Molothrognathus tauricus Khaustov 2021, n. sp.
Creators: name: Khaustov, Alexander
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Acari
Caligonellidae
Molothrognathus
Molothrognathus tauricus

description: Molothrognathus tauricus n. sp.   
Zoobank: 1A3D7D07-6A22-4AB1-BD09-E44266190FC1  
(Figures 9–15)  
 Diagnosis — Female. Dorsal shield present in space between setae vi, ve and c1 ; setae sce distinctly longer than other dorsal setae; setae c2 much shorter than sce and subequal with ve ; setae ag3 absent.   
 Description   
 Female (Figs 9-11) — Length of idiosoma 320, width 185.   
 Idiosomal dorsum (Fig. 9A) ‒ Ovate. Dorsal idiosomal stria thin, usually double; dorsal shield present, smooth, weakly sclerotized, ovate, and located in space between setae vi, ve, and c1. Two pairs of ocelli located posterolaterad setae sci, posterior ocellus poorly visible. Cupuli ia, im and ip large, almost round; ia located just posteriad ocelli, im anterolaterad d and ip laterad f. All dorsal idiosomal setae smooth and pointed; sce distinctly longer than other dorsal setae; setae ve, sci and c2 subequal, c1 slightly shorter than c2. Anal valves located dorsal; two pairs of pseudanal setae. Lengths of dorsal setae: vi 22, ve 18, sci 21, sce 44, c1 14, c2 20, d   
 16, e 20, f 19, h1 27, h2 26, ps1 7, ps2 10.   
 Idiosomal venter (Fig. 9B) ‒ Ventral idiosoma without plate between coxae, striated. Coxal fields I-II and III-IV smooth. All ventral setae smooth and pointed. Two pairs of aggenital and one pair of genital setae; cupuli ih located posterolaterad ag2. Lengths of ventral setae: 1a 30, 1b 25, 1c 26, 2c 23, 3a 37, 3b 23, 4a 27, 4c 21, ag1 25, ag2 17, g 15.   
 Gnathosoma (Fig. 10) ‒ Stylophore almost triangular (Fig. 10A), split distally, longitudinally striated, its length 82, width 46; peritremes tubular, typical for the genus; cheliceral stylets long, about three times longer than cheliceral levers. Palpal supracoxal setae ep () located in deep depression with terminal pore; palpal chaetotaxy as in Caligonella quinqueocellata ; tibial claw well developed, slightly hooked; all palpal setae smooth, eupathidia acmϛ, ul’ϛ, ul”ϛ, sulϛ blunt-tipped, other palpal setae pointed. Subcapitulum with few sparsely distributed puncta (Fig. 10B); all subcapitular setae smooth and pointed; lengths of subcapitular setae: m 35, or1   
 8, or2 9, length of palptarsal solenidion ω 5.   
 Legs (Fig. 11) ‒ Lengths of legs: I 205, II 150, III 170, IV 200. Setation of legs as in Caligonella quinqueocellata. Leg I (Fig. 11A) longer than other legs. Supracoxal seta of leg I (el) located in deep depression with terminal pore; seta k of genu located in shallow depression; all leg setae smooth; setae (tc) and (p) eupathid-like, blunt-tipped, other leg setae pointed; solenidion ω 10 digitiform, solenidia φ 3 and φp 7 baculiform. Leg II (Fig. 11B). All leg setae smooth; seta p”ϛ eupathid-like, blunt-tipped; other leg setae pointed; solenidion ω 4 digitiform. Leg III (Fig. 11C). All leg setae smooth and pointed. Leg IV (Fig. 11D). All leg setae smooth and pointed.   
 Protonymph (Figs 12, 14C) — Length of idiosoma 250‒275, width 155‒160.   
 Idiosomal dorsum (Fig. 12A) ‒ completely striated, without distinct dorsal shield, with oval area with very thin stria anteriad c1. Dorsal setae and cupuli as in female. Anal opening terminal. Lengths of dorsal setae: vi 18, ve 17, sci 17, sce 46, c1 15, c2 19, d 17, e 18, f 20, h1   
 33, h2 35, ps1 8, ps2 8.   
 Idiosomal venter (Fig. 12B) ‒ Ventral idiosoma completely striated. Coxal field I‒III as in female; coxal fields IV without setae; one pair of aggenital setae. All ventral setae smooth and pointed; cupuli ih located anteriad h2. Lengths of ventral setae: 1a 24, 1b 22, 1c 22, 2c 17, 3a   
 34, 3b 17, ag 18.   
 Gnathosoma ‒ as in female. Length of stylophore 69, width 40, lengths of setae: m 24, or1   
 7, or2 7, length of palptarsal solenidion ω 4.   
