, 13A, 14–16)
Cosmochthonius foliatus: Ruiz and Subías 1984; Minguez and Subías 1986; Ruiz et al. 1986, 1991; Arillo et al. 1988; Pérez- Iñigo 1988; Pérez-Iñigo, Jr 1990; Gil et al.1991; Subías 2004, 2011; Penttinen and Gordeeva 2009. Cosmochthonius lanatus: Sergienko 1987, 1994.
Diagnosis. Adult small (279–325 µm), light brown. Seta c 3 hardly reaching seta cp, and inserted on lateral border of plate Na (Figs 11, 12). Setae of e - and f -series with 23–25 pairs of cilia, and 22–24 pairs, respectively (Table 2). Cerotegument thick, with small holes (seen in SEM; Penttinen & Gordeeva 2005); cuticle with shallow, rounded and sub-equal foveae (Fig. 12). Cerotegumental collar present. Genital plate with 10 pair of setae, six pairs inserted on inner border of genital plate (Fig. 13 A). Formulae of leg setae and solenidia, and number of claws as in C. reticulatus.
Juveniles similar to those of C. reticulatus, but setae of e - and f -series with more cilia (larva 10–11 pairs, nymphs 19–23 pairs) than in C. reticulatus.
Description of larva and tritonymph: Shape of larva (Figs 14, 15 A), prodorsal setae, bothridium, and sensillus as in C. reticulatus. Gastronotal setae similar to those of C. reticulatus, but hypertrophied setae with 10–11 pairs of cilia. Cupules ia, im, ip and ih located as in C. reticulatus.
Shape of body, setae, bothridium and sensillus of tritonymph (Figs 15 B, 16) as in C. reticulatus, but hypertrophied setae with 19–23 pairs of cilia (Figs 8 B, 16). Setae p 1 and h -series bushy, p 1 and h 1 thicker than h 2 and h 3 (Fig. 10 B). Cupules ia, im, ip, ih, ips and iad located as in C. reticulatus. Ontogenetic transformations of C. foliatus, and shape of tibia and tarsus I, solenidia φ and ω, and famulus ε as in C. ponticus (see Seniczak & Seniczak 2009a).
FIGURE 9. Fragment of plates Na and Nm 1, scale bars 10 μm. (A) Cosmochthonius reticulatus; (B) C. foliatus; (C) C. ugamaensis; (D) C. ponticus.
Distribution and ecology: Cosmochthonius foliatus is a Mediterranean occidental species (Subías 2004, 2011). It is considered common in the western Mediterranean (Gil et al. 1991, Penttinen & Gordeeva 2009), but was also found in oak litter (Quercus pubescens Willd.) in the Ukraine. Pérez-Iñigo jr. (1990) considred this species xerophilous; it was found in sandy soil covered with herbs (Pérez-Iñigo & Peña 1995). We found this species rather abundant (102 indiv. per 500 cm 3) in cypress litter in coastal Santa Susana (Costa Brava, North-East Spain, N41°37.26’, E2°43.24’, 4 m a. s. l.), where juveniles comprised 38.2% of the population.
Figure 11. Cosmochthonius foliatus, adult. (A) Notogaster with cerotegument, scale bar 50 μm; (B) fragment of pygidium.
Figure 12. Cosmochthonius foliatus, adult. (A) Notogaster, cerotegument removed, scale bar 50 μm; (B) fragment of pygidium.
description: Published as part of Seniczak, Stanisław, Penttinen, Ritva & Seniczak, Anna, 2011, The ontogeny of morphological traits in three European species of Cosmochthonius Berlese, 1910 (Acari: Oribatida: Cosmochthoniidae), pp. 1-31 in Zootaxa 3034 on pages 12-17, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.278726