Tegoprionus dentatus

Tegoprionus dentatus (Nalepa, 1891) (Fig. 2)

Female (measured specimens n = 6)

Body fusiform, 212–223 (excluding gnathosoma), 57–59 thick, 45–48 wide. Gnathosoma projecting obliquely downwards, chelicerae 18–20, palp 21–27, palp coxal setae ep 3–4, dorsal palp genual setae d 6–8, unbranched. Prodorsal shield 42–53 including frontal lobe, 47–49 wide, subtriangular; with a broad-based frontal lobe, 9–12, over gnathosomal base; frontal lobe ending with one pointed protuberance. Shield pattern distinct, with a pair of complete admedian lines joined by a transverse line at about their middle length, a pair of arched submedian lines joined to admedians; numerous disperse granules on each lateral side of prodorsal shield. Tubercles of scapular setae sc on rear shield margin, 30–31 apart, setae sc 17–21, directed posteriorly. Legs with all usual segments and setae. Leg I 34–38, trochanter 7–9, femur 12–14, genu 6–78, tibia 9–11, tarsus 9–10, tarsal solenidion 7–8 distally enlarged and tapered, empodium simple, 6–7, 4-rayed; femoral setae bv 10– 16, genual setae l" 19–22, paraxial tibial setae l' 5–7, located in basal third of tibia, paraxial fastigial tarsal setae ft ' 19–22, antaxial fastigial tarsal setae ft" 22–25, paraxial unguinal tarsal setae u' 5–5. Leg II 33–36, trochanter 7–8, femur 12–14, genu 6–8, tibia 8–9, tarsus 7–9, tarsal solenidion  7–8 distally tapered, empodium simple, 5–6, 4-rayed; femoral setae bv 11–13, genual setae l" 7–11, paraxial fastigial tarsal setae ft' 5–8, antaxial fastigial tarsal setae ft " 21–25, paraxial unguinal tarsal setae u' 4–6. Coxisternal region. Prosternal apodeme 8–9, anterior setae on coxisternum I 1b 9–10, 12–13 apart; proximal setae on coxisternum I 1a 21–27, 10–11 apart; proximal setae on coxisternum II 2a 44–52, 27 apart; 6 microtuberculated semiannuli between coxae and genital coverflap plus 1–2 transversal rows of lined granules at the base of the coverflap. Coxae I with coarse dots, coxae II smooth. External genitalia 15–18, 21–22 wide, coverflap with 12 longitudinal striae; setae 3a 15– 18, 13–15 apart. Internal genitalia: spermathecae ovoid, oriented laterad; spermathecal tubes relatively short; transverse genital apodeme trapezoidal, distally folded. Opisthosoma with 19–22 dorsal semiannuli, first 2 dorsal semiannuli dorsally arched, remained dorsal semiannuli irregularly bearing a wide central lobe projecting dorsally, a pair of distinct lateral ridges extended for the whole opisthosomal length; 66–74 ventral semiannuli, three simple annuli before the anal lobes. Microtubercles: dorsal semiannuli smooth except of lateral ridges that are ornamented with elliptical microtubercles, the last 3 dorsal semiannuli with spiny microtubercles; ventral semiannuli with circular microtubercles equipped with very short spines, last 5 ventral semiannuli with elongated and linear microtubercles. Setae c2 11–13 on ventral semiannulus 12–13, setae d 49–59 on ventral semiannulus 25–28; setae e 13–17 on ventral semiannulus 41–46; setae f 21–26 on ventral semiannulus 61–69; 5 annuli posterior to setae f. Setae h2 52–58 apically very fine, h1 4.

Male (measured specimen n = 1)

Similar in shape and prodorsal shield arrangement to female. Body smaller than that of female, 145, 40 thick; palp genual setae d 6; prodorsal shield 40; setae sc 15, 23 apart. Opisthosoma with 20 dorsal semiannuli and 56 ventral semiannuli, 8 semiannuli between coxae and genitalia, with microtubercles similar to those of female. Setae: 1b 8, 1a 19, 2a 32, c2 13, d 35, e 12, f 20, h1 5, h2 55. Male genitalia 15 wide, setae 3a 16, 12 apart.

Type host plant Galium verum L. (Rubiaceae), Yellow Bedstraw, Anise, Our-Lady's Bedstraw.

Type locality Not stated by the author, Austria is presumed.

Relation to the host plant Vagrant; leaf deformations have been reported, too.

Material examined

13 females and 1 male mounted singly on separate microscope slides (GA-IWA-OA17M-1-14) from G. aparine in Ozmanake Sofla village (37° 01' 91.1'' N, 46° 01' 28.0'' E, 1250.5 m above sea level) on 2 July 2017, Miandoab region, West Azerbaijan province, Iran, coll. H. Mehri-Heyran.

Other material

Mites preserved in Oudemans' fluid (Walter and Krantz 2009) (vial coded GA-IWA-OA17M) as extracted from the same sample like the examined specimens.

Remarks The genus Tegoprionus Keifer is provided with dorsal semiannuli irregularly bearing wide central lobes. Each dorsal semiannulus covers 3–4 ventral semiannuli. Until now three Tegoprionus species are known worldwide: Tegoprionus dentatus (Nalepa); Tegoprionus mesogibbosus Flechtmann & Amrine, vagrant on the leaf undersurface of Inga sessilis (Vell.) Mart. (Leguminosae) not causing visible symptoms, collected in the Botanical garden of Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil; Tegoprionus alobus Duarte, Chetverikov & Navia, vagrant on the leaf undersurface of Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E. Brown (Verbenaceae) presumably associated with chlorotic spots, collected in Brasília, Federal District, Brazil (Table 2).

The prodorsal shield of T. mesogibbosus is smooth (Fig. 3A; Flechtmann and Amrine 2014), while the prodorsal shield of T. alobus is provided only with faint admedian lines on the posterior half of the shield, and with rows of granules or small dashes on the anterior third of the shield and its lateral sides (Fig. 3B; Duarte et al. 2016). On the contrary, the prodorsal shield of T. dentatus has distinct lines (Fig. 2).

No opisthosomal lateral ridges were described on the dorsal opisthosoma of T. mesogibbosus and T. alobus and in the original description of T. dentatus. Vice versa, the Iranian specimens of T. dentatus have a pair of distinct lateral ridges extended for the whole opisthosomal length. This difference could depend on the fact that the Iranian specimens were not flattened in the mounting medium.

In addition to the differences mentioned above, a gross comparison of some traits among Tegoprionus species found worldwide is available in the Table 2.