Folia Parasitologica 62[1] 11 (2015) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2015.011

Lemuralges propithecus sp. n. (Acariformes: Psoroptidae), an ectoparasite of the diademed sifaka Propithecus diadema (Primates: Indriidae)

Andre V. Bochkov^1,2, Hans Klompen³, Randall E. Junge⁴, Cathy V. Williams⁵

¹ Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia;

² Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA;

³ Acarology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA;

⁴ Department of Animal Health, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Columbus, USA;

⁵ Duke Lemur Center, Duke University, Durham, USA

A new species of the genus Lemuralges Fain, 1963 (Acariformes: Psoroptidae: Makialginae) is described from the Malagasy lemur Propithecus diadema (Bennett) (Primates: Indriidae) based on all postembryonic instars. This new species differs from the only known species in this genus, Lemuralges intermedius Fain, 1963, by the following features: both sexes of L. propithecus sp. n. show a pair of medioventral projections of the subcapitulum (vs without projections in L. intermedius) and the propodonotal shield is slightly ornamented (vs unornamented); in males the hysteronotal shield is completely covered by longitudinal striae (vs median part without striae), setae c2 are 120-140 µm long (vs 200-210 µm long), and femur III has a short transverse furrow dorsally (vs a longitudinal furrow); in females, setae h2 are, at least, 2 times shorter than h3 (vs slightly longer, or subequal to, h3), tibia IV has a ventro-apical projection (vs without projection). Larvae and protonymphs of the new species show some unique developmental delays. Female and male tritonymphs differ by their external morphology.

Keywords: acari, parasites, lemurs, Madagascar, systematics

Received: August 16, 2014; Accepted: September 27, 2014; Published online: January 28, 2015  Show citation