The Australian species of Macrocheles (Acarina : Macrochelidae)

Abstract

The Australian fauna of the mite genus Macrocheles Latreille is revised. The fauna is shown to comprise 49 species, 26 of which are here described as new:M. agilis, sp. nov., M. angustus,sp. nov., M. borealis, sp. nov.,M. denhamensis, sp. nov., M. eta,sp. nov., M. forceps, sp. nov.,M. fungicolus, sp. nov., M. gamma,sp. nov., M. guttatus, sp. nov.,M. halli, sp. nov., M. holmi, sp.nov., M. howdenorum, sp. nov.,M. lama, sp. nov., M. lambda, sp.nov., M. omicron, sp. nov.,M. peckorum, sp., nov.,M. rimbija, sp., nov.,M. siderolophus, sp. nov.,M. spatei, sp., nov.,M. spiculatus, sp. nov.,M. tesselatus, sp. nov.,M. undoolya, sp., nov.,M. upsilon, sp. nov., M. waitei,sp. nov., M. wallacei, sp. nov. andM. zeta, sp. nov. A further 23 previously describedspecies are now known from Australia: M. aestivusHalliday, M. boudreauxi Krantz,M. faveolus Halliday,M. feehaniHalliday, M. glaber(MÜller), M. kappaHalliday,M. kraepelini (Berlese),M. krantzi Evans & Hyatt,M. mammifer Berlese, M. merdarius(Berlese), M. muscaedomesticae (Scopoli),M. mykytowyczi Womersley,M. novaezelandiae Emberson,M. paralius Halliday,M. penicilliger (Berlese),M. peniculatusBerlese,M. peregrinus Krantz,M. perglaber Filipponi & Pegazzano,M. robustulus (Berlese),M. similis Krantz & Filipponi,M. subbadius(Berlese),M. tenuirostris Krantz & Filipponi,M. virgo Halliday.Macrocheles hyatti Krantz & Filipponi has beenrecorded from Australia in error, and occurs only in New Zealand.Macrocheles scutatus (Berlese) is known from Australiaonly from a quarantine interception.Macrocheles lyallpurensis nom. nov. is proposed as areplacement name for M. krantzi Anwarullah & Irshadfrom Pakistan (preoccupied by M. krantzi Evans & Hyatt). A key is provided for the identification of all Australian species.