A revision of the family Ameroseiidae (Acari, Mesostigmata), with some data on Slovak fauna Author Masan, Peter Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovakia uzaepema@savba.sk text ZooKeys 2017 2017-09-29 704 1 228 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.704.13304 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.704.13304 1313-2970-704-1 111A101E74054C408F51693957A64D97 CB39FF8EFFA2FF8CFFBFFFA9FF94FF8B 1149838 Kleemannia tenella (Berlese, 1916) comb. n. Plates 61 , 62 , 63 Ameroseius tenellus Berlese, 1916a: 47. Kleemannia sp. - Piryanik 1958 : 130. Ameroseius tenellus . - Castagnoli and Pegazzano 1985 : 410. Ameroseius lanatus Solomon, 1969: 274. Syn. n. Ameroseius lanatus . - Bregetova 1977 : 158. Ameroseius fimetorum Karg, 1971a: 230. Syn. n. Ameroseius fimetorum . - Bregetova 1977 : 160; Karg 1993 : 228; Narita et al. 2015 : 395. Type depository. Of Ameroseius tenellus - Istituto Sperimentale per la Zoologia Agraria, Firenze, Italy; of Ameroseius lanatus - not stated (holotype not designated); of Ameroseius fimetorum - Museum fuer Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany. Type locality and habitat. Of Ameroseius tenellus - Italy, Firenze, in moss; of Ameroseius lanatus - Romania, holotype not designated [three females: Luncavita at Tulcea, Mogosoaia at Bucuresti , Podul Iloaie at Iasi , on small rodents, Apodemus sylvaticus and Microtus arvalis ( Mammalia )]; of Ameroseius fimetorum - Germany, Frankfurt/Oder (Oderbruch), Manschnow (holticulture), in compost soil of greenhouse. Comparative material. Germany : 1 ♀ (ZMB: 40156, holotype ) - Febr. 1963, Manschnow/Oderbruch, Gewaechshaus , 2985 (labelled Ameroseius fimetorum ) . Italy : 2 ♀♀ (ISZA: 171/12, holotype ; ISZA: 171/13, paratype ) - Firenze, musco ; 1 ♀ (ISZA: 21/8, paratype ) - Tiarno, Trentino, fiorume; 2 ♀♀ (ISZA: 168/50, paratypes ) - Tiarno, Trentino, nel fieno; 1 ♀ (ISZA: 171/14) - Palermo, musco. New material from Slovakia . Podunajska Rovina Flatland: 6 ♀♀ - 3. 5. 2006 , Bratislava Capital, air-port, meadow, burrow entry of Spermophilus citellus ( Mammalia ), rotting leaves and vegetation rests, altitude 150 m , leg. P. Masan . Remarks. This species was only briefly and inadequately described by Berlese (1916a) . There are seven slides of this species in the Berlese Acaroteca (21/8, 168/50, 171/12-14, 219/48-49), from moss, hay and litter from Italy (Firenze, Tiarno - Trentino, Palermo). Only one slide bearing a female from Firenze is labelled "tipico" (171/12). I have examined six females mounted onto five slides of the collection (slides 219/48-49 were not available for my study). Despite such a sufficient series of slides, only two of them contains at least partially examinable specimens in which some limited observation of features is possible. Some characters on the dorsum can be examined in the holotype specimen, and some ventral characters in a paratype specimen on slide 168/50. Other examined specimens are in poor condition and barely suitable for thorough observation. As a critical examination of the type specimens has revealed that Kleemannia tenella and Kleemannia fimetorum (Karg 1971) are identical, the latter must be placed in synonymy with the former. This comparison was extended to specimens of K. tenella collected in Slovakia and the agreement was found to be complete. In the original illustrations of K. fimetorum , Karg (1971a) asymmetrically depicted the setal complement of 29 pairs of setae on the dorsal shield (30 setae on left portion, and 27 setae on right portion), and mistakenly concluded that only three instead of four teeth were present on proximal masticatory area of the fixed cheliceral digit. On the basis of my examinations of description and illustrations, as the type material of Ameroseius lanatus Solomon, 1969 is probably no longer available (Adina Cǎlugǎr made a notable effort to find the type specimens), this species is also placed in synonymy with K. tenella . I am not able to detect any consistent morphological differences in the material from Italy, Romania, Germany and Slovakia, and thus all are considered to belong to a single species. Kleemannia tenella and the closely related Chinese species Kleemannia guyimingi (Ma, 1997) and Kleemannia longisetosa (Ye & Ma, 1993) differ so markedly from the other members of this genus in the length of the dorsal shield setae (J-setae lengthened, Z-setae shortened), and in the arrangement of the ventral shields (pseudo-metasternal platelets absent; setae st3 on soft integument; ventrianal shield reduced and rounded, concave anteriorly, with two pairs of setae very close to its anterior margin), that they might be considered as belonging to a separate species group.