Cosmolaelaps brevipedestra ( Karg, 1985 )

Cosmolaelaps brevipedestra ( Karg, 1985)

Hypoaspis (Cosmolaelaps) brevipedestra Karg, 1985: 234 .

Hypoaspis (Cosmolaelaps) brevipedestra .— Karg, 1988: 516.

Cosmolaelaps brevipedestrus .— Farrier & Hennessey 1993: 68; Moreira et al. 2014: 319.

Cosmolaelaps brevipedestra .— Nemati et al. 2016: 540 View Cited Treatment ; Moraes et al. 2022: 197.

Specimens examined. Three females, Dosun-dong , Seogwipo-si, Hallasan, Jeju-do, Republic of Korea, 33°20’58.51”N 126°30’01.11”E, alt. 1350 m, 13 Apr 2019, C. Jung and J. Oh coll., in tree cavity GoogleMaps .

Remarks. Cosmolaelaps brevipedestra was initially described from Cuba by Karg in 1985. The species was originally discovered in a termite nest and is now recorded from Republic of Korea for the first time, in a tree cavity. Nemati & Gwiazdowicz (2016) conducted a comprehensive re-description of this species based on the holotype. Mašán & Babaeian (2019) questioned the placement of this species in Cosmolaelaps instead of in Laelaspis , given the epigynal shield widened behind coxae IV. However, despite this discrepancy, the species exhibits main characteristics of Cosmolaelaps (see Moraes et al. 2022: 46) and here we have retained its classification within the Cosmolaelaps genus. Our newly collected specimens agree very well with the re-description given by Nemati & Gwiazdowicz (2016). The species may be recognised primarily by the 39 pairs of scimitar-shaped dorsal setae except that j1, z1 and Z5 acicular and the latter is plumose at its distal part, 2–3 unpaired setae Jx present between J series, sternal and genital shields reticulate throughout, and opisthogastric surface with 13–18 pairs of acicular setae.