Morphological ontogeny of Melanozetes avachai n. sp., a unique member of Melanozetes (Acari: Oribatida: Ceratozetidae) S. Seniczak, S. Kaczmarek, A. Seniczak To cite this version: S. Seniczak, S. Kaczmarek, A. Seniczak. Morphological ontogeny of Melanozetes avachai n. sp., a unique member of Melanozetes (Acari: Oribatida: Ceratozetidae). Acarologia, Acarologia, 2016, 56 (4), pp.463-484. 10.1051/acarologia/20164136. hal-01547370 HAL Id: hal-01547370 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01547370 Submitted on 26 Jun 2017 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. 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Acarologia 56(4): 463–484 (2016) DOI: 10.1051/acarologia/20164136 Morphological ontogeny of Melanozetes avachai n. sp., a unique member of Melanozetes (Acari: Oribatida: Ceratozetidae) Stanisław SENICZAK1, Sławomir KACZMAREK1 and Anna SENICZAK2 (Received 22 February 2016; accepted 23 May 2016; published online 30 September 2016) 1 Department of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Kazimierz Wielki University, Ossoli´nskich12, Pl 85-092 Bydgoszcz, Poland. [email protected]; [email protected] 2 Department of Ecology, UTP University of Science and Technology, Kordeckiego 20, Pl 85-225 Bydgoszcz, Poland. [email protected] ABSTRACT — The morphological ontogeny of Melanozetes avachai n. sp. from Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia) is described and illustrated. The juveniles of this species have a humeral organ and a humeral macrosclerite, which occur in most Sphaerozetinae (Ceratozetidae), but in the larva seta c1 inserts on microsclerite, rather than on the humeral macrosclerite, which is unique in Melanozetes. The larva lacks the gastronotal shield and the gastronotal setae are inserted on microscle- rites, which is unique in Melanozetes; other species have these setae inserted on the gastronotal shield. The juveniles of M. avachai also differ from congeners by the length and shape of some gastronotal setae. All instars of M. avachai have femora I and II uniquely oval in cross section; in all other species of Melanozetes at least femur II is flattened, with a ventral carina. The adult of M. avachai differs from congeners by its larger body size and longer prodorsal seta le. The translamella is variable in M. avachai; usually it is absent, but may be incomplete, or present. The diagnosis of Melanozetes is modified and enlarged with the morphological characters of juveniles. KEYWORDS — Oribatid mites; Sphaerozetinae; juveniles; leg setation; stage structure INTRODUCTION 2015). The juveniles of Melanozetes species are less well- Melanozetes Hull, 1916 is a well defined genus, if we known. Based on the catalogue of Norton and Er- limit the number of notogastral setae of the adults milov (2014) and the publication of Seniczak et al. to 14 pairs, including c2 and c3 (Seniczak et al. 2015). (2015), the full ontogeny of only four species of this This genus is not rich in species. Subías (2015) listed genus is known: 21 species and two subspecies in this genus, but ac- (1) Melanozetes azoricus: Seniczak et al. (2015) de- cording to Seniczak et al. (2015) this number is much scribed and illustrated the morphological ontogeny, lower mainly because of the nine species that are including leg setae and solenidia. unrecognizable as nymphs. Melanozetes species dif- (2) Melanozetes interruptus Willmann, 1953: Seniczak fer from one another mainly by their body size, the (1993d) described and illustrated the morphological length of the lamella and lamellar cusp, the shape ontogeny. of the sensillus, the length and shape of notogastral (3) Melanozetes meridianus Sellnick, 1928: Tuxen setae and the size of porose area Aa (Seniczak et al. (1943) described and illustrated a nymph and http://www1.montpellier.inra.fr/CBGP/acarologia/ 463 ISSN 0044-586-X (print). ISSN 2107-7207 (electronic) Seniczak S. et al. Seniczak (1989a) described and illustrated the mor- (La), translamella (tr), bothridium (bo), sensillus (ss), phological ontogeny. pteromorph (ptm), tutorium (tut), genal tooth (gt), (4) Melanozetes mollicomus (C. L. Koch, 1839): pedotectum (pd), notogastral or gastronotal setae Michael (1884) described and illustrated a nymph, (c-, d-, l-, h-, p-series), adanal and anal setae (ad-, Hammen (1952) described and