Carolinea 74

L amos : Tokukobelba gen. nov. (Acari: Oribatida: Damaeidae) 79 80 µm, tarsus 160 µm. Tibia of leg I with 5 setae (v´, v´´, l´, l´´, d) and solenidia φ 1 and φ 2. Seta d of the tibia of leg I coupled with solenidion φ 1, with seta d very thin and short, measuring less than a tenth of the length of its associated sole- nidion. Famulus on tarsus I emergent. Segment lengths of leg IV: trochanter 130 µm, femur 120 µm, genu 53 µm, tibia 11 µm, tarsus 200 µm. Leg IV setal formula: 1-2-3-5-4(1)-11. Trochanter IV with only a single seta (v´). Tro- chanter IV elongate, about similar in length to femur. Femur IV with only 2 setae: d and ev´. So- lenidion of tibia IV extremely long and coupled with a minute seta d, latter measuring less than an eighth of the length of solenidion φ . This description by K ulczy ń ski (1902a) fits the specimens collected by me in Heidelberg al- most perfectly. It conflicts with the portrayal of T . compta by S eniczak et al. (2013) in several major points. K ulczy ń ski (1902a) does not de- scribe or depict any prodorsal apophyses Da. His illustration of leg I of T compta ( K ulczy ń ski 1902a, pl. 4, Fig. 65) shows 7 setae on the dorsal region of the tibia with the solenidia φ 1 and φ 2, the lateral setae l´ and l´´ as well as the ventral setae v´and v´´ accurately depicted. Additionally, he clearly shows a seta d associated with the so- lenidion φ 1. Furthermore, he (1902a, pl. 4, Fig. 64) portrays the tibia of leg IV of T compta with 5 setae. Two dorsal setae are here inserted very close to each other. The much longer one clearly represents the solenidion φ , while the tiny seta adjacent to it is the seta d. K ulczy ń ski (1902a pl. 4, Fig. 64) also depicts the trochanter of leg IV with 1 seta and the femur of leg IV with only 2 se- tae which clearly can be seen to be d and ev´.The depiction of the setation of leg IV by K ulczy ń ski is identical to that shown in Fig. 7 of the present publication except that K ulczy ń ski draws his spe- cies with only 1 primiventral seta and 1 antilat- eral seta instead of two of each. These tarsal setae are among the most difficult to detect on leg IV, because one of each pair is typically hid- den behind the tarsus in lateral view. The species portrayed in the present paper therefore shows a much better match to the account of K ulczy ń ski (1902a) than the one in S eniczak et al. (2013). M iko (2006a, p. 198-200) provides a brief por- trayal of T compta in a determination key to Central European species of Belba . He does not comment on the leg setation of the species in any detail but ( M iko 2006a, p. 198, Fig. 106f-g) shows it without an apophysis Da, with numer- ous prominent lateral tubercles, and strongly developed apophysis E4a. The very incomplete account of the species by M iko (2006a) agrees well with the specimens from Heidelberg, except that in his Fig. 106g the species is shown to pos- sess 4 setae on epimere II, all similar in length to those on epimere I. In contrast to this all species of Tokukobelba for which the epimeral setation is known have been described as possessing only 1 seta on epimere II ( B ulanova -Z achvatkina 1962, 1975, A oki 1984, F ujita & F ujikawa 1986, B ayar - togtokh 2000, F ujikawa 2011). The specimens of Tokukobelba from Heidelberg similarly also display only a single seta on epimere II. At 400x magnification I several times observed structures on epimere II that seemed to be additional se- tae. Yet all turned out to be artifacts caused by the interplay of the numerous tubercles and the dense cerotegument. In those Damaeidae which display 3 or more setae on each epimere II such as Belba corynopus , the tritonymph similarly possesses supernumerary setae on epimere II. In the tritonymph of T . compta from Heidelberg however, only 1 seta is found on each epimere II. M iko (2006a) bases his description on represent- atives of the species collected at various sites in Central Europe. The collection sites of M iko and me are both much closer to Smreczyna and the other sites in southwestern Poland where K ulczy ń ski (1902a) collected his T compta than Bergen is. If they should turn out to possess the same epimeral setation formula, it is very likely that the specimens from Heidelberg and the ones studied by M iko (2006a) are conspecific and do belong to T compta but this requires verification from topotypic material. Synonyms of Tokukobelba compta . M iko (2006a) has suggested that T verrucosa is a jun- ior synonym of T compta , arguing that oribatids of these species from various collection sites in Central Europe show a close similarity to each other, but not elaborating on this and not men- tioning the Asian species of Tokukobelba . With apparently no type material of T compta existing, the foremost source of information about the spe- cies is the original description. In the Latin text of K ulczy ń ski (1902a, p. 43-44) the author does not mention any barbs on the notogastral setae, and these also appear smooth in the illustration of the dorsal view of the species (pl. III, Fig. 22), where- as T verrucosa possesses distinctly barbed notogastral setae of the c-, l-, and h-series. The prodorsal lateral margin in K ulczy ń ski ´s Fig. 22 is smooth and does not indicate the presence of