Phauloppia nemoralis
Creators: name: Seniczak, Anna
name: Seniczak, Stanisław
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Sarcoptiformes
Oribatulidae
Phauloppia
Phauloppia nemoralis

description: Phauloppia nemoralis (Berlese, 1916)
(Figs. 2–18)
Diagnosis
Adult of medium size (length 422–624), with characters of Phauloppia given by Kim et al. (2016) and Weigmann (2006). Prodorsal seta in and le long, ro of medium size, and ex slightly shorter than ro. Setae in, le and ro barbed, ex smooth. Bothridium large, rounded, bothridial seta clavate, with barbed head, prodorsal lamella poorly formed, observed only in SEM figures. Notogastral setae (13 pairs, including c 1 and c 2; p 3 absent) of medium size and barbed, four pairs of oval porose areas present, Aa elongated and larger than other porose areas. Solenidion ω 2 on tarsus I longer and thinner than ω 1, seta ft'' relatively long and located posterior to solenidion ω 2.
In juveniles, prodorsal setae ro, le and in of medium size or long, ex short, and bothridial seta of medium size and clavate, with barbed head. Larva with 12 pairs of gastronotal setae, nymphs with 14 pairs (p 1 and p 2 added in protonymph), all of medium size and barbed. Basal excentrosclerites present at setae c 2, h 1 and l -series in larva, and at setae c 2, p 1 and l - and h -series in nymphs. In nymphs, solenidion ω 2 on tarsus I longer and thinner than ω 1, seta ft'' relatively long, and located posterior to solenidion ω 2.
Morphology of adult
Adults (Figs. 2–9) similar to that described by Berlese (1916), and redescribed by Mahunka and Mahunka-Papp (1995), but see Remarks. Mean length (and range) of females 540.2±29.3 (494–624, n= 24) and males 467.3±24.4 (422–514, n= 26), mean width (and range) of females 335.7±21.3 (280–351) and males 290.7±18.1 (260–325). Prodorsal setae (4 pairs) of medium size or long, most barbed, ex smooth, prodorsal lamella not visible in the light microscopy but visible in SEM as a very fine line (Figs. 5a–c, 6, 7a). Cerotegument near bothridium with specific ornamentation (Figs. 7c, 7d). Notogastral setae (13 pairs, including c 1 and c 2; seta p 3 absent) of medium size and barbed (Figs. 2, 4a, 5a–c, 6, 7a–c, Table 1). Four pairs of oval porose areas present, Aa elongated and larger than other porose areas. Setae of ovipositor short and smooth (Fig. 4a). Opisthonotal gla opening lateral to seta lp, lyrifissure ia posterolateral to seta c 2, im anterior to seta lp, ip between setae h 1 and p 1, iad lateral to anterior part of anal plate, ips and ih anterior to seta p 2 (Figs. 3, 4a).
Subcapitular seta h, m and a short and smooth (Figs. 3, 8c, 8d). Chelicera chelate-dentate, with finely barbed setae, cha slightly longer than chb (Fig. 4b, 8c, 8d). Palp relatively short, with setae of medium size and smooth (Fig. 4c, 8d), formula of palp setae (trochanter to tarsus + solenidion ω): 0-2-1-3-9(1).
All epimeral setae short and smooth (Figs. 3, 5d, 8b, 8c), except for slightly longer 1c, formula of epimeral setae 3-1-3-3. One pair of aggenital setae, but in some individuals two aggenital setae present on one side; four pairs of genital setae, three pairs of adanal setae and two pairs of anal setae present; all short and smooth.
All leg femora flat, with ventral carina, most leg setae with short barbs, seta ft'' relatively long and located posterior to solenidion ω 2 (Figs. 5, 6, 8a–c, 9). Formulae of leg setae (and solenidia), trochanter to tarsus: I –1-5-3(1)- 4(2)-20(2); II – 1-5-3(1)- 4(1)-15; III –2-3-1(1)- 3(1)-15; IV –1-2-2-3(1)-12 (Table 2). Leg tarsi heterotridactylous.
Remarks. The body range of adults investigated herein is larger than that of specimens studied by Berlese (1916) – length 450–550, Balogh (1943) – length 400–500, Schweizer (1956) – length 414–450 and Weigmann (2006) – length 450–550, in these papers sex ratio was not investigated. The figure drawn by Schweizer (1956) is general but shows the body shape and notogastral setae of medium size, as in our individuals. Phauloppia coineaui was treated by Subías (2004) as a synonym of Ph. nemoralis, but it differs clearly from Ph. nemoralis by having more notogastral setae (14 pairs, including p 3); longer notogastral setae (60–90), and smaller porose area Aa than in specimens studied herein.
Description of juvenile stages
Larva elongated (Figs. 10, 11a, 12a) and light-yellow. Most prodorsal setae of medium size (Table 1) and barbed, ro and in longer than le, seta ex short and smooth. Mutual distance between setal pair le about 1.5 times longer than between setal pair ro, and between setal pair in over four times longer than between setal pair ro, setae le inserted closer to in than to ro (Figs. 10, 11a, 12a). Bothridium rounded, bothridial seta of medium size and clavate, with thick, barbed head. Prodorsal shield well-developed.
