First record of the myzus species group (Acari: Podapolipidae: Eutarsopolipus Berlese, 1911) from Asia, with the description of two new species parasitising carabid beetles

Two new species of Eutarsopolipus Berlese, 1911 (Acari: Heterostigmatina: Podapolipidae), belonging to the myzus species group, are described from the subelytra of carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in Iran. Eutarsopolipus anichtchenkoi n. sp. was found on Pterostichus sp. and E. terricolae n. sp. on Scarites terricola Bonelli. This is the first record of the myzus species group from Asia. A key to the adult females of this species group worldwide is provided, and the distribution and host range of all representatives of the group are discussed.     

World distribution and host range of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Podapolipoides</Emphasis> spp. (Acari: Heterostigmatina: Podapolipidae), with the description of a new species

The ectoparasitic mite Podapolipoides anacridii n. sp. (Heterostigmatina: Podapolipidae), collected from the basal hindwings of Anacridium sp. (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in central Iran, is described. Podapolipoides Regenfuss, 1968 is defined, and the distribution, host-specificity and host range of its constituent species are discussed.     

Three new species of the genus Caesarodispus (Acari: Microdispidae) associated with ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a key to species

Three new species of the genus Caesarodispus (Acari: Heterostigmatina: Microdispidae) phoretic on ants are described from Iran: C. khaustovi Rahiminejad & Hajiqanbar sp. nov. , C. pheidolei Rahiminejad & Hajiqanbar sp. nov. and C. nodijensis Rahiminejad & Hajiqanbar sp. nov. All species were associated with alate ants of the subfamily Myrmicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from northern Iran. A key to all species of Caesarodispus is provided.     

Dorsipes caspius n. sp. (Acari: Podapolipidae), a subelytral parasite of Pterostichus caspius (Menetries) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) with notes on host range of the genus and the distribution of the platysmae group

The ectoparasitic mite Dorsipes caspius n. sp. (Heterostigmata: Podapolipidae) belonging to the platysmae species group collected from the beneath elytra of Pterostichus (Lyrothorax) caspius (Menetries) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in northern Iran, is described. This is the first record of species of the platysmae group from the Middle East. Keys to adult and larval female stages of world species of the platysmae group are provided. The host range of all species of the genus and the distribution of all representatives of the group are discussed.     

A new species of Parapygmephorus Cross, 1965 (Acari; Heterostigmatina; Neopygmephoridae) phoretic on Halictus quadricinctus (Fabricius, 1776) (Hym.; Halictidae) from Iran

A new species of the genus Parapygmephorus Cross, 1965 (Acari: Heterostigmatina, Neopygmephoridae) is described from Northeastern Iran. A phoretic adult female of Parapygmephorus khorasanicus Hajiqanbar and Khaustov sp. n. was discovered clasping on hairs on the ventral body surface of Halictus quadricinctus (Fabricius, 1776) (Hymenoptera; Halictidae). It is the fifth representative among the known species of the genus Parapygmephorus in the world. Differentiation of new species from other species of the genus is discussed, and a key to known world species is provided.     

Contribution to the knowledge of the oribatid mite genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mesoplophora</Emphasis> (Acari: Oribatida: Mesoplophoridae) with description of a new species from South China

The genus Mesoplophora (Acari: Oribatida: Mesoplophoridae) was represented only by two species in China prior to this work. In this study, a new species, Mesoplophora (Parplophora) vestigia sp. n., is described from Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. New localities and some remarks on the two known species from China are presented. A world key to species of the genus is provided to facilitate the further study on this group.     

A new podapolipid species (Acari) on Scarabaeus (Scarabaeus) acuticollis (Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Iran

A new species of mites of the genus Tarsopolipus (Acari: Prostigmata: Podapolipidae) is described from southern Iran. Tarsopolipus husbandi Mortazavi and Hajiqanbar n. sp. is a sub-elytral ectoparasite of the scarabaeid beetle, Scarabaeus (Scarabaeus) acuticollis. The new species is closely related to Tarsopolipus corrugatus Berlese 1911, but is distinguished from it by the following characters. Adult female: presence of vestigial setae v(2) and shorter setae sc(2). Adult male: presence of setae v' on tibia IV and shorter setae sc(2) and c(2). Larval female: shorter cheliceral stylets and longer distance between setae v(1) and ch. Species of Tarsopolipus are currently distributed in Afro-tropical, Palaearctic, and Oriental regions and parasitize species in 3 genera of scarabaeid beetles, i.e., Scarabaeus , Kheper, and Drepanopodes, all belonging to the tribe Scarabaeini.     

