A new species of the little-known subgenus Leptus (Amaroptus) (Trombidiformes: Erythraeidae) from southeastern Iran Author Haddadi, Malihe . Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran; E-mails: malihe. haddadi 2211 @ gmail. com, sararamroodi @ uoz. ac. ir, sara _ ramroodi @ yahoo. com, rakhshani @ uoz. ac. ir Author Ramroodi, Sara . Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran; E-mails: malihe. haddadi 2211 @ gmail. com, sararamroodi @ uoz. ac. ir, sara _ ramroodi @ yahoo. com, rakhshani @ uoz. ac. ir Author Noei, Javad . Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran; E-mail: noei. javad @ birjand. ac. ir noei.javad@birjand.ac.ir Author Rakhshani, Ehsan . Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran; E-mails: malihe. haddadi 2211 @ gmail. com, sararamroodi @ uoz. ac. ir, sara _ ramroodi @ yahoo. com, rakhshani @ uoz. ac. ir text Persian Journal of Acarology 2025 14 129 138 journal article 10.22073/pja.v14i1.86160 2251-8169 14668862 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:6EF8A7CC-5FDB-4387-9F9E-F2DA3778587B Leptus ( Amaroptus ) saboorii Haddadi & Noei sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–4 ) http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 6D5B42FF-191F-4526-8F93-DD0E0D6539C1 Diagnosis (larva) Palp femur and genu each with one seta, ASens placedanterior to the PL scutalae bases, Ti III 208, SD/ W 0.98 , Ti III/AW 2.36, ASBM 15 . Description (n = 1) Dorsum ( Fig. 1A ) – Idiosoma oval with 53 barbed dorsal setae. The scutum punctate, the length of the scutum is slightly longer than the width (SD/ W 0.98 ) and with three pairs of barbed and blunted normal setae (AL, PL , PPL ) and two pairs of sensillary setae (ASens and PSens). The scutum with concave anterior border ( ASBM 15 ), almost straight anterolateral borders and slightly concave posterolateral borders, posterior border of scutum produced two projections with a relatively shallow notch. ASens and PSens broken. ASens bases level with AL bases and anterior to the PL scutalae bases. One eye on each side of the scutum, both circular in shape and 25 in diameter . Venter ( Fig. 1B ) – Ventral surface of idiosoma with two pairs of barbed sternal setae ( 1a , 2a ), sternalae 1a slightly shorter than sternalae 2a ; five barbed intercoxalae between coxae II and III and 24 barbed setae behind coxae III. Coxa I–III punctate. A peg-like supracoxal seta ( elc I )is present on coxa I, 5 long. NDV = 53 + 29 = 82. Gnathosoma ( Figs. 2A–D ) – Bulbus of basal segment of chelicerae punctate on dorsal surface and cheliceral blade curved. Gnathosoma cone-shaped, with nude galealae ( cs ), and two pairs of hypostomalae, anterior hypostomala ( as ) spine-like, 2 in length, posterior hypostomalae ( bs ) barbed, 57 in length.Palp femur and palp genu each with one barbed dorsal seta, palp tibia with three barbed setae, palp tarsus with eight setae including five barbed setae, one nude seta, one eupathidium and one solenidion. fPp = 0-B-B-BBB-5BNωζ. Supracoxal seta of palp ( elc P ), minute, peg-like, 5 long. Figure 1. Leptus ( Amaroptus ) saboorii Haddadi & Noei sp. nov. ( larva) – A. Dorsal view of idiosoma; B. Ventral view of idiosoma. Figure 2. Leptus ( Amaroptus ) saboorii Haddadi & Noei sp. nov. (larva) – A. Gnathosoma, ventral view; B. Gnathosoma, dorsal view; C. Palpal tarsus, dorsal view; D. Palpal tarsus, ventral view. Legs ( Figs. 3–4 ) – Leg segmentation formula 7-7-7. Leg setal formula: Leg I: Ta- 1ω, 2ζ, 1 H , 28n; Ti- 2φ, 1κ, 14n; Ge- 1σ, 1κ, 8n; TFe- 5n; BFe- 2n; Tr- 1n; Cx- 1n. Leg II: Ta- 1ω, 2ζ, 26n; Ti- 2φ, 15n; Ge- 1κ, 8n; TFe- 5n; BFe- 2n; Tr- 1n; Cx- 1n. Leg III: Ta- 1ζ, 26n; Ti- 1φ, 15n; Ge- 8n; TFe- 5n; BFe- 1n; Tr- 1n; Cx- 1n. All tarsi with two claws and an empodium. Anterior claw and empodium falciform, posterior claw feather-like. Measurements are given in Table 1 . Figure 3. Leptus ( Amaroptus ) saboorii Haddadi & Noei sp. nov. (larva) – A. Tr–TFe I; B. Ge–Ti I; C. Ta I; D. Tr– TFe II; E. Ge–Ti II; F. Ta II. Material examined The holotype larva (ARS-20240909-1a) was collected on an unidentified Acrididae ( Orthoptera ) IRAN : Sistan and Baluchestan Province (Southeastern Iran), Zahak County, Chah Nimeh recreational reservoir, 30° 50' 39" N , 61° 43' 07" E , 483 m a.s.l., 11 May 2020 , coll. Alireza Arjmandi-Nezhad. Type deposition The holotype is deposited in the Acarological Collection , Jalal Afshar Zoological Museum , Department of Plant Protection , Faculty of Agriculture , University of Tehran , Karaj , Iran . Etymology The species is named in honor of Prof. Alireza Saboori (Jalal Afshar Zoological Museum, Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tehran , Tehran , Iran ), for his great efforts to develop Acarology in Iran . Remarks The new species belongs to the subgenus Leptus ( Amaroptus ) in having more than four scutalae. This subgenus includes the following species: L. ( A. ) sivasensis Saboori, Can & Cakmak, 2024 and L. ( A. ) vuki Haitlinger, 2000 . Leptus ( A .) saboorii Haddadi & Noei sp. nov. differs from L. ( A. ) sivasensis in the number of setae on palp genu (1 vs. 2 in L. ( A. ) sivasensis ), number of setae between coxae II–III (5 vs. 25), number of setae behind coxae III (24 vs. 56), fD (53 vs. 188), fV (29 vs. 83), in the longer bs (57 vs. 33), DS (55–67 vs. 33–39), SD (120 vs. 95), ISD (72 vs. 48), AP (15 vs. 8) and differs from L. ( A. ) vuki in the number of setae between coxae I (2 vs. 7 in L. ( A. ) vuki ), number of setae between coxae I–II (2 vs. ~42), number of setae between coxae II–III (5 vs. ~92), number of setae behind coxae III (24 vs. ~140), fD (53 vs. ~320), ASens bases (placedanterior to the PL bases vs. placed posterior to the PL bases), in the longer Ti I (155 vs. 112–122), Ti II (135 vs. 96–106), Ti III (208 vs. 130–136), Ti III/AW (2.36 vs. 1.29–1.35), leg I (776 vs. 508–560), leg II (710 vs. 508– 556), leg III (822 vs. 580–626), DS (55–67 vs. 18–40), SD (120 vs. 110–114) Ta I (L) (155 vs. 104– 108), Ta II (L) (135 vs. 92–96), Ge II (105 vs. 84–86), LX (32 vs. 14–16), PPW (115 vs. 32–40) and NDV (82 vs. ~594).