New Oppiidae (Acari: Oribatida) from the Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa Author Hugo-Coetzee, Elizabeth A. text Zootaxa 2014 3884 6 533 552 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3884.6.2 ff3891db-ef18-416b-9e79-cdb9bb299296 1175-5326 228382 DFBFF523-8236-40AE-B676-20B4E9FD4109 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 3 c barbed, 1 c , 3 b , 3 c , 4 b ( 13–16 )> 1 a , 1 b , 2 a , 4 a , 4 c ( 8–9 )> 3 a ( 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 ( 28 º 30 ’S , 28 º 37 ’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).