Abstract
The morphology of juvenile stages and ontogeny of Cosmochthonius reticulatus Grandjean, 1947, C. foliatus Subías, 1982, and C. ugamaensis Gordeeva, 1980 are described and illustrated for the first time, and compared to the adults. Juveniles of these species differ mainly by the number of cilia on hypertrophied setae of e- and f-series, the shape of seta h 1 in the larva, and the shape of posterior gastronotal setae in nymphs. Cosmochthonius reticulatus has the fewest cilia on these setae, while the larva of C. ugamaensis and the nymphs and adult of C. foliatus have the most. In all species the number of cilia increases during ontogeny, more so in C. foliatus than in C. ugamaensis and C. reticulatus. Adults of these species differ mainly by the pattern of cerotegument and cuticle, best seen in SEM micrographs. Apparent in light microscopy the pygidium of C. reticulatus is reticulate, that of C. foliatus has rounded foveae, while that of C. ugamaensis has small circles and semicircles. The cuticle of the latter species is covered with thin, granular cerotegument, while that of the other species has thick, netlike cerotegument; C. foliatus also has a cerotegumental collar. Adults of all species differ also by the shape of posterior notogastral setae, and the location of some genital setae.References
Arillo, A., Bordel, I. & Subías, L.S. (1988) Los oribátidos (Acari, Oribatida) de la Ciudad Universitaria de Madrid. Boletín de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural, Biología, 84 (1–2), 117–125.
Ayyildiz, N. & Luxton, M. (1990) The genus Cosmochthonius Berlese 1910 (Oribatida: Cosmochthoniidae). Acarologia, 31 (3), 279–284.
Balogh, J. & Mahunka, S. (1983) Primitive Oribatids of the Palaearctic Region. In: Balogh, J. & Mahunka, S. (Eds.): The soil mites of the world. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, vol. 1, 1–372.
Beck, L. (1962) Beiträge zur Kenntnis der neotropischen Oribatidenfauna. 1. Eohypochthonius und Cosmochthonius (Arach., Acari). Senckenbergiana Biologica, Frankfurt, 43, 227–236.
Berlese, A. (1910) Acari nuovi. Manipulus V-VI. Redia, 6, 199–234.
Chakrabarti, D.K., Bhaduri, A.K. & Rayachaudhuri, D.N. (1972) One new species and a new subspecies of Oribatid mites (Acari, Oribatei) from West Bengal, India. Acta Arachnologica, 24 (2), 86–90.
Gil, J., Subías, L.S. & Candelas, E. (1991) La familia Cosmochthoniidae Grandjean, 1947, en la Peninsula Ibérica (Acari, Oribatida). Zoologica baetica, 2, 47–70.
Gordeeva, E.V. (1980) Oribatid mites of the family Cosmochthoniidae (Oribatei). Journal of Zoology, 59 (6), 838–850. (In Russian).
Grandjean, F. (1947a) Les Enarthronota (Acariens). Premiére série. Annales des Sciences Naturelles Zoologie, (11), 8, 213–248.
Grandjean, F. (1947b) L'origine de la pince mandibulaire chez les Acariens actinochitineux. Archives des Sciences physiques et naturelles, Genève, (5), 29, 305–355.
Grandjean, F. (1949) Formules anales, gastronotiques, génitales et aggénitales du développement numérique des poils chez les Oribates. Bulletin Societe Zoologique France, 74, 201–225.
Grandjean, F. (1953) Essai de classification des Oribates (Acariens). Bulletin Societe Zoologique France, 78, 421–446.
Grandjean, F. (1954) Les Enarthronota (Acariens) (4e série). Annales des Sciences Naturelles Zoologie, (11), 16, 311–335.
Grandjean, F. (1962) Nouvelles observations sur les Oribates (2e série). Acarologia, 4, 396–422.
Hammer, M. (1961) A few new species of Oribatids from Southern Italy. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 166 (3–4), 113–119.
Karasawa, S. & Hijii, N. (2004a) Effects of microhabitat diversity and geographical isolation on oribatid mite (Acari: Oribatida) communities in mangrove forests. Pedobiologia, 48 (3), 245–256.
Karasawa, S. & Hijii, N. (2004b) Morphological modifications among oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) in relation to habitat differentiation in mangrove forests. Pedobiologia, 48 (3), 383–394.
Karasawa, S., Gotoh, K., Sasaki, T. & Hijii, N. (2005) Wind-based dispersal of oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) in a subtropical forest in Japan. Journal of the Acarological Society of Japan, 14 (2), 117–122.
Mahunka, S. & Mahunka-Papp, L. (2003) Contribution to the knowledge of the Hungarian Oribatida fauna (Acari). I. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 49 (4), 255–260.
Mahunka, S. & Mahunka-Papp, L. (2010) New and little known oribatid mites from the Carpathian Basin and the Balkan Peninsula (Acari: Oribatida). Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 56 (3), 211–234.
Michael, A.D. (1885) New British Oribatidae. Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, London, (2), 5, 385–397.
Minguez, M.E. & Subías, L. S. (1986) Nuevos Oribátidos (Acari, Oribatei) de las Islas Columbretes (España). Cuadernos de Investigación Biológica, 9, 75–88.
Niemi, R., Gordeeva, E. & Ayyildiz, N. (2002) Cosmochthonius taurus n. sp. (Acari: Oribatida: Cosmochthoniidae) from Turkey. Acarologia, 42 (3), 283–285.
