A new species of Hypoaspis Canestrini (Acari, Mesostigmata, Laelapidae) associated with Oryctes sp. (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) in Iran

Abstract A new species of the genus Hypoaspis Canestrini, Hypoaspis surenai sp. n., is described based on adult female specimens collected in association with Oryctes sp. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Taft, Yazd province, Iran.


Introduction
The mite family Laelapidae includes approximately 800 species of morphologically, ecologically and behaviourally very diverse dermanyssoid mites, including obligate and facultative parasites of vertebrates, insect paraphages, and free-living predators that inhabit soil-litter habitats and the nests of vertebrates and arthropods (Evans and Till 1966;Faraji and Halliday 2009;Lindquist et al. 2009;Joharchi et al. 2012a, b). Currently, the family is classified into approximately 144 genera, including Hypoaspis with 36 species.  treated Hypoaspis sensu stricto as a separate genus equivalent to Hypoaspis (Hypoaspis) of other authors (e.g., Evans and Till 1966;Karg 1979Karg , 1982Karg , 1993, and gave a diagnosis and comparison of diagnostic characters for the closely related genus Coleolaelaps Berlese. That concept of Hypoaspis s.s. is followed here. The most recent taxonomic work on the genus was by Joharchi et al. (2014), who clarified the diagnosis of the genus and reviewed species that occur in the Western Palaearctic Region. In Iran, Hypoaspis s.s. included 14 identified species prior to this study Razavi Susan et al. 2014;Joharchi et al. 2014).
The ecological role of this genus is unknown. They may feed on exudates from the beetle's body or their eggs, or on other small invertebrates in the microhabitats created by the beetles (Costa 1971;Joharchi et al. 2014). This has not been established experimentally, and it will be necessary to do feeding experiments to establish the true ecological role of these mites. The purpose of this paper is to describe another species of Hypoaspis s.s. to increase our knowledge of the Iranian fauna of Laelapidae.

Materials and methods
Phoretic laelapids on beetles were collected from Taft, Yazd province, Iran, in 2015. Mites were removed from the beetles using an entomological pin. Specimens were cleared in Nesbitt's solution and mounted in Hoyer's medium . The line drawings and examination of the specimens were performed with an Olympus BX51 phase contrast microscope equipped with a drawing tube and figures were elaborated with Corel X-draw software, based on the scanned line drawings. Dorsal shield length and width were taken from the anterior to posterior margins along the midline, and at its broadest point, respectively. Length and width of the sternal shield were measured from the anterior border to the posterior margin at the full length and broadest point, respectively. Genital shield length and width were measured along the midline from the anterior border of the genital shield to the posterior margin of the genital shield, and at the maximum, respectively. Leg lengths were measured from base of the coxa to the apex of the tarsus, excluding the pre-tarsus. The nomenclature used for the dorsal idiosomal chaetotaxy is that of Lindquist and Evans (1965), the leg chaetotaxy is that of Evans (1963a), the palp chaetotaxy is that of Evans (1963b), and names of other anatomical structures mostly follow Evans and Till (1979). We use the terms "lyrifissures" to refer to slit-shaped sensilli, "gland pores" to refer to structures that we believe are the openings of secretory pores, and "poroids" for circular or oval-  -20150304-1k, ARS-20150304-1l) are also in the Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia (ANIC). All measurements in the descriptions are given in micrometres (μm).
The short diagnosis below is summarised from the detailed diagnosis in Joharchi and Halliday (2011).
Short diagnosis. Dorsal shield oval, without lateral incisions, bearing 35-40 pairs of setae including one or more pairs of Zx setae; some opisthonotal setae greatly elongated, especially Z4 (at least three times as long as J4); post-anal seta distinctly shorter than para-anals; hypostomal setae h3 distinctly longer than other hypostomal setae; tarsus II with two subterminal blunt spines (setae al1 and pl1).
Males & immature. Unknown. Etymology. The species is named in memory of Surena (died 53 BC) was a Parthian spahbed ("General" or "Commander") during the 1 st century BC.
Remarks. According to the key to species of Hypoaspis s.s. occurring in the Western Palaearctic Region provided by Joharchi et al. (2014), Hypoaspis surenai most resembles H. pentodoni Costa, 1971 but has the following unique character states for the genus: 21 pairs of long smooth, pointed setae on the podonotal shield, including a supernumerary pair near s6 (x) and r2, r3, r6 off the shield; 16 pairs of smooth and long setae on the opisthonotal shield including two pairs of Zx setae between the J and Z setae, seta Z3 absent; three long macrosetae on tarsus IV (ad2, pd2 and pd3); one macroseta on each of femora II-IV and seta ad1 on genu IV being only slightly longer than the remaining setae on the segment.
Almost all of the species of Hypoaspis s.s. occurring in Iran are associated with Coleoptera, especially with a wide variety of species in the family Scarabaeidae, while a few have been collected in soil. Most of these species have been collected on only a few occasions, so it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions about their host specificity. The question of host or microhabitat specificity of the species cannot be analysed in detail until all of the available collections are re-examined to confirm the identifications.