Alycus roseus C.L. Koch, 1842

Alycus roseus C.L. Koch, 1842 View in CoL

( Figs. 1A–E, 2A–E)

Alycus roseus C.L. Koch, 1842 View in CoL : vol. 3, 38, pl. 4, fig. 22.—C.L. Koch 1841 or 1844: vol. 37, no. 19, Bavaria, Germany; for the extensive older synonymy, see Uusitalo 2010: 40.

Alycus sp. nr. roseus View in CoL .— Walter & Lumley 2021: 73.

Alycus dugesi Grandjean, 1942 View in CoL .— Vázquez Rojas 2002: 20.

Description. Dorsum (n= 2 females, Fig. 1A, B). Length 530 µm, and 630 µm containing two eggs; parallel ridges on soft integument meandering and continuous, especially on lateral sides, pattern of fragmentary ridges on middorsal area; ciliate dorsal setae on microplates with long central point and mostly short cilia especially on caudal segments; sclerotised crista from downwards bent naso to sensillar area, microplates of setae vi either inseparably linked to sclerotised crista or on separate microplates, setae in with short distal cilia.

Venter ( Figs. 1D, E, 2A). Genital setae 23–24 per valve; one pair of eugenital setae (broken lines, arrows) in genital chamber together with 3 pairs of genital papillae; 5–6 anal setae per valve; 1–2 setae on coxa IV.

Gnathosoma ( Fig. 1C). Rutella with broad shaft, three ventrodistal projections, and an apical point; three pairs of adoral setae on neotrichous subcapitulum; one pair of smooth cheliceral setae dorsally; three pairs of pseudacanthoid palpal eupathidia apically.

Legs ( Fig. 2B–E). Solenidial formula for tarsi, tibiae, genua and femora of legs I, II, III and IV, respectively: 2-1-0-0, 1-2-2-0, 4-2-2-1, 2-0-0-1, tarsi I and II with laterodistal peg-like famulus.

Adult male (n=1), length 340 µm, 10 pairs of eugenital setae, see Remarks.

Material examined. 1 female with 2 eggs as Alycus sp. nr. roseus from Moose Pasture Research Site, Trail to Heather’s Meadow, 8 km W Chipman, Lamont Co., Alberta, Canada, 13 June 2007, David E. Walter: slide TMS: M100016842; 1 specimen as Alycus sp. nr. roseus from litter under spruce with 40 cm snow, N. boundary trail, 11 km S Lamont, 53°39’37’’N 112°45’21’’W, Lamont Co., Alberta, Canada, 27 December 2010, David E. Walter: slide TMS: M100016841; 1 specimen as Alycus sp. nr. roseus from soil, Parkallen, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 53.499337996094866, -113.51800842061178, 28 April 2012, David E. Walter: slide TMS: M100016840. The material is deposited in the Royal Alberta Museum, see Material and methods.

Several high-quality photos of 1 female (3 Sept. 1991), 1 female (7 Dec. 1992), 1 deutonymph (8 Dec. 1992) and 1 tritonymph (29 April 1993) as Alycus dugesi from low forest, La Mancha, Veracruz , 19°30´N 96°37´W, Ignacio Vázquez Rojas: slides ALY/VER/023, 010, 013, and 014, respectively. The material is deposited in LAAH (Laboratorio de Acarología ” Anita Hoffmann ”), Faculty of Sciences at UNAM ( Unversidad Nacional Autonóma de México), Mexico City GoogleMaps .

Differential diagnosis. This species can be segregated from Alycus utahensis and other species of the genus by having a pattern of fragmentary ridges on the middorsum, most of the dorsal setae with cilia shorter than central point especially on caudal segments and having a solenidion on telofemur IV.

Remarks. The species was reported from Europe and Asia ( Uusitalo 2010) and seems to have a Holarctic distribution. There are unconfirmed records of Alycus roseus from native grasslands in central USA ( Walter 1987), but see Remarks under Alycus utahensis .

Alycus sp. nr. roseus View in CoL was reported from Alberta by Walter and Lumley (2021: 73) and confirmed to be conspecific with Alycus roseus C.L. Koch, 1842 View in CoL ( Figs. 1A–E, 2A–E).

New observations have revealed that the position of setae vi may vary in relation to the crista even in the same specimen—left microplate of vi is in contact with crista whereas right microplate is separated ( Fig. 1B, cf. Uusitalo 2010, fig. 8).

The male eugenital setae are difficult to discern, count and draw, as they lie within a genital chamber beneath closed genital valves that also bear many genital setae, but see Fig. 5B.