Norton, R.A. (2001) Systematic relationships of Nothrolohmanniidae, and the evolutionary plasticity of body form in Enarthronota (Acari: Oribatida). In: Halliday, R.B., Walter, D.E., Proctor, H.C., Norton, R.A. & Colloff, M.J. (Eds.): Acarology. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 58–75.
Norton, R.A. & Behan-Pelletier, V.M. (2009) Oribatida. In: Krantz, G.W. & Walter, D.E. (Eds.): A Manual of Acarology. Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, pp. 430–564.
Norton, R.A., O´Connor, B.M. & Johnston, D.E. (1983) Systematic relationships of the Pediculochelidae (Acari: Acariformes). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 85 (3), 493–512.
Penttinen, R. & Gordeeva, E. (2003) Cosmochthonius zanini sp. n. (Acari, Oribatida, Cosmochthoniidae) from the Eastern Mediterranean. Vestnik Zoologii, 37 (5), 77–83.
Penttinen, R. & Gordeeva, E. (2005) Redescription of Cosmochthonius foliatus Subias, 1982 and supplements to the descriptions of C. reticulatus Grandjean, 1947 and C. lanatus (Michael, 1995) (Acari: Oribatida: Cosmochthoniidae). Acarologia, 46 (4), 349–361.
Penttinen, R. & Gordeeva, E. (2009) Distribution of Cosmochthonius species (Oribatida: Cosmochthoniidae) in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, Ukraine and Tajikistan. In: Sabelis, M.W. & Bruin, J. (Eds.): Trends in Acarology, pp. 171–174.
Pérez-Iñigo, C. (1988) Catálogo de oribátidos (Acari, Oribatei) de la Sierra da Guadarrama. Graellsia, 64, 31–64.
Pérez-Iñigo, C. & Peña, M.A. (1995) Oribátidos (Acari, Oribatei) de Fuerteventura (Islas Canarias). Graellsia, 51, 143–164.
Pérez-Iñigo, C. jr. (1990) Ácaros Oribátidos (Acari, Oribatei) de la provincia de Huesca, I. Prepireneo. Eos, Revista Española de Entomología, 65 (2), 106–164.
Ruiz, E., Minguez, M.E. & Subías, L.S. (1986) Los Oribátidos (Acari, Oribatida) de los eriales de cultivo de una zona agrícola del sur de Madrid y el efecto borde. Actas de las VIII Jornadas de la Asociación Española de Entomología, Sevilla, p. 98–110.
Ruiz, E. & Subías, L.S. (1984) Oribátidos (Acarida, Oribatida) Inferiores del 'sabinar albar' español. Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología, 8, 195–201.
Ruiz, E., Subías, L.S. & Kahwash, M.A.M. (1991) Oribatidos inferiores (Acari, Oribatida, Macropylina) de Andalucia, con descripcion de tres nuevas especies. Eos, Revista Española de Entomología, 67, 56–65.
Seniczak, S. (1992a) The morphology of juvenile stages of moss mites of the family Nothridae (Acari, Oribatida) 1. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 229 (3–4), 134–148.
Seniczak, S. (1992b) The morphology of juvenile stages of moss mites of the family Trhypochthoniidae (Acari: Oribatida). I. Zoologische Jahrbuecher Systematik, 119 (3), 413–423.
Seniczak, S. & Seniczak, A. (2009a) Differentiation of body form of Protoplophoroidea (Acari: Oribatida) in the light of ontogeny of three species. Journal of Natural History, 44 (7), 389–419.
Seniczak, S. & Seniczak, A. (2009b) Morphology of three species of Crotonioidea Thorel, 1876 (Acari: Oribatida), and relations between some genera. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 248, 195–211.
Seniczak, S. & Zelazna, E. (1992) The morphology of juvenile stages of moss mites of the family Nothridae (Acari, Oribatida) 2. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 229 (3–4), 149–162.
Sergienko, G.D. (1987) The lower oribatid mites (Oribatei, Macropylina) of Ukraine. Vestnik Zoologii, 1987 (2), 33–38 (In Russian).
Sergienko, G.D. (1991) New species of primitive oribatids (Oribatei, Archoribatida) from Ukraine. Vestnik Zoologii, 1991 (6), 26–33 (in Russian).
Sergienko, G.D. (1994) Lower Oribatids. In: Topacevskij, B.A. (Ed.): Fauna of the Ukraine 25. Naukova Dumka, Kiev, p. 5–204 (In Russian).
Subías, L.S. (1982) Oribátidos de Murcia I (Oribátidos inferiores. Parte I) (Acarida, Oribatida). Anales Universidad Murcia, 38, 133–151.
Subías, L.S. (2004) Systematic, synonymic and biogeographical check – list of the world’s oribatid mites (Acariformes, Oribatida) (1758–2002). Graellsia, 60, 3-305. Online version accessed in February 2011. 557 pp.
http://www.ucm.es/info/zoo/Artropodos/Catalogo.pdf.
Travé, J. (1956) Contributions a l' étude de la fauna de la Massane (Deuxième note). Oribates (Acarien), 1re partie. Vie et Milieu, 7 (1), 77–94.
Travé, J. (1984) Contribution a l'étude des Oribates (Acariens) de l'Ile de Port-Cros (Parc National). Travaux Scientifiques du Parc National de Port-Cros, France, 10, 119–150.
Weigmann, G. (2006) Hornmilben (Oribatida). In: Dahl, F. (Ed.): Die Tierwelt Deutschland und der angrenzenden Meeresteile. 76. Teil. Goecke & Evers, Keltern, pp. 1–520.