A new species of Ameroseius (Mesostigmata: Ameroseiidae) from India Author Bhattacharyya, A. K. Author Kheto, S. text Acarologia 2015 2015-09-30 55 3 297 301 http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/acarologia/20152174 journal article 7287 10.1051/acarologia/20152174 ef574f24-f91f-4aa2-a5f0-d770afb2fc20 2107-7207 4667358 Ameroseius sternalis n. sp. ( Figures 1-2 ) Diagnosis — Anterior margin of holodorsal shield densely denticulate. Four pairs of small lateral marginal setae (r4, r5, R1 and R5); setae r6 long, narrow, leaf-like. Female without any metasternal shield; setae st3 placed on soft membrane. Male with three pairs of medioventral setae (Jv1, Jv2 and Jv3) on ventri-anal shield. Opisthogastric membrane of female and male with one and three pair of pores respectively. Ventri-anal shield of male with paired pores. Setae s2, r5, r6, R1, R5 and Z5 setae raised on tubercles. Material examined — Holotype ♀ , India , West Bengal , Sitala , 22°25.769’N , 88°26.791’E ; nest of Lesser Banded Hornet , Vespa affinis (Linnaeus, 1764) ; 9 November , 2014; B. Sanfui coll. Paratypes : 5 ♀♀ , 2 ♂♂ , collection data same as in holotype . 2 ♀♀ , India , West Bengal , Hoogly , Harihar , 22°50.118’N , 87°57.449’E ; soil under grass; 8 November , 2014; S. Kheto coll. 2 ♂♂ , India , West Bengal , Purulia , Bondi Village , 23°07.092’N , 86°13.906’E ; soil; 8 March , 2015; S. Kheto coll. Female : Dorsum ( Fig. 1A ) — Holodorsal shield 321 – 385 µm long and 207 – 237 µm wide, heavily sclerotized, ornamented, with 29 pairs of setae, podonotal and opisthonotal region with 18 and 11 pairs of setae respectively; setae r4, r5, R1 and R5, being spine-like differs from other finely serrated dorsal setae; setae s2, r5, r6, R1, R5 and Z5 setae raised on tubercles; length of dorsal setae are represented in Table 1 . Anterior margin of dorsum, extending upto setae s2, with its distinct shape made by irregular denticle-like structures. Venter ( Figs. 1 B-F) — Tritosternum small, with marginally pilose laciniae; length of tritosternal base and laciniae almost equal. Sternal shield smooth, 63 µm long, 90 µm wide, with st1 and st2; st3 placed on soft membraneous integument; st1 shortest ( 10 µm long), setal length of st2-st5 varies between 16 µm and 19 µm . Genital shield smooth, posteriorly concave, 120 µm long, 83 µm wide, st5 placed on postero-lateral margins. Anal shield wider ( 110 µm ) than long ( 90 µm ), distinctly reticulated, with paired para- and a post-anal setae; cribrum restricted to a small posteriormost area of the shield. FIGURE 2: Ameroseius sternalis n. sp. , male: A – Dorsum; B – Venter. Opisthogastric soft integument with five pairs of simple seate, four of them placed between genital and anal shield, setae Jv5 placed close to posterior margin of idiosoma; metapodal shields paired, oval. Anterior section of peritreme reaching beyond anterior margin of coxae I; stigmata placed beside coxae IV; terminal part of peritrematal shields moderately widened and reaching beyond coxae IV. Hypostomal groove narrow; denticles not obviously discernible; shape of tectum as in Fig. 1C ; corniculi bifid, weakly sclerotized; all setae simple. Palp apotele two-tined. Cheliceral fixed digit tridentate, movable digit edentate ( Fig. 1D ); pilus dentilis short and simple. Legs I-IV with claws and ambulacra; setae on legs simple to pilose ( Figs. 1 E-F); length (excluding ambulacra) of legs I-IV: 277 µm , 222 µm , 205 µm and 259 µm . Male ( Figs. 2 ): Dorsal shield entire, 267 – 291 µm long and 168 – 188 µm wide, ornamented as in female, dorsal setae similar to those as in female, length of dorsal setae represented in Table 1 , setae J2 comparatively longer than those of female ( Fig. 2A ). TABLE 1: Setal length (µm) of Ameroseius sternalis n. sp.

Setae	♀	♂	Setae	♀	♂	Setae	♀	♂	Setae	♀	♂
j1	23	21	z2	23	19	s1	26	21	r2	33	35
j2	23	19	z4	33	32	s2	26	24	r3	43	49
j4	23	21	z5	26	19	s5	46	41	r4	10	8
j5	27	38	z6	30	21	s6	60	54	r5	10	8
j6	43	43	Z1	23	24	S2	56	46	r6	23	19
J2	39	43	Z2	26	21	S4	60	57	R1	10	8
J4	66	46	Z4	26	21	S5	63	51	R5	10	8
Z5	90	70

Sterniti-genital shield oblong, 170 µm in length and 73 µm in width, reticulation weak or not properly discernible, with five pairs of setae (st1, st2, st 4 – 12 µm ; st3, st 5 – 10 µm ). Peritrematal shield posteriorly comparatively wider but shorter than that of female ( Fig. 2B ). Metapodal shield shorter and more ovoid than in female. Ventri-anal shield 340 µm long and 282 µm wide, delicately reticulate, with Jv2, Jv3 and Zv2 of equal length ( 8 µm ), paired para- and a post-anal setae of uniform length ( 19 µm ), with one pair of pore. Opisthogastric membrane reticulated as delineated in Fig. 2B , with three pair of pores and two pairs of setae ( 10 µm ). Legs I-IV with pulvilli and claws, 247 µm , 210 µm , 193 µm and 249 µm long respectively, leg chaetotaxy same as in female. Hypostomal groove narrow, deutosternal denticles not properly discernible; corniculi, setae same as in female. Chelicerae weakly developed, fixed digit unidentate, movable digit without any tooth, spermatodactyl short, wide. Etymology — The specific epithet, i.e. , sternalis , refers to the characteristic shape of sternal shield. Differential diagnosis — The new species, Ameroseius sternalis superficially resembles to Ameroseius corbiculus (Sowerby, 1806) in the nature of setae as well as shape of ventri-anal shield but greatly differs from A. corbiculus in the following aspects: absence of foliately widened vertical setae j1, distinctive anterior body margin, shape of tectum, absence of sub-oval platelets containing st3 setae and exopodal shield. However, the new species can be differentiated from all other known species by the characteristic shape of sternal shield.