Leptus (Leptus) molochinus (C. L. Koch, 1837)

Hakimitabar, Masoud, Hajizadeh, Jalil, Hosseini, Reza & Fadaei, Elnaz, 2024, New record of Leptus (Leptus) molochinus and Solistrus mitrae (Trombidiformes: Erythraeidae and Neothrombiidae) from Iran, Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics 10 (3), pp. 683-692 : 684-686

Leptus (Leptus) molochinus (C. L. Koch, 1837) ( Fig. 1)

Material examined. 2 Larvae (ARS–20240319-1a & 1b), ectoparasite on Ophion sp. (Hym.: Ichneumonidae ), campus of University of Guilan, Rasht, Guilan province (37°11'44"N, 49°38'30"E, 28 m A.S.L.), 30-VII-2021, leg.: Jalil Hajizadeh; 3 Larvae (ARS–20240319-1c, 1e & 1f), ectoparasite on Paederus fuscipes (Fabricius, 1775) (Col.: Staphylinidae ), campus of University of Guilan, Rasht, Guilan province (37°11'44"N, 49°38'30"E, 28 m A.S.L.), 6-VIII-2021, leg.: Jalil Hajizadeh; 1 Larva (ARS–20240319-1d), ectoparasite on Cicadella viridis (L., 1758) (Hemi.: Cicadellidae ), campus of University of Guilan, Rasht, Guilan province (37°11'44"N, 49°38'30"E, 28 m A.S.L.), 28-V-2021, leg.: Jalil Hajizadeh; 1 Larva (ARS– 20240319- 1g) ectoparasite on Peritrechus sp. (Hem.: Lygaeidae ), campus of University of Guilan, Rasht, Guilan province (37°11'44"N, 49°38'30"E, 28 m A.S.L.), 12-VI-2021, leg.: Jalil Hajizadeh; all specimens collected by the light trap (see Table 1).

Distribution. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands ( Mąkol & Wohltmann, 2012; Saboori et al., 2020) and Iran (New record).

Diagnosis. Larva. This species belongs to phalangii species group and molochinus species subgroup. Based on Saboori et al. (2020), abnormalities in the number of setae are common in the reared specimens. So, in Łaydanowicz and Mąkol (2010) leg chaetotaxy is cited and can be seen abnormalities. In this study, Leg setal formula of all specimens as follows: Leg Ι: Ta– 1ω, 1ε, 2ζ, 28n; Ti– 2φ, 1κ, 14n; Ge– 1σ, 1κ, 8n; TFe– 5n; BFe– 2n; Tr– 1n; Cx– 1n; Leg ΙΙ: Ta– 1ω, 1ε, 2ζ, 26n; Ti–2φ, 15n; Ge– 1σ, 1κ, 8n; TFe– 5n; BFe– 2n; Tr– 1n, Cx– 1n; Leg ΙΙΙ: Ta– 1ζ, 26n; Ti– 1φ, 15n; Ge– 8n; TFe– 5n; BFe– 1n; Tr– 1n; Cx– 1n. The number of palptarsal setae including solenidion and eupathidium 8 (fPp= 0–B–BB–BBB–6Bωζ) (see table 1 in Saboori et al., 2020), but the original paper stated 7 (NNBBBωζ).