Two new species of oribatid mites of Lasiobelba (Acari, Oribatida, Oppiidae) from Nepal, including a key to all species of the genus.

Sergey Ermilov,Luis Subias,Jochen Martens,Umukusum Shtanchaeva

doi:10.3897/zookeys.424.7990

Abstract

Two new species of oribatid mites of the genus Lasiobelba (Oribatida, Oppiidae), Lasiobelba (Lasiobelba) daamsae sp. n. and Lasiobelba (Antennoppia) nepalica sp. n., are described from eastern Nepal. Lasiobelba (L.) daamsae sp. n. is most similar to L. (L.) remota Aoki, 1959 and L. (L.) gibbosa (Mahunka, 1985), however, it differs from both by the anterior part of pedotecta I specifically curved, rostrum pointed and exobothridial setae not shorter than bothridial setae. Lasiobelba (Antennoppia) nepalica sp. n. is most similar to L. (A.) granulata (Mahunka, 1986), however, it differs from the latter by the larger body size, exobothridial setae longer than rostral setae and bothridial setae not longer than interlamellar setae. An identification key to known species of Lasiobelba is given.

Highlights

Lasiobelba is a genus of oribatid mites (Oribatida, Oppiidae, Oppiinae) that was proposed by Aoki (1959) with Lasiobelba remota Aoki, 1959 as type species
In having the long notogastral setae, large body size and spindle-form bothridial setae, Lasiobelba (Lasiobelba) daamsae sp. n. is most similar to L. (L.) remota Aoki, 1959 from the Oriental and Palaearctic regions and Lasiobelba (Lasiobelba) gibbosa (Mahunka, 1985) from the Ethiopian region
In having the long prodorsal and notogastral setae and large body size, Lasiobelba (Antennoppia) nepalica sp. n. is most similar to L. (A.) granulata (Mahunka, 1986) from Tanzania

Summary

Introduction

Lasiobelba is a genus of oribatid mites (Oribatida, Oppiidae, Oppiinae) that was proposed by Aoki (1959) with Lasiobelba remota Aoki, 1959 as type species. Lasiobelba comprises two subgenera (Lasiobelba (Lasiobelba) Aoki, 1959, Lasiobelba (Antennoppia) Mahunka, 1983 – see Mahunka 1983a) and 32 species, which have a cosmopolitan distribution (Subías 2004, updated 2014). In the course of taxonomic identification of oribatid mites from Nepal (Ermilov et al 2013, 2014; Ermilov and Martens 2014), we found two new species of the genus Lasiobelba; one belonging to Lasiobelba (Lasiobelba), other to Lasiobelba (Antennoppia).

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