Gastronotum of larva with 12 pairs of setae, including h 3 located lateral to the middle of anal valves. Most setae of medium size and finely barbed, except for slightly longer h 1, and short and smooth h 3 (Table 1). Setae c 2, h 1 and l -series with basal excentrosclerites, excentrosclerite at seta c 2 larger than at other setae, other setae without excentrosclerites. Gastronotal shield weakly developed. Cupule ia posteromedial to seta c 3, cupule im posterolateral to seta lm, cupule ip between setae h 1 and h 2, cupule ih lateral to anterior part of anal valves. Opisthonotal gland opening gla anteroventral to seta lp. Paraproctal valves (segment PS) with two pairs of small and smooth setae. Most leg setae of medium size and finely barbed, seta ft'' relatively long, but clearly shorter than ft' (Fig. 13).
Prodorsum and prodorsal setae of protonymph as in larva, but head of bothridial seta slimmer than in larva. Gastronotum of protonymph with 14 pairs of setae because two pairs of p -series setae appearing and present in other nymphs (Figs. 11b, 12b, 14a, 14b), p 1 clearly longer and thicker than p 2. In protonymph, one pair of genital setae appearing, and one pair added in deutonymph, and two pairs in tritonymph (Figs. 11b, 12b, 14a, 14b). In deutonymph, one pair of aggenital setae and three pairs of adanal setae appearing and present in tritonymph, all short and smooth. Most gastronotal setae of tritonymph of medium size and finely barbed, at least in apical part (Figs. 12b, 15, 16, 17). Setae c 2, p 1 and l - and h -series with excentrosclerites, excentrosclerite at seta c 2 larger than at other setae, other setae without excentrosclerites. Gastronotal shield of nymphs weakly developed. Paraproctal valves of protonymph and deutonymph glabrous, those of tritonymph with two pairs of small and smooth setae, but in some individuals three anal setae present on one side. In tritonymph, cupules ia and im located as in larva, cupule ip between setae h 2 and p 1, cupule iad lateral to anterior part of paraproctal valves, cupule ips and ih pushed anterolateral to cupule iad (Figs. 12b, 14, 15). Gland opening gla located lateral to seta lp. Slanting folds observed in lateral aspect, but not visible in distended individuals. Most leg setae of medium size and finely barbed. Solenidion ω 2 on tarsus I longer and thinner than ω 1, seta ft'' relatively long, and located posterior to solenidion ω 2 (Figs. 16, 17a–c, 18).
Note: structures are indicated where they are first added and are present through the rest of ontogeny; pairs of setae in parentheses, dash indicates no additions.
Summary of ontogenetic transformations
In the larva and nymphs of Ph. nemoralis, setae ro and in are longer than le, whereas in the adult in is longest and ro is shortest. In all instars, seta ex is short. In all instars, the bothridium is rounded and the bothridial seta is clavate, with barbed head, which in the larva is thicker than in the nymphs and adult. The larva has 12 pairs of gastronotal setae, including h 3, the nymphs have 14 pairs (protonymph gains setae p 1 and p 2), while the notogaster of adult loses seta c 3, and 13 pairs of setae remain. The formula of gastronotal setae is 12-14-14-14-13 (larva to adult), those of coxisternal setae are: 3-1-2 (larva), 3-1-2-1 (protonymph), 3-1-2- 3 (deutonymph) and 3-1-3-3 (tritonymph and adult). The formula of genital setae is 1-2-4-4 (protonymph to adult), and that of aggenital setae is 1-1-1 (deutonymph to adult). The formula of segments PS–AN is 22222-0333-022. Ontogeny of leg setae and solenidia is given in Table 2.
Distribution, ecology, and biology
Phauloppia nemoralis has a European distribution (Subías 2004, updated 2022), and belongs to lichenicolous, muscicolous, praticolous and xerophilous mites (Schatz 2016). This species inhabits open habitats such as mosses in open woodlands (Jacot 1934) and on pastures (Migliorini & Bernini 1999), and mosses and lichens on trees, including tree trunks (Willmann 1933; Glime 2013; Thunes et al. 2021).
In this study, this species was collected also from open habitats such as lichens growing on a boulder in Finse, Vestland, Norway. Among 50 individuals investigated, the sex ratio (females to males) was 1:1.1. All females were gravid carrying 1–8 large eggs (usually 5 large eggs), each 208 x 92, constituting 39% of body length of females.
description: Published as part of Seniczak, Anna & Seniczak, Stanisław, 2022, Morphological ontogeny of Phauloppia nemoralis (Acari, Oribatida, Oribatulidae) with comments on Phauloppia Berlese, pp. 69-94 in Zootaxa 5187 (1) on pages 73-77, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5187.1.7, http://zenodo.org/record/7078330