Leonardiella seychellensis, Kontschán & Ermilov, 2025

Leonardiella seychellensis sp. nov.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2D664716-7CFE-446E-AA69-BEA70646B26E

( Figs 1 View Figure 1 –7)

Material examined. Holotype. Female. Seychelles, Praslin , S4°20'12", E55°44'8", soil and decaying wood, 27. July 1982, C. Vaucher coll. GoogleMaps Paratypes. Two females and one male. Locality and date same as in holotype.

Diagnosis. Dorsal shield with one pair of U-shaped, strongly sclerotized lateral incision at level of coxae IV on dorsal shield, and a strongly sclerotized C-like groove situated between two lateral incisions. Central area of dorsal shield covered by oval pits. Female genital shield linguliform covered by oval pits. One pair of deep and lateral furrow with smooth and needle-like setae on their margins situated posterior to coxae IV on ventral idiosoma. Ventral shield covered by some oval pits.

Description. Female (N=3). Length of idiosoma 660–740, width 450–500. Shape pentagonal, posterior margin rounded, colour reddish brown.

Dorsal idiosoma ( Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ). Marginal and dorsal shields completely separated. Majority of dorsal setae T-shaped with a short stem and long cross-bar (ca 19–22), some long, wide and marginally pilose setae (ca 27–32 long) placed around lateral incision of dorsal shield. One pair of U-shaped, strongly sclerotized, 77–85 long and 96–510 wide lateral incision situated at level of coxae IV on dorsal shield. One pair of C-shape groove situated between two lateral incisions. Dorsal shield covered by oval pits (ca 4–5×3–6) on central area. Marginal shield wide, without sculptural pattern and setation.

Ventral idiosoma ( Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ). Sternal shield covered by some oval pits (ca 2–4×2–5) close to apical margin, other parts smooth. Ten-twelve pairs of sternal setae T-shaped, their crossbar ca 14–19 long. Three pairs sternal setae situated between coxae III and IV, other sternal setae close to anterior, posterior and lateral margin of genital opening. One pair of deep and lateral furrow (65–74 long and 85–93 wide) with pilose (ca 20–22 long) setae on their margins situated posterior to coxae IV. Surface of ventral shield with some oval pits (ca 4–5×3–6). All ventral setae T-shaped, their crossbar ca 20–23 long. Setae around anal opening similar in shape and length to ventral setae. Anal opening small, ca 12–15 long and ca 4–5 wide. Peritremes without poststigmatid part and with a long and M-shaped prestigmatid part.

Stigmata situated between coxae II and III. Genital shield wide, linguliform (230–235 long and 107–109 wide), without apical process. Surface of genital shield covered by oval pits (ca 4–6×3–5). Pedofossae deep, their surface smooth, separate furrows for tarsi IV present. Base of tritosternum narrow, vase-like, tritosternal laciniae divided into two smooth lateral and two apically pilose central branches ( Fig 3A View Figure 3 ).

Gnathosoma ( Fig. 3A View Figure 3 ). Corniculi horn-like, internal malae longer than corniculi and divided into numerous smooth branches. Hypostomal setae h1 situated on apical margin of gnathosoma, ca 15– 17 long, smooth and needle-like, h2 marginally pilose and ca 30-33 long, h3 smooth and needle-like (ca 22–24), h4 ca 15–18 long and marginally pilose. Episome apically pilose. Chelicerae not visible without broken idiosoma.

Legs ( Figs 3B–E View Figure 3 ). All setae on legs smooth and needle-like. Claws on first leg smaller than on other legs. All femora bearing flap-like ventral processes. Leg I 290–300, leg II 270–277, leg III 250– 253, leg IV 270–275.

Male (N=1). Length of idiosoma 650–690, width 380–440. Dorsal idiosoma. Ornamentation and chaetotaxy of dorsal shield as for female. Ventral idiosoma ( Fig. 3F View Figure 3 ). Sternal shield with 12–14 pairs of T-shaped setae, their crossbar ca 16–18 long. Surface of sternal shield without sculptural pattern. Genital shield oval (35–37×32–34) and situated between coxae III. Other characters as in female.

Larva and nymphs unknown.

Etymology. The name of new species refers to the island where it was collected.

Remarks. Only two Leonardiella species are presented from Africa: L. athiasae ( Hirschmann, 1975) from Chad and L. machadoi Kontschán, 2006 from Angola. The differences among the African Leonardiella are summarized in Table 1.

The new species has a strongly sclerotized C-like groove between two lateral incisions on the dorsal shield, which is a unique character within this genus.

Discussion

To date, only 33 Uropodina species have been presented from the East African islands with new species. But the new species described here is the first representative of the family Trachyuropodidae in these islands. Only the two previously mentioned Leonardiella species are presented from Africa ( L. athiasae ( Hirschmann, 1975) from Chad and L. machadoi Kontschán, 2006 from Angola). Other trachyuropodid genera are also poorly represented in Africa: Graecatrachys endrodyi ( Hirschmann, 1976) and G. ghanaensis ( Hirschmann, 1976) are known from Ghana, and Origmatrachys mahnerti Kontschán, 2020 is described from Ivory Coast. Based on the trachyuropodid records, Africa seems to be one of the most scarcely investigated continents from trachyuropodid mites.

The largest East African island, Madagascar, is better known for its 25 listed species ( Table 2). Many species from Madagascar are described based on deutonymphs, so the rank of these species is very questionable. Only three species are presented from Mauritius and Comoros, and only one old Uropodina record is published from Reunion. These islands were very poorly investigated; therefore, in the future, many other species are expected from these islands.

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Dr. Peter Schwendinger (MHNG) for his kind hospitality during the first author’s stay in Geneva.

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