A new species of Podapolipus (Acari: Podapolipidae) from Iran: the first host record of a podapolipid mite parasitizing the widespread beetle Trachyderma hispida (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Abstract

Members of the family Podapolipidae (Acari: Trombidiformes: Prostigmata) are highly specialized obligate parasites of various insects particularly Coleoptera and usually live in the subelytral cavity of host beetles. These mites exhibit a degree of host specificity at the family level. However, a remarkable exception is the genus Podapolipus, members of which parasitize three families of Coleoptera, some Orthoptera and a few Blattaria. In a survey on parasitic mites associated with insects in southern parts of Iran (Fars province), colonies of a new species of this genus were found. The mite Podapolipus laricus Majidi and Hajiqanbar sp. n. is described and illustrated. Colonies of mites were separated from under elytra and terminal abdominal segments of tenebrionid beetles, Trachyderma hispida Forskal, 1775 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Pimeliinae). The new species is compared with closely related species, Podapolipus khorasanicus Hajiqanbar, 2013 and P. luzoni Husband and Corpus-Raros, 1989. The beetle genus Trachyderma is a new host record for mites of the genus Podapolipus.