 Legs (Fig. 14C) ‒ Lengths of legs: I 175, II 130, III 150, IV 165. Setation of legs I‒III as in female. Leg I longer than other legs. Solenidion ω 8 digitiform, solenidia φ 3 and φp 6 baculiform. Leg II. Solenidion ω 4 digitiform. Leg IV (Fig. 14C). Leg setation: Tr 0, Fe 1 (ev  ′ ), Ge 1 (v  ′ ), Ti 4 (d, l”, v  ′ , v”), Ta 8 (tc  ′ , tc”, a  ′ , a”, u  ′ , u”, pv  ′ , pv”). All leg setae smooth and pointed.   
 Larva (Figs 13, 14A, B, 15) — Length of idiosoma 235, width 135.   
 Idiosomal dorsum (Fig. 13A) ‒ completely striated, without dorsal shield. Dorsal setae c2 much longer than in female and protonymph. Anal opening terminal. Lengths of dorsal setae: vi 21, ve 17, sci 19, sce 78, c1 20, c2 57, d 17, e 25, f 38, h1 49, h2 35, ps1 7, ps2 8.   
 Idiosomal venter (Fig. 13B) ‒ Ventral idiosoma similar with that of protonymph, except absence of setae 2c, 3b and ag1. Lengths of ventral setae: 1a 25, 1b 26, 3a 35.   
 Gnathosoma (Fig. 14A, B) ‒ in general similar to that of female except following: subcapitulum without setae m (Fig. 14A), palptarsus with setae acm and sul simple (not eupathidia) (Fig. 14B). Length of stylophore 60, width 33, lengths of setae: or1 7, or2 8, length of palptarsal solenidion ω 3.   
 Legs (Fig. 15) ‒ Lengths of legs: I 165, II 125, III 145. Setation of legs as in larva of Caligonella quinqueocellata, except absence of seta p” on tarsus II. Leg I (Fig. 15A) longer than other legs. All leg setae smooth; setae p () eupathid-like, blunt-tipped, other leg setae pointed; solenidion ω 7 digitiform, solenidia φ 3 and φp 6 baculiform. Leg II (Fig. 15B). All leg setae smooth and pointed; solenidion ω 5 digitiform. Leg III (Fig. 15C). All leg setae smooth and pointed.   
 Type material — Female holotype, slide ZISP T-Cal-02, Crimea, Aeabat Spit, 45°17  ′  54.0  ″  N 35°28  ′  19.0  ″  E, 14 June 2021, moss on sandy soil, coll. A.A. Khaustov. Paratypes: 1 larva, 2 protonymphs, same data.   
 Type deposition — The holotype and 2 protonymph paratypes of the new species are deposited in the acarological collection of the Zoological Institute of RAS, St. Petersburg, Russia ; other paratype is deposited in the mite collection of the Tyumen State University Museum of Zoology, Tyumen, Russia.   
 Etymology — The name of the new species refers to its distribution in Crimea.   
 Differential diagnosis — The female of the new species is most similar to Molothrognatus crucis Summers and Schlinger, 1955, described from USA (Summers and Schlinger 1955) and redescribed from Turkey (Doğan 2003), and M. mikaeeli Bagheri and Ahamazad, 2012, described from Iran (Ahanazad and Bagheri 2012), by the absence of setae ag3, and setae   
 c2 subequal with c1 and ve and distinctly shorter than sce. The new species differs from M. mikaeeli by the presence of dorsal idiosomal shield (absent M in. mikaeeli). The new species differs from M. crucis in having dorsal idiosomal shield much shorter, its posterior margin not exceeding beyond bases of setae c1 and oval in shape (dorsal idiosomal shield very long, tongue-shaped, its posterior margin exceeding beyond bases of setae d in M. crucis) and by distinctly shorter setae sce, which about twice longer than c2 (sce much longer, about three times longer than c 2 in M. crucis). The female of the new species is also similar to M. shirazicus Khanjani, Bakhshi and Khanjani, 2016, described from Iran (Khanjani et al. 2016) and M. colei Swift, 1996, described from Hawaii (Swift 1996), by the similar shape of dorsal idiosomal shield. The new species differs from both species by the absence of setae ag3 (present in M. shirazicus and M. colei). The new species differs from M. shirazicus in having setae c2 subequal with ve and sci (c2 distinctly longer than ve and sci in M. shirazicus). The new species differs from M. colei in having setae c2 twice shorter than sce (c2 and sce subequal in M. colei).
description: Published as part of Khaustov, Alexander, 2021, Two new species of Caligonellidae (Acari: Raphignathoidea) from Crimea, pp. 910-927 in Acarologia 61 (4) on pages 917-923, DOI: 10.24349/DZRV-GIdY, http://zenodo.org/record/7159815