Some new armascirine cunaxids (Acari: Prostigmata: Cunaxidae) from the Eastern United States
Author
Skvarla, Michael J.
Author
Dowling, Ashley P. G.
text
Zootaxa
2012
2012-02-15
3194
1
34
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3194.1.1
journal article
45434
10.11646/zootaxa.3194.1.1
46c93f4d-d50c-4222-b360-05682bfd6be5
1175-5326
201630
Armascirus
Den Heyer, 1978
Historical review.
The first
Armascirus
was described by
Kramer (1881)
as
Scirus taurus
.
Berlese (1888)
described
S. taurus
var.
bison
.
Banks (1894)
described
S. quadripilus
.
Thor (1902)
transferred
S. taurus
to
Cunaxa
.
Banks (1914)
described
C. armata
.
Womersley (1933)
reported
C. taurus
from
Australia
.
Thor and Willmann (1941)
transferred
S. taurus
var.
bison
to
Cunaxa
and raised it to full species status, viz.
C. bison
and transferred
S. quadripilus
to
Cunaxa
; they also redescribed and figured
C. armata
,
C. bison
,
C. quadripilus
, and C.
taurus
.
Baker
and Hoffmann (1948)
synonymized
S. quadripilus
and
C. armata
with
C. taurus
; they followed
Thor and Willmann (1941)
in placing
C. taurus
var.
bison
in
Cunaxa
but declined to recognize it as a species and instead kept it as a variety or subspecies of
C. taurus
.
Zaher
et al.
(1975)
collected
C. taurus
in
Egypt
.
Chaudhri (1977)
described
Dactyloscirus ebrius
and
D. fuscus
from
Pakistan
.
Den Heyer (1978)
split
Armascirus
from
Dactyloscirus
and
Cunaxa
and raised the subfamily Cunaxinae to accommodate them, thus refining the definitions of all three genera; he transferred
C. taurus
and
C. bison
to the new; and described
A. huyssteeni
,
A. lebowensis
,
A. limpopoensis
, and
A. albiziae
.
Kuznetzov and Livshitz (1979)
redescribed and figured
C. taurus
and
C. bison
from
Russia
, either disagreeing with or being unaware of Den Heyer’s 1978 publication.
Tseng (1980)
reported
A. taurus
from
Taiwan
.
Chaudhri (1980)
described
D. fixus
from
Pakistan
.
Den Heyer (1980)
erected the tribe
Armascirini
and made
Dactyloscirus
and
Armascirus
the sole representatives.
Gupta and Ghosh (1980)
erected
Indocunaxa
, a monotypic genus with
I. smileyi
as the
type
species.
Liang (1983)
reported
A. taurus
from
China
.
Michocka (1987)
described
D. rafalskii
from
Poland
.
A. mactator
and
A. pluri
were described by
Muhammad and Chaudhri (1991)
.
Smiley (1992)
described
A. gimplei
,
A. anastosi
,
A. harrisoni
,
A. heryfordi
,
A. virginiensis
,
D. bakeri
,
and
D. campbelli
and transferred
A. bison
to
Dactyloscirus
. He also synonymized
I. smileyi
with
A. taurus
, though did not include
Indocunaxa
as a synonymy of
Armascirus
; this is confusing as
Indocunaxa
is monobasic and synonymizing the only species with
A. taurus
functionally synonymized the genus with
Armascirus
.
Corpuz-Raros (1995)
described
A. garciai
and
A. makilingensis
from the
Philippines
.
Hu (1997)
reported
A. bison
and
A. taurus
from
China
.
Armascirus satianaensis
and
A. asghari
were described by
Bashir and Afzal (2005)
. Corpuz-Raros and Gruèzo described
A. javanus
.
Corpuz-Raros (2008)
described
A. bifidus
. Bashir, Afzal, and Khan described four species from
Pakistan
,
A. akhtari
,
A. jasmina
,
A. sabrii
, and
A. gojraensis
.
Den Heyer and Castro (2008b)
reaffirmed the synonymization of
Indocunaxa
with
Armascirus
.
Kalúz (2009)
described
A. cyaneus
and
A. cerris
from Central Europe and transferred
D. bison
,
D. campbelli
,
D. ebrius
,
D. fixus
,
D. fuscus
, and
D. rafalskii
to
Armascirus
.
Generic diagnosis.
Den Heyer (1978)
gives a detailed diagnosis of this genus. The following description highlights those features that are prominent or are regarded as being diagnostic.
Palpi five segmented and end in strong claw. They extend beyond the subcapitulum by at least the last segment and are often adorned with an apophysis between the genua and tibiotarsi that tapers to a point; this apophysis shorter in males than in females. Basifemora complemented with a simple seta; telofemora complemented with a spine-like seta. These two segments fused though a dark line remains visible to differentiate them.
Subcapitulum complemented with six pairs of setae (
hg1–4
and two pairs of adoral setae). It can be covered by integumental papillae which are either randomly distributed or form a polygonal, reticulated pattern.
Female dorsal idiosoma with at least one sclerotized plate that bears two pairs of setose trichobothria (
at
and
pt
) and two pairs of simple setae (
lps
and
mps
). 0–4 other major plates and platelets may also be present. All plates, if present, covered by integumental papillae that form a reticulated pattern. Integument between plates striated. Seven pairs of setae,
c1–2
,
d1
,
e1
,
f1
and
h1
, present. Each seta, when not on a major plate or platelet, surrounded by a minute platelet only slightly larger than the setal socket. Cupule
im
present, usually laterad or in the proximity of
e1
. Dorsal idiosoma of males similar except a single large plate complemented with
c1–2
,
d1
,
e1
and
f1
present.
Female ventral idiosoma complemented by the coxal, genital, and anal plates. Coxal plates reticulated in the same manner as the dorsal plates. Coxae I and II often fused; coxae III and IV often fused. Coxae I–IV setal formula usually: males 3-1-3-3 or females 3-2-3-3. Genital plates each bear four setae; two pairs of genital papillae are visible underneath the plates. Anal plates bear one pair of setae (
ps1
). Two pairs of setae (
ps2
and
h2
) associated with but do not occur on the anal plates. Cupule
ih
present in close proximity to
h2
. Integument between plates striated and bears 5–7 pairs of additional setae. Ventral idiosoma of males similar except the coxal plates are much more extensive. Sclerotized aedeagus is often visible in association with the genital plates.
Legs comparatively long, at least ¾ the length and often longer than the body. Famulus on tarsi I normally shaped, not large and tri-pronged as in
Dactyloscirus
. Tarsi are constricted apically, resulting in large tarsal lobes.