Kokoppia mandelai Hugo-Coetzee, 2014, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Hugo-Coetzee, Elizabeth A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Sarcoptiformes
Oppiidae
Kokoppia
Kokoppia mandelai

description: Kokoppia mandelai sp. nov.
(Figs 6, 7)
Diagnosis. Kokoppia mandelai sp. nov. can be distinguished from other Kokoppia species by a combination of the following characters: seta lm antero-medial to la; seta c 2 represented by alveolus; sensillus fusiform with eight to nine branches.
Description. Measurements. Length: females (n=5) mean 303 (range 283–314), males (n=5) 289 (265–302). Width: females 139 (130–146), males 137 (123–153). Holotype (male): length 303, width 139.
Integument (Fig. 6 A, C). Body surface smooth; lateral side of prodorsum, exobothridial region above Pd II granulated.
Prodorsum (Fig. 6 A, C). Rostrum rounded, ro (26) barbed, inserted laterally in dorsal view, le (18) smooth, in (24) barbed, ex (17) smooth, inserted on tubercle; light quadrangular field demarcated by indistinct lamellar and translamellar lines, le, in within this field; ss (49 measured without branches) fusiform with eight to nine branches of various sizes (longest branch 35), two shortest branches proximally, followed by the longest branch, whereafter branches gradually shorten; postbothridial tubercle present; posteriorly directed tubercle present in interbothridial region, posterior to in.
Notogaster (Fig. 6 A, C). Nine pairs of smooth notogastral setae, medium length, la, lm, lp, h 1, h 2, h 3, p 2 ~ 23–28, p 1, p 3 ~ 19–20; seta lm antero-medially to la, seta lp, h 2 slightly antero-medially to h 3, p 3 respectively, seta c 2 represented by small alveolus, seta p 2 curving downwards; lyrifissure ia (5) thin, im (7) distinct, anterior to seta h 3.
Epimeral region (Fig. 6 B). Setae 3c barbed, 1c, 3b, 3c, 4b (13–16)> 1a, 1b, 2a, 4a, 4c (8–9)> 3a (5); discidium distally triangular.
Anogenital region (Fig. 6 B, C). Six pairs of smooth, short genital setae (3), g 1 on anterior border of genital plates; ag (10), anal setae (10) smooth; adanal setae smooth (15–18), ad 3 postero-laterally to ag, ad 1 postanal, ad 2 lateral to iad, iad (7) inverse apoanal.
Legs (Fig. 7). Leg IV (220)> leg I (181)> leg III (177)> leg II (143); leg setation: leg I: 1-5-2(1)-4(2)-20(2), leg II: 1-5-2(1)-4(1)-14(2), leg III: 2-3-1(1)-3(1)-13, leg IV: 1-2-2-3(1)-10; ventral setae well barbed, other setae lightly barbed, except p on Ta I and u on Ta I–IV, l” on Ge I–II, d on Ge IV smooth; solenidion φ on Ti II, Ti III of medium length, on Ti IV long.
Etymology. This species is named in honor of the late Mr Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa. He wrote about the Free State (in which Golden Gate is situated) in his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, the following: “The province of the Orange Free State has always had a magical effect on me….the Free State’s landscape gladdens my heart no matter what my mood. When I am there, I feel that nothing can shut me in, that my thoughts can roam as far and wide as the horizons” (Mandela 1994).
Type material. The holotype and 10 paratypes were collected in Golden Gate Highlands National Park (28º30’S, 28º37’E) by C.M. Engelbrecht, 18.III.1986 from moist soil and decomposed plant material under Leucosidea plants. The holotype (NMB 3454.5.1) and seven paratypes (NMB 3454.5) are deposited in the Acarology collection of the National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Three paratypes (NMSA-Aca 20005, Type 4027) are stored in the collection of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
Remarks. Kokoppia mandelai sp. nov. is most similar to K. euramosa (Balogh & Mahunka, 1969) (Neotropial) and K. rafalski (Hammer, 1968) (New Zealand) in that notogastral seta lm is antero-medially to la. However, they differ in the following: presence or absence of seta c 2 (K. mandelai absent, K. euramosa, K. rafalski present); small tubercle on hysterosoma posterior to bothridium present or absent (K. rafalski present, K. euramosa, K. mandelai absent); interbothridial tubercle behind seta in present or absent (K. mandelai, K. euramosa present, K. rafalski absent).
description: Published as part of Hugo-Coetzee, Elizabeth A., 2014, New Oppiidae (Acari: Oribatida) from the Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa, pp. 533-552 in Zootaxa 3884 (6) on page 543, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3884.6.2, http://zenodo.org/record/228382