Review of the genus Myrmozercon Berlese (Acari: Laelapidae), with description of a new species from Iran
Author
Joharchi, Omid
Author
Babaeian, Esmaeil
Author
Seeman, Owen D.
text
Zootaxa
2015
3955
4
549
560
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3955.4.6
18afdd21-843f-40f1-8b03-f845e10768d4
1175-5326
241204
E544637B-924B-4A0A-A1D6-DDA5DEE9B2B4
Myrmozercon aequalis
(
Banks, 1916
)
Myrmonyssus aequalis
Banks, 1916
: 227
.
Diagnosis.
Body length 850; dorsal shield not truncate, highly hypertrichous. Legs long, legs I about as long as body. Host:
Iridomyrmex gracilis
(Lowne)
.
Remarks.
Little is discernable from the original description, but
M
.
scutellatus
and
M
.
crinitis
share the features of dorsal hypotrichy and long legs.
Walter (2003)
separated
M
.
aequalis
and
M
.
scutellatus
on differences in body size, the length of the dorsal setae, and the shape of the female genital shield. Males of
M
.
aequalis
also have the unique feature within
Myrmozercon
of ventral spurs on the femur, genu and tibia of leg II. The host genus of
M
.
aequalis
and
M
.
scutellatus
is
Iridomyrmex
.
Myrmozercon crinitis
was collected from
Pheidole
, and differs in the shape of the idiosoma (tapering in
M
.
crinitis
, rounded in
M
.
aequalis
and
M
.
scutellatus
) and by lacking spurs on leg II of the male.