taxonID	type	description	language	source
039887998618FFD3FD6CF8CDFC9BF8E0.taxon	materials_examined	Type species. Zerconella (Zerconella) leitnerae Willmann, 1953	en	Ujvári, Zsolt, O, Published (2013): Zerconella (Zerconella) balkanica sp. nov., a new species of Zerconidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from central Albania. Turkish Journal of Zoology 37 (6): 669-675, DOI: 10.3906/zoo-1211-22, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3906/zoo-1211-22
03988799861BFFD7FF13FF7DFD72F8E3.taxon	materials_examined	Type material. Holotype: female: E- 2705 – Albania, Mat district, Dejë Mountains, sidestream of the Varoshit stream along the road to Lurë area, leaf litter from beech patch, 1215 m a. s. l., 41 ° 39.824 ′ N, 20 ° 11.720 ′ E, 19.05.2010, leg. Fehér, Z., Murányi, D., & Ujvári, Zs. (deposited in HNHM). Paratypes: 1 female and 3 males, locality and date as for the holotype (1 female and 1 male deposited in CNC; 2 males deposited in HNHM). Diagnosis. J setal row only with 3 pairs of setae. Setae J 5 elongate, situated in the central area of opisthonotum, directly next to each other. Lateral pair of dorsal cavities twice as large as central cavities. Podonotal setae z 3, s 5, and r 3 and opisthonotal setae Z 4 – 5 and S 3 – 5 stronger and markedly longer than other dorsal setae. Description of female. Length of idiosoma: 323 – 328 µm; width: 204 µm (n = 2). Dorsal side (Figure 1 a). Podonotum with 22 pairs of setae (j 1 – 6, z 2 – 6, s 1 – 6, and r 1 – 5). Each podonotal seta smooth and needle-like. Setae z 3, s 5, and r 3 elongate, expanding beyond margins of idiosoma, other setae of the shield short. Podonotal gland openings not conspicuous. Surface of podonotum with weakly developed reticulate pattern and muscle scars. Opisthonotum with 19 pairs of setae, J 2 – 3, J 5, Z 1 – 5, S 1 – 5, and R 1 – 6. Setae J 1 and J 4 absent. Setae J 2 – 3, Z 1 – 3, and S 1 – 2 similar in appearance, short, smooth, and needle-like, none of them reaching the base of the following one in the series. Setae J 5 3 – 4 times longer than short opisthonotal setae, situated in the central area of opisthonotum, directly next to each other, not reaching the line of dorsal cavities. Setae Z 4 and S 3 – 4 strong, markedly elongate, each reaching beyond margins of idiosoma. Setae Z 5 similar in appearance to J 5, situated 110 µm apart. Marginal R-setae short, smooth and needle-like. Length of opisthonotal setae and distances between their insertions as in the Table. Glands gdJ 4 (Po 3) situated on line connecting J 5 and Z 4, other opisthonotal glands not conspicuous. Anterior half of opisthonotal surface covered by weakly developed reticulate pattern, posterior half smooth. Posterodorsal cavities strongly sclerotized, ring-like, with undulate margins, lateral pair twice as large as central pair (Figure 1 b). Ventral side (Figure 1 c). Tritosternal laciniae divided into 2 branches, both of these subdivided distally into 2 – 3 marginally serrate branches. Peritrematal shields posteriorly truncate at level of setae S 1, posteriorly separated from podonotal shield by a triangular, weakly sclerotized slit. Ornamentation of peritrematal shields weakly developed, a fine reticulation of longitudinal lines visible. Peritremes (Figure 2 a) short, stigmata situated at level of central area of the fourth coxae, distal end reaching only the posterior part of the third coxae. Chaetotaxy of ventral shields typical for genus Zerconella. Sternal shield 70 µm long and 51 µm wide at the level of setae st 2, with nearly straight posterior margin and weakly developed reticulate ornamentation. Adgenital platelets with 2 – 2 openings of gv 2, postgenital sclerites present. Ventrianal shield with short, smooth, needle-like preanal and adanal setae, setae Zv 1 present. Postanal seta (pa) and setae Jv 5 uniform, smooth and needle-like, 1.5 – 2 times longer than preanal and adanal setae (ad). Anal valves with vestigial euanal setae. Glands gv 3 situated posterolateral to adanal setae, on line connecting setae Jv 4 and postanal seta. Anterior surface of ventrianal shield covered by tile-like pattern to level of Jv 3 - Zv 3 - Zv 4. Gnathosoma (Figure 2 b). Situation of hypostomal and subcapitular setae typical for the family. Setae h 1 – 2 elongate, smooth. Setae h 3 shorter than