Description of nine new species of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) from Sikkim, a north eastern States of India Author Kar, Anamika 0000-0001-5318-8308 Department of Agricultural Entomology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur- 741252, Nadia, West Bengal, India. & anamika _ kar 7 @ rediffmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 5318 - 8308 anamika_kar7@rediffmail.com Author Karmakar, Krishna Department of Agricultural Entomology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur- 741252, Nadia, West Bengal, India. text Zootaxa 2022 2022-09-06 5182 3 201 237 journal article 138996 10.11646/zootaxa.5182.3.1 7979d7d5-c5fe-40d7-832a-da2fb5f3334b 1175-5326 7052935 491D9918-2B5B-4F22-9B64-CEB10C981807 Paraamblyseius ranipoolensis sp. nov. ( Figs. 26–30 ; 69 –74) Diagnosis . Female dorsal shield well sclerotized, posteriorly reticulated; all the prodorsal setae are shorter than the opisthosomal setae, Z4 and Z5 are long and almost in same length, sternal shield wider than the length, reticulated; genital shield reticulated, posterior margin rounded and narrower than ventrianal shield. Ventrianal shield massive with four pairs of preanal setae, seta ZV3 absent; leg IV without macrosetae. Description. Female (n = 2). Dorsum ( Fig. 26 ). Dorsal idiosomal chaetotaxy 10A:9B. Dorsal shield 470 (465–475) long and 220 (218–228) wide, well sclerotized, reticulated posteriorly, with marks of sigilla mostly on prodorsal area, prodorsum wide, with seven pairs of solenostomes ( gd1 , gd2 , gd4 , gd5 , gd6 , gd8 and gd9 ); 17 pairs of setae on dorsal shield and two pairs of setae on unsclerotised cuticle: j1 15 (14–17), j3 24 (23–26), j4 18 (16–19), j5 18 (16–19), j6 20 (19–22), J2 32 (30–33), J5 13 (12–15), z2 28 (28–30), z4 38 (35–39), z5 14 (13–16), Z1 40 (38–42), Z4 48 (46–50), Z5 41 (39–42), s4 40 (38–41), S2 33 (32–35), S4 22 (20–23), S5 20 (18–23), r3 18 (15–18), R1 20 (19–22). All setae smooth except seta Z4 , seta Z5 is longest, all other setae short to medium. Peritreme ( Fig. 26 ). Extending near base of j 1 . Venter ( Fig. 27 ). Sternal shield reticulated, 56 (55–58) long, 82 (82–85) wide at level of setae st1-st3 and st3-st3 respectively, with three pairs of setae and two pairs of lyrifissures; one pair of setae ( st4 ) 12 (11–14) on unsclerotized kidney shaped membrane; posterior margin of sternal shield concave, lateral margin strongly indented. Distances between st2-st2 65 (65–68), st5-st5 85 (83–86). Genital shield strongly reticulated, wider at posterior part and posterior margin straight. Two pairs of metapodal shields present; primary metapodal shield 42 (40–44) long, 5 (4–6) wide, secondary metapodal shield 13 (12–15) long. Ventrianal shield very broad, strongly reticulated, anterior part of triangular ventrianal plate much wider than posterior part, with four pairs of setae, ZV1 within the ventrianal shield and seta ZV3 absent, ventrianal shield 125 (120–130) long, 185 (185–190) wide at level of ZV2 setae and 68 (66–70) wide at anus level with four pairs of pre-anal setae, ZV1 25 (23–26), JV1 21 (20–22), JV2 14 (13–15), ZV2 14 (13–15) and one pair of pre-anal pores ( gv3 ) 27 (26–28) apart. Membrane surrounding ventrianal shield with two pairs of setae JV4 11 (10–13) and JV5 26 (25–28); JV5 long and smooth. Chelicera ( Fig. 28 ). Fixed digit 25 (24–26) long with six teeth and distinct pilus dentilis, movable digit 23 (22–24) long with two backwardly directed teeth. Spermatheca ( Fig. 29 ).Calyx tubular, 25 (24–26) long, wider distally and gradually tapering towards conspicuous atrium, atrium covers almost the total width of the calyx, minor duct and major duct clearly visible. Leg ( Fig. 30 ). Length of leg I: 320 (315–325), leg II 220 (218–230), leg III 230 (225–235) and leg IV 335 (335–338). Chaetotactic formula of Sge II 1-2/1 1/1-1 and Sge III 1-2/1 1/1-1. Leg IV without macrosetae. Type specimens . Holotype : female (Acarol.lab/ BCKV/8639 /2021) (deposited in the NZC, Zoological Survey of India , Kolkata ), collected from debdaru or false ashoka ( Monoon longifolium ),at Ranipool :27°17’25”N, 88°35’36”E, 820m AMSL , East Sikkim , Sikkim on 30 th March , 2021; 1 paratype female (Acarol.lab/ BCKV/8640 /2021) from same host with same collection data as holotype. Etymology . The specific name ranipoolensis refers to the type locality “Ranipool” of east Sikkim from where this new species was collected. Remarks . Paraamblyseius ranipoolensis sp . nov . is different from all the 9 species described under the species group ( Denmark , 1988 ) by having unique type of reticulation; ZV1 within the ventrianal shield; spermatheca tubular. However, this new species is close to P . lunatus Muma 1962 ; P . formosanus ( Ehara, 1970 ) ; P . dinghuensis ( Wu & Qian, 1982 ) ; P . foliatus Corpuz-Raros, 1994 all by having ventrianal shield with 4 pairs of setae but differs from these close species by the length of dorsal setae, width of genital shield, length and width of ventrianal shield, number of teeth on fixed and movable digit of chelicera and shape of the spermatheca. All the differences are presented in Table 6 .