Systematic & Applied Acarology
ISSN 1362-1971
An international journal of the Systematic and Applied Acarology Society, published since 1996

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Systematic & Applied Acarology (2009) 14, 248–250.

Anasuscuta, a new genus of chigger (Acari: Leeuwenhoekiidae: Apoloniinae) described to accommodate Liuella monosetosa Brown

WAYNE A. BROWN
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii, 2030 Maile Way, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA. Phone: 1 808 735 4148. Fax: 1 808 956 2428. E-mail: wabrown@hawaii.edu

 

The subfamily Apoloniinae of the family Leeuwenhoekiidae was reviewed in depth and on a worldwide basis by Brown (2006). This review included the transfer of the genus Liuella Wang & Bai, 1992, from the Trombiculidae to Apoloniinae, along with the description of a new species, L. monosetosa, from rodents in Morocco. This species was placed in Liuella based on morphological similarities, most specifically the lack of a scutal nasus. Wen and Chen (2007) synonymized the genus Liuella with the genus Straelensia Vercammen-Grandjean & Kolebinova, 1968. The justification the authors cite is the finding of a scutal nasus on the single specimen of the type species, L. virtus Wang & Bai, 1992, which originally comprised the genus Liuella. They provided a photomicrograph as evidence and reassigned the species as Straelensia virtus (Wang & Bai, 1992) without comment on the status of L. monosetosa.

 

References

Brown, W.A. (2006) Two new species of Apoloniinae (Acari: Trombiculoidea: Leeuwenhoekiidae) from African small mammals, with a key to the species of the world. Folia Parasitologica, 53, 217–222.

Wang, D. & Bai, X. (1992) A new genus of chigger from Ningxia, China (Acari: Trombiculidae). Acta Entomologica Sinica, 35, 247–249. [In Chinese with English abstract]

Wen, T.-H. & Chen, J. (2007) Synonymy of the sand-mite genus Straelensia with the genus Liuella (Acariformes: Trombiculoidea). Systematic & Applied Acarology, 12, 87–88.

Accepted by A. Baker: 30 Sept. 2009

 

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