illustrated a an-series), aggenital seta (ag), epimeral setae (3a, 3b, tritonymph and Shaldybina (1967) and Seniczak 4a-c), lyrifissures or cupules (ia, im, ip, ih, ips, iad), (1989a) described and illustrated the morphological humeral sclerite (hs), opisthonotal gland opening ontogeny. (gla), humeral organ (oh), subcapitular setae (a, m, Our knowledge of juveniles of M. stagnatilis h), axillary saccula of subcapitulum (sac), epimeral σ ' ! (Hull, 1914), Melanozetes sellnicki (Hammer, 1952) setae (1a-c, 2, 3a-c, 4a-c), leg solenidia ( , , ), fa- and Melanozetes crossleyi Behan-Pelletier, 2000 is in- mulus ( ) and setae (bv, d, l, ft, tc, it, p, u, a, s, pv, complete in that only the adults and some nymphs pl, v), and palp setae (sup, inf, l, d, cm, acm, it, vt, ! of these species are known (Hull 1914; Behan- ul, su) and solenidion . Terminology used fol- Pelletier 1985; Behan-Pelletier 2000, respectively). lows that of Grandjean (1939, 1949, 1953), Behan- Pelletier (1985, 1986) and Norton & Behan-Pelletier The aim of this paper is to propose M. avachai n. (2009). The species nomenclature follows Subías sp. based on a collection from Kamchatka, and to (2004, 2015) and Weigmann (2006). describe and illustrate its morphological ontogeny, and then compare it and morphology of the adult Melanozetes avachai n. sp. with that of other species of Melanozetes. Diagnosis — Adult relatively long (length of fe- males 831 – 864, and males 717 – 799), with char- MATERIAL, METHODS AND TERMINOLOGY acters of Melanozetes (Shaldybina 1975). Lamel- lar cusp short, translamella usually absent, but The juveniles and adults of M. avachai n. sp. used may be present or incomplete. Seta le almost as in this study were collected on 20 June 2014 in Naly- long as in, sensillus clavate. Notogastral setae chevo Nature Park, at the bottom of Avacha volcano with barbs. Femora I and II oval in cross section, in the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia (53o13’98"N, without ventral carina. Larva without gastronotal 158o41’00"E, 548 m a. s. l.). Specimens were ex- shield and seta c1 inserted on microsclerite, not on tracted from dense moss covering the floor of a de- humeral macrosclerite, nymphs with uniform gas- ciduous forest, with alder (Alnus fruticosa Ruprecht) tronotal shield bearing 10 pairs of smooth setae, c1 dominating, but also with some birch (Betula ermanii on humeral macrosclerite, c2, c3, p2 and p3 on mi- Gray). The morphological ontogeny of M. avachai crosclerites. Humeral organ present. Femora I and is similar to that of M. azoricus Weigmann, 1976, as II oval in cross section, without ventral carina. described by Seniczak et al. (2015). Therefore, the il- lustrations of instars are limited to the body regions Description of adult — Body oval in dorsal as- of mites that show substantial differences, includ- pect (Figure 1), females usually slightly larger than ing the dorsal, lateral and some ventral regions of males. Measurements: length of holotype (female the larva, tritonymph and adult. The legs and palp 799), mean of 30 females - 810.1 (range 831 – 864) of some instars are also illustrated, as well as the and 30 males - 751.4 (range 717 – 799); notogaster chelicera of the adult. Illustrations were prepared width of holotype (455), mean of 30 females - 491.4 from individuals mounted temporarily on slides in µm (range 462 – 546) and 30 males - 443.9 µm (range lactic acid. We measured total length of the mites’ 423 – 468). body (excluding chelicerae if extended) and maxi- Integument — Posterior part of prodorsum, cen- mum body width. All measurements are given in tral part of notogaster and ventral plate microp- µm. In the text and figures we used the follow- orose, with light dots (Figure 1B), marginal parts of ing abbreviations: rostral (ro), lamellar (le), inter- notogaster and pteromorphs microporose and retic- lamellar (in) and exobothridial (ex) setae, lamella ulate (Figure 1C), other parts of body microporose. 464 Acarologia 56(4): 463–484 (2016) FIGURE 1: Melanozetes avachai n. sp., adult: A – dorsal aspect, legs partially drawn, scale bar 100 µm; B – microporose notogaster, with light dots and seta da; C – reticulate pattern of pteromorph. 465 Seniczak S. et al. TABLE 1: Measurements of some morphological characters of juvenile stages of Melanozetes avachai n.