h 1, smooth, h 4 as long as h 1 – 2, marginally serrate. Corniculi hornlike, internal malae with a pair of bifurcate anterocentral branches and with smooth margins. Chelicerae relatively slender, fixed digit with 6 teeth, movable digit with 4 teeth. Epistome of Parazercon - type (Figures 2 c and 2 d). Description of male (Figures 3 a and 3 b). Length of idiosoma: 247 – 258 µm; width: 150 – 156 µm (n = 3). Chaetotaxy, poroidotaxy, and sculptural pattern of dorsal, ventrianal, and peritrematal shields similar to those of female. Length of opisthonotal setae and distances between their insertions as in the Table. Sternigenital shield entire, 5 pairs of sternigenital setae present. Postgenital sclerites not visible. The triangular slit separating posterior ends of peritrematal shields from podonotal shield less expressed than in female. The slit between lateral parts of ventral shield and opisthonotal shield narrower than in female. Each character of gnathosoma (epistome of males shown in Figures 3 c – 3 e) similar to those of female, but terminal part of fixed digit of chelicerae bifurcate. Etymology. The name of the new species refers to the Balkan Peninsula, the geographic area where the specimens were collected. Differential diagnosis. The new species belongs to the subgenus Zerconella (Zerconella) by the following characters: caudodorsal region without elevations; surface of dorsal shields smooth; some dorsal setae and all marginal setae short. Zerconella (Zerconella) balkanica sp. nov. is very similar in appearance to the other species of the subgenus Zerconella (Zerconella) leitnerae Willmann, 1953. The new species, however, can easily be distinguished from the latter by the absence of setae J 4, the position of setae J 5 [situated in the posterior half of opisthonotum, reaching beyond the line of dorsal cavities in Z. (Z.) leitnerae, located in the central area of opisthonotum, not reaching the line of dorsal cavities in Z. (Z.) balkanica sp. nov.], and the size of dorsal cavities [approximately uniform in Z. (Z.) leitnerae, lateral cavities twice as large as central cavities in Z. (Z.) balkanica sp. nov.]. Remarks. Zerconella (Zerconella) balkanica sp. nov. obviously lacks 2 pairs of J-setae, but the question arises: which are the missing pairs? As Zerconidae generally have 5 pairs of J-setae, and absence of any of these pairs is quite rare within the family (it can serve as a basis for classification, as well), it is very important to find out which of the 5 pairs do not develop in this species. According to Lindquist and Moraza (1998), those setae that appear in the larval stage are the most conservative (they are most likely to appear), while setae appearing in the protonymphal stage have a higher chance of not developing, and setae appearing in the deutonymphal stage are those that are absent in most of the species with incomplete chaetotaxy. On the basis of the chaetotaxy system of Lindquist and Moraza (1998), setae J 2 – 5 are larval setae, while the J 1 pair appears in the protonymphal stage; therefore, the latter has the greatest chance to be absent on adult specimens in each Zerconella species [as was indicated in the case of other Zerconella species, as well (Ujvári, 2010 b)]. The appearance of J-setae of Zerconella (Zerconella) leitnerae is very similar to that of J-setae of Z. (Z.) balkanica sp. nov. As a conclusion of the previous facts, both species lack setae J 1, but Z. (Z.) balkanica sp. nov. also lacks one pair of J 2 – 5. Setae J 2 – 3 of the new species seem to be identical to those of Z. (Z.) leitnerae by their similar position; therefore, the missing pair must be J 4 or J 5. While the last pair of the J-series of Z. (Z.) balkanica sp. nov. is similar in appearance to J 5 of Z. (Z.) leitnerae, most probably these setae are also identical regarding their origin, even if these elongate setae are shifted to the central part of the opisthonotum in the new species. Hence, setae J 4 must be the other absent pair.	en	Ujvári, Zsolt, O, Published (2013): Zerconella (Zerconella) balkanica sp. nov., a new species of Zerconidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from central Albania. Turkish Journal of Zoology 37 (6): 669-675, DOI: 10.3906/zoo-1211-22, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3906/zoo-1211-22
