Rotundabaloghia broaeni, Introduction, 2009

Rotundabaloghia broaeni , spec. nov. (Figs 1-6)

Diagnosis. Dorsal, ventral, genital shields of female and sternal shield of male ornamented by alveolar sculptural pattern.Dorsal setae pilose distally, brushlike, sternal setae smooth, st2 and st3 longer than st1 and st4. Ventral setae V2, V6 and ad smooth, V7 and V8 pilose apically. Peritreme V-form.

Material examined. Holotype: Female. Ivory Coast, Nzi Noua, N. of Ndouci , degradate forest, from decayed tree, 13.01.1977, leg. W. L. & D. E. Brown ( HNHM) . Paratypes: female ( ZSM) and male ( HNHM). Locality and date same as in holotype .

Description

Female. Length of idiosoma 370 µm, width 310 µm (n = 2). Shape subcircular, posterior margin round- ed.

Dorsal side (Fig. 1). All of dorsal setae bear short hairs on their margins and dorsal shield bear alveolar ornamentation (Fig. 2).

Ventral side (Fig. 3). Sternal shield without ornamentation, all of sternal setae smooth and needle-like. St1 and St4 three times shorter than St2 and St3. St1 placed near anterior margin of genital shield, St2 can be seen near inner margin of coxae III. St3 and St4 can be found near inner margin of coxae IV. Ventral setae V2 and V6 smooth and needle-like, V2 placed near the posterolateral corners of genital shield. Margins of V7 and V8 bear short hairs. V7, V8 and V6 placed near the metapodal line. Setae ad long, as long as V7 and V8, and needle-like. Sculptural pattern of ventral shield alveolar. Stigmata situated at the level of coxae II-III. Peritreme V-shaped. Genital shield scutiform, with alveolar pattern on surface, and without process on its anterior margin. Base of tritosternum narrow, laciniae smooth and subdivided into three branches.

Gnathosoma (Fig. 5). All part of gnathosoma not clearly visible. Observable structures (corniculi, internal malae and setae h1) typical for the genus. Palp trochanter with two smooth setae, other setae of the palp smooth and simple.

Legs. All legs with a pair of ambulacral claws and with smooth simple setae.

Male. Length of idiosoma 370 µm, width 310 µm (n = 1). Shape subcircular, posterior margin round- ed.

Dorsal side. Ornamentation and setation of dorsal shield as in female. Ventral side (Fig. 10). Sternal region with five pairs of smooth and needle-like setae, St1-St4 with anterior position to genital operculum, and st5 with posterior position to operculum. Position and form of setae V2, V6, V7, V8 and ad as for female. Genital operculum alveolar and placed between coxae IV.

Gnathosoma and legs. Same as in the females.

Larvae and nymphs are unknown.

Etymology. I dedicate the new species to W. L. & D. E. Brown, who collected the specimens in Ivory Coast.

Notes. The new species belongs to the mahunkai - species group established by Hirschmann (1992b). Only three species ( Rotundabaloghia campanellae , R. ghanaensis and R. raeandae) occur in West and Central Africa from this group. The most important differences between the most similar species are shown in Table 1.