Mahunkaia tricornis
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Mahunkaia tricornis | ||||||||||||
| Heinrich Schatz , 2002 |
Mahunkaia tricornis is a species of mite and belongs to the group of horn mites . The genus Mahunkaia was named after the Hungarian acariologist Sandor Mahunka . The Artepitethon tricornis refers to a conspicuous, three-pronged structure between lamellae and rostrum , whichonly occurs in this specieswithin the Eremaeozetidae . Mahunkaia tricornis occurs in the south and east of South Africa in forests on coasts or rivers and in dune landscapes in humus , on dead plants and in damp moss .
features
The females of Mahunkaia tricornis are on average 370 µm long and 214 µm wide, the males are significantly smaller at 340 by 196 µm. Adult individuals are covered with a brown to dark brown, wrinkled cerotegument except for the lenticulus , sensilla and treadmill legs . The front body consists of a rounded rostrum with a short, pointed apex, which is surmounted by the tips of the long and wide lamellae. The chelicerae are long and narrow (length 77–84 µm, width 24–30 µm). The legs are single-clawed. The notogaster (the sclerotized, dorsal part of the opisthosoma ) is approximately oval. Some of the females observed carried two large, oval or elliptical to kidney-shaped eggs measuring 90–110 × 50–70 µm.
From the very similar type Mahunkaia bituberculata is Mahunkaia tricornis distinguishable by its smaller size, the trifurcated structure between lamellae and rostrum, the longer setae on the rostrum and the higher number of notogastralen setae, of which the rear shorter.
Taxonomy and systematics
Mahunkaia tricornis belongs to the genus Mahunkaia , which belongs to the Eremaeozetidae family . In addition to the species Mahunkaia tricornis , Mahunkaia gracilis , Mahunkaia bituberculata and Mahunkaia schwendingeri also belong to the genus Mahunkaia . Mahunkaia bituberculata was discovered by Heinrich Schatz in 1983 in Tanzania . Mahunkaia gracilis followed two years later in South Africa and Mahunkaia schwendingeri was found in Thailand in 2008 .
literature
- Heinrich Schatz: Tropical Zoology 15 . Institut of Zoology and Limnology, 2002, pp. 105-120, doi: 10.1080 / 03946975.2002.10531169 .