Two new myrmecophilous species of the genus Scutacarus (Acari: Prostigmata: Scutacaridae) with world keys to related species groups

In a survey on heterostigmatic mites (Acari: Prostigmata: Heterostigmata) associated with insects including ants in northwestern Iran, two new species of myrmecophilous mites of the genus Scutacarus (Acari: Scutacaridae) were found. They are S. shajariani sp. nov. phoretic on Tetramorium sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and S. ebermanni sp. nov. phoretic on Messor sp. The mentioned new species belong to groups of species with reduced setae e and h₂, and no setae 4b, respectively. These two new species are described and illustrated, and world keys are provided for respective species groups.     

Bartonella-like bacteria carried by domestic mite species

Bacteria of the genus Bartonella are carried by haematophagous mites, ticks, fleas and flies, and attack the erythrocytes of mammals. Here we describe a Bartonella-like clade, a distinct group related to Bartonellaceae, in stored-product mites (Acari: Astigmata) and a predatory mite Cheyletus eruditus (Acari: Prostigmata) based on the analysis of cloned 16S rRNA gene sequences. By using the clade-specific primers, closely related Bartonella-like 16S rRNA sequences were amplified from both laboratory colonies and field strains of three synanthropic mite species (Acarus siro, Lepidoglyphus destructor and Tyrophagus putrescentiae) and a predatory mite. Altogether, sequences of Bartonella-like bacteria were found in 11 strains, but were not detected in Dermatophagoides farinae and D. pteronyssinus and two strains of L. destructor. All obtained sequences formed a separate cluster branching as a sister group to Bartonellaceae and related to other separate clusters comprising uncultured bacterial clones from human skin and hemipteran insects (Nysius plebeius and Nysius sp.). The classification of sequences into operational taxonomic units (OTUs) showed a difference between A. siro and T. putrescentiae suggesting that the Bartonella-like bacteria are different in these two mite species. However, species specific sequences in separate OTUs were observed also for C. eruditus. Possible symbiotic interactions between Bartonella-like bacteria and their mite hosts are discussed.     

A polyphasic approach to the taxonomy of the Alternaria infectoria species–group

Different taxa in the species–group of Alternaria infectoria (teleomorph Lewia spp.) are often isolated from various cereals including barley, maize and wheat grain, ornamental plants and skin lesions from animals and humans. In the present study we made a polyphasic characterization of 39 strains morphologically identifiable as belonging to the A. infectoria species–group together with 12 strains belonging to closely related species: Alternaria malorum (syn. Cladosporium malorum), Chalastospora cetera (syn. Alternaria cetera) and Embellisia abundans. Morphological examination separated the 51 strains in three groups based on conidial appearance and arrangement: the A. infectoria species–group, E. abundans and a group containing C. cetera and A. malorum. The metabolite analyses on three different media showed two clusters, one containing all 39 A. infectoria species–group strains and one containing 10 strains of E. abundans, C. cetera and A. malorum. One E. abundans strain and one A. malorum strain were not included due to insufficient metabolite production. The separation of the A. infectoria species–group from E. abundans, C. cetera and A. malorum resulted mainly from the ability to produce altertoxins and novae-zelandins. The metabolite analyses also showed that all 51 strains were able to produce infectopyrones. The metabolite profiles of C. cetera and A. malorum were very similar with several metabolites of unknown structure in common. This is the first time that E. abundans, C. cetera and A. malorum have been reported as producers of infectopyrones. Sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd) and translocation elongation factor 1α (tef-1α) showed two clades: one with the 39 strains from the A. infectoria species–group and one with the 12 strains of E. abundans, C. cetera and A. malorum. The polyphasic approach in this study suggests that A. malorum var. polymorpha and the eight A. malorum strains do not belong in Alternaria, but in Chalastospora, however, as several distinct species. Splits Tree alignment of gpd sequences of 38 strains belonging to the A. infectoria species–group indicates that only three strains showed signs of recombination, while the remaining strains appeared to be clonal. Long term incubation at 7 °C in the dark showed that 12 out of 33 tested strains from the A. infectoria species–group were able to produce proascomata in axenic culture, but with no mature ascospores after 6 months. These findings suggest that Lewia/A. infectoria species–group must, at least in part, be homothallic. The results presented in this study show that ITS, tef-1α and gpd do not reflect ecology, secondary metabolism or morphology of the A. infectoria species–group and that molecular cladification and phylogeny cannot predict pathogenicity, host specificity or mycotoxin production.     

