Additions to the oribatid mite fauna (Acari, Oribatida) of Ethiopia: results of the Joint Russian-Ethiopian Biological Expedition (2014) to the vicinity of Lake Tana

S.G Ermilov

doi:10.1051/acarologia/20162253

Abstract

The present study is based on oribatid mite material (Acari, Oribatida) collected in October–December 2014 from the vicinity of Lake Tana, Northwest Ethiopia. A list of identified taxa, including 34 species from 29 genera and 25 families, is provided; of these, ten species, seven genera and three families are recorded in Ethiopia for the first time. A new species of the genus Haplozetes (Haplozetidae) is described from the leaf litter of forests with Coffea arabica and Podacarpus gracilor. Haplozetes valbehanae n. sp. is morphologically most similar to H. triungulatus Beck, 1964, but differs by the tridentate rostrum and presence of four pairs of genital setae and dense cerotegumental tubercles in the anterior part of the ventral plate.

Highlights

In recent years the Ethiopian oribatid mite fauna has been actively studied
The present study is based on the material collected during the Russian-Ethiopian expedition in October–December 2014 to the vicinity of Lake Tana (Northwest Ethiopia)
The genus Haplozetes was proposed by Willmann (1935) with Peloribates vindobonensis Willmann, 1935 as type species

Summary

INTRODUCTION

In recent years the Ethiopian oribatid mite fauna has been actively studied (for example, Ermilov et al 2012a; Ermilov and Rybalov 2012b, 2013; Ermilov et al 2014; Miko et al 2014; Niedbała and Ermilov 2014). The present study is based on the material collected during the Russian-Ethiopian expedition in October–December 2014 to the vicinity of Lake Tana (Northwest Ethiopia). The primary goal of the paper is to present a list and new records of the identified taxa. In the course of taxonomic identification, I found one new species, belonging to the genus Haplozetes Willmann, 1935. The secondary goal of the paper is to describe and illustrate this species under the name Haplozetes valbehanae n. The genus Haplozetes was proposed by Willmann (1935) with Peloribates vindobonensis Willmann, 1935 as type species. Identification keys for some species of the genus were presented by Balogh and Balogh (2002), Weigmann (2006), and Bayartogtokh (2010)

MATERIALS AND METHODS

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