Pneumolaelaps patae Hunter and Husband, 1973, family Laelapidae

Bee Mites : Acari : Parasitiformes : Mesostigmata : Laelapidae : Pneumolaelaps

Pneumolaelaps patae Hunter and Husband, 1973

Hypoaspis bombicolens (Can.) var. groenlandica Trägårdth, 1904: 34 (part), Figs 59-60; Hunter, 1966: 359 (part).

Pneumolaelaps patae Hunter et Husband, 1973: 78, Fig. 2F-J.

Hypoaspis (Pneumolaelaps) ?groenlandicus Bregetova, 1977: 519 (part).

Hypoaspis (Pneumolaelaps) groenlandica Karg, 1982: 244 (part); Karg, 1984: 36 (part).

Material. 9 paratype females (unprocessed).

Notes. Bregetova's (1977) identified mites of the genus Pneumolaelaps from Yakutiya and Chukotka without a striated sternal shield as Hypoaspis bombicolens var. groenlandica, and this interpretation was subsequently accepted by Karg (1982, 1984). Because all of the Trägårdth's syntypes [paralectotypes] we have seen have a distinctly striated sternal shield, we believe that Hypoaspis (Pneumolaelaps) groenlandicus sensu Bregetova, 1977 is, probably, a new species.

Hosts.

Bombus sp. (type host)

Bombus (Alpinobombus) hyperboreus Schönherr, 1809

Bombus (Alpinobombus) polaris Curtis, 1835

Distribution. Canada: Nunavut; Greenland: Vestgrønland (type locality).

References

Bregetova, N. G. 1977. [Family Laelaptidae]. In [Opredelitel' obytayshchikh v pochve kleshchey Mesostigmata = Identification key to soil-inhabiting mites Mesostigmata], eds. M. S. Gilarov & N. G. Bregetova, 483-554. Leningrad: Nauka.

Hunter, P. E. 1966. The genus Pneumolaelaps with description of three new species (Acarina: Laelaptidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society.39: 357-369.

Hunter, P. E. & R. W. Husband. 1973. Pneumolaelaps (Acarina: Laelapidae) mites from North America and Greenland. The Florida Entomologist.56: 77-91.

Karg, W. 1982. Zur Kenntnis der Raubmilbeng Hypoaspis Canestrini, 1884 (Acarina, Parasitiformes). Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin.58: 233-256.

Karg, W. 1984. Zur Kenntnis der Untergattung Pneumolaelaps Berlese, 1925 der Raubmilbengattung Hypoaspis Canestrini, 1884 (Acarina, Parasitiformes). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift.31: 35-39.

Trägårdth, I. 1904. Monographie der arctischen Acariden. Jena: Gustav Fisher. 78 pp.