New species of the Hygrobates salamandrarum-group (Acari, Hydrachnidia, Hygrobatidae) from Southeast Asia

Two new water mite species of the genus Hygrobates Koch, 1837 (Acari, Hydrachnidia, Hygrobatidae) were found to live parasitic on newts of the genus Paramesotriton Chang, 1935 (Amphibia, Caudata, Salamandridae) from Vietnam and Laos: Hygrobates forcipifer sp. nov. and H. ancistrophorus sp. nov. The H. salamandrarum-group is defined, that now includes three species from Southeast Asia. Males and females of both new species are described, as well as larvae and deutonymphs of the Vietnamese species. These data provide the first record of males, nymphs and larvae of the species-group. The systematic position of the group, as well as the parasite-host association and the lifecycle of the species are discussed. Furthermore, the character states of the striking mouthparts, particularly modified as an adaptation for penetrating the amphibian skin, the genital skeleton and the larval morphology are examined.     

Inventory of the carabid beetle fauna of the Gaoligong Mountains,western Yunnan Province,China: species of the tribe Zabrini (Coleoptera,Carabidae)

A ten-year multidisciplinary, multi-national and multi-institutional biodiversity inventory project in the Gaoligong Shan region of western Yunnan Province, China generated more than 35,000 specimens of the beetle (Coleoptera) family Carabidae. In this report, first of a planned series, we focus on diversity in tribe Zabrini. Our study of just over 1300 specimens of zabrine carabids from the project, all in genus Amara Bonelli, found a total of 13 species, all previously described, to occur in the study area, with none of them strictly endemic. We present a key for identification of adults of these species, as well as nomenclatural data, diagnoses, illustrations of dorsal habitus and male genitalia, and information about geographical, altitudinal and habitat distributions within the study area and overall geographical distribution for each species. Distributions of the species within the study area are compared, and broader geographical range patterns are characterized. We also discuss a possible role of the Gaoligong Shan region as one source area for the present-day fauna of the Himalaya and southern edge of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau.     

Three new species of picobiine mites (Acari: Syringophilidae) parasitising African flycatchers (Aves: Muscicapidae)

Three new species of quill mites of the subfamily Picobiinae Johnston & Kethley, 1973 (Acari: Syringophilidae) are described from African flycatchers (Passeriformes: Muscicapidae): Picobia cichladusa n. sp. on Cichladusa arquata Peters and P. myrmecocichla n. sp. on Myrmecocichla arnotti (Tristram), both from Tanzania, and P. echo n. sp. on Cossypha heuglini Hartlaub from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.     

Multilocus species tree analyses resolve the radiation of the widespread Bufo bufo species group (Anura, Bufonidae)

New analytical methods are improving our ability to reconstruct robust species trees from multilocus datasets, despite difficulties in phylogenetic reconstruction associated with recent, rapid divergence, incomplete lineage sorting and/or introgression. In this study, we applied these methods to resolve the radiation of toads in the Bufo bufo (Anura, Bufonidae) species group, ranging from the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa to Siberia, based on sequences from two mitochondrial and four nuclear DNA regions (3490 base pairs). We obtained a fully-resolved topology, with the recently described Bufo eichwaldi from the Talysh Mountains in south Azerbaijan and Iran as the sister taxon to a clade including: (1) north African, Iberian, and most French populations, referred herein to Bufo spinosus based on the implied inclusion of populations from its type locality and (2) a second clade, sister to B. spinosus, including two sister subclades: one with all samples of Bufo verrucosissimus from the Caucasus and another one with samples of B. bufo from northern France to Russia, including the Apennine and Balkan peninsulas and most of Anatolia. Coalescent-based estimations of time to most recent common ancestors for each species and selected subclades allowed historical reconstruction of the diversification of the species group in the context of Mediterranean paleogeography and indicated a long evolutionary history in this region. Finally, we used our data to delimit the ranges of the four species, particularly the more widespread and historically confused B. spinosus and B. bufo, and identify potential contact zones, some of which show striking parallels with other co-distributed species.     

