Halacarid mites (Acari: Halacaridae) from Esperance (Western Australia), description of two new Copidognathus species

Abstract

Two new species, Copidognathus angusticeps spec. nov. and C. parvulus spec. nov., are described. The two species are from the southern coast of Western Australia, from Esperance. Copidognathus angusticeps has a long, slender gnathosoma, the rostrum is about as long as the gnathosomal base, major parts of the dorsal and ventral plates are punctate, the hardly delimited porose areolae have a similar ornamentation, the epimeral pores are enlarged. In C. parvulus the slender rostrum is almost twice as long as the gnathosomal base, the dorsal and ventral plates are almost smooth except for the sharply delimited areolae with rosette pores. Copidognathus amaurus Bartsch, 1999 and C. australensis (Lohmann, 1909), which are new records in the Esperance fauna, are also characterized by an elongate gnathosoma, but are not closely related with any of the two new species.