Cryptic speciation in the Acari: a function of species lifestyles or our ability to separate species?

There are approximately 55,000 described Acari species, accounting for almost half of all known Arachnida species, but total estimated Acari diversity is reckoned to be far greater. One important source of currently hidden Acari diversity is cryptic speciation, which poses challenges to taxonomists documenting biodiversity assessment as well as to researchers in medicine and agriculture. In this review, we revisit the subject of biodiversity in the Acari and investigate what is currently known about cryptic species within this group. Based on a thorough literature search, we show that the probability of occurrence of cryptic species is mainly related to the number of attempts made to detect them. The use of, both, DNA tools and bioassays significantly increased the probability of cryptic species detection. We did not confirm the generally-accepted idea that species lifestyle (i.e. free-living vs. symbiotic) affects the number of cryptic species. To increase detection of cryptic lineages and to understand the processes leading to cryptic speciation in Acari, integrative approaches including multivariate morphometrics, molecular tools, crossing, ecological assays, intensive sampling, and experimental evolution are recommended. We conclude that there is a demonstrable need for future investigations focusing on potentially hidden mite and tick species and addressing evolutionary mechanisms behind cryptic speciation within Acari.     

Geographic distribution and host plants of Raoiella indica and associated mite species in northern Venezuela

The red palm mite (RPM), Raoiella indica Hirst (Acari: Tenuipalpidae), is an invasive pest in the New World, where it is currently considered a serious threat to coconut and banana crops. It was first reported from northern Venezuela in 2007. To determine its current distribution in this country, surveys were carried out from October 2008 to April 2010 on coconut (Cocos nucifera L.), banana (Musa spp.), ornamental plants and weeds in northern Venezuela. Higher population levels of RPM were registered on commercial coconut farms in Falcón and Sucre states but also on other plant species naturally growing along the coastal line in Anzoategui, Aragua, Carabobo, Monagas and Nueva Esparta states. Out of 34 botanical species evaluated, all RPM stages were observed only on eight arecaceous, one musaceous and one streliziaceous species, indicating that the pest developed and reproduced only on these plants. Mite specimens found on weeds were considered spurious events, as immature stages of the pest were never found on these. Amblyseius largoensis (Muma) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) was the most frequent predatory mite associated with RPM in all sampling sites. The results indicate that RPM has spread to extensive areas of northern Venezuela since its initial detection in Güiria, Sucre state. Considering the report of this pest mite in northern Brazil in the late 2009, additional samplings in southern Venezuela should be carried out, to evaluate the possible presence of RPM also in that region.     

New species and record of the genus Petalomium (Acari: Heterostigmatina: Neopygmephoridae) associated with ants (Hymenoptera: Formicoidea) from Iran

The mite Petalomium camponoti Hajiqanbar & Khaustov sp. n. (Acari: Prostigmata: Neopygmephoridae) is described based on females recovered from ants Camponotus buddhae Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) which were collected from a nest located on heights near Shirvan city, northeastern Iran. We also found Petalomium gottrauxi Mahunka, 1977 associated with Camponotus aethiops Latreille from the same locality. These findings present the first record of the genus Petalomium Cross from Iran. A key to species of the genus Petalomium associated with ant genus Camponotus Mayr is presented and host range of the Petalomium is discussed.     

Definition and review of the lancangjiang species group of the termitophilous genus Orthogonius Macleay, 1825 (Coleoptera,Carabidae, Orthogoniini)

The lancanjiang species group of the termitophilous ground beetle genus Orthogonius Macleay, 1825, is defined and reviewed. This group is characterized by the black and rather elongate body, dense punctation on head and elytra, long and slender appendages, thin fore tibiae, and elytral interval 3 without a subapical setiferous pore. To date, the lancanjiang species group is composed of four species and one subspecies, including three new species and one new subspecies which are described in the present paper: O. macrophthalmus sp. n. (northern Vietnam), O. euthyphallus sp. n. (southern Vietnam), O. euthyphallus bolavenensis ssp. n. (southern Laos) and O. carinatus sp. n. (northern Laos). A distribution map and a key to all species of this group are also provided.