Quartusmichaelia setigera ( Berlese, 1904 ), 2025

Quartusmichaelia setigera ( Berlese, 1904) comb. nov.

( Figs. 29A–D, 30A–D, 51D, 53E–H)

Michaelia setigera Berlese, 1904: 13 , fig. 10, Italy, Florence, rotten Castanea View in CoL wood; Berlese 1910: 201; Castagnoli & Pegazzano

1985: 377, list of specimens at BA (Berlese Acaroteca, Cascine del Riccio, Florence, Italy). Bimichaelia setigera .—Thor 1931: 230; Willmann 1942: 166; Wood 1967a: 115, 1967b: 286; Bernini et al., 1995: 32, checklist of Italian fauna. Laminamichaelia setigera View in CoL .— Uusitalo 2010: 71. aff. Bimichaelia setigera .—Cooremann 1959: 27.? Bimichaelia setigera .— Marshall & Kevan 1964: 61, Canada, Quebec, 9 ex., woodland humus. Bimichaelia sp. — Uusitalo & Huhta 1995: 333. Bimichaelia diadema Grandjean, 1942: 90 View in CoL , 1943: 19 (155), figs. 16A-D, 17A-D, 18A-D; Shiba 1969: 95, fig. 18A–F; Norton &

Kethley 1994: 177; Vázquez Rojas 2002: 20, figs. 12–13; Vázquez González et al. 2016: 142. Bimichaelia praeincisa Willmann, 1956: 233 , fig. 10.

Description. Dorsum (n= 3 females, Figs. 29A, B, 51D, 53E–G). Length 250–450 µm; primary pattern comprising rosettes of subpolygonal cells around a seta, lamellae of secondary pattern almost equal in size, dorsal setae mostly lanceolate with scaly surface, some oligociliate setae among them in midline, many on shoulders, laterally and ventrally; on prodorsum: some lanceolate accessory setae in sublinear row along lateral margins of soft integument, sensilla ve simple, one pair of lanceolate setae in on sclerotised integument.

Venter ( Figs. 29C, D). 7–8 genital setae per valve; 3–6 anal setae per valve.

Gnathosoma . ( Fig. 53H). Chelicerae pointed, sublinear; 3–4 pairs of ciliate setae on subcapitulum; medially constricted palpal solenidion in contact with eupathidion on a small protrusion, the other eupathidion (k”) free.

Legs ( Fig. 30A–D). Solenidial formula for tarsi, tibiae, genua and femora on legs I, II, III and IV, respectively: 2B-2B-0-0, 2B1\2P-2B1P-2B-1B, 4\5P-1B2\3P-1B-1P, 2\3P-1B1P-0-0, ω1 on tarsus I S-shaped, abaxial famulus I laterodistal.

Material examined. 3 females from ” Marchantia zone” beneath bird bath in back yard, Parkallen , 53.499337996094866, -113.51800842061178, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada , 13 April 2012, H. Proctor, slide: (11) TMS: M00016836 View Materials at the Royal Alberta Museum, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada .

Several high-quality photos of 1 adult as Bimichaelia diadema from leaf litter, low forest (selva baja), CICOLMA ( Centro de Investigaciones Costeras La Mancha ), 19°30’N 96°37’W, Veracruz, Mexico GoogleMaps , 17 December 1992, Ignacio Mauro Vázquez Rojas : at the LAAH ( Acarology Laboratory Anita Hoffmann ), Faculty of Sciences at UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México), Mexico City; México .

Differential diagnosis. This species can be segregated from all the other Bimichaeliini species by the dorsal and prodorsal rim setae being narrowly lanceolate and bearing scales, simple sensilla ve, S-shaped solenidion ω1 on tarsi I, and small baculiform solenidion on genu III (see also fig. 126 in Uusitalo 2010). In comparison, Quartusmichaelia lanceolata sp. nov. has slightly broader lanceolate setae with barbs, forked sensilla ve, solenidion ω1 bent adaxially, a piliform solenidion on genu III, and a few lanceolate setae on legs III and IV. In comparison, Q. plumata sp. nov. has broader scaly lanceolate setae with a clear central shaft, sensilla ve with a grooved stalk and a distal bunch of scales, tibiae I and II lack piliform solenidia, and there are lanceolate setae on legs I, II, III and IV.

Remarks. The European material has less than 10 oligociliate setae along the midline, much less than the 20 oligociliate setae in the specimens from North America, but this is expected to be in the limits of intraspecific variation for polytrichous species. Quartusmichaelia setigera is present in a wide variety of habitats, including both coniferous and deciduous forests. The species may be Holarctic: it is widely distributed in Europe, has been collected in Central Asia, earlier reported North America, and now the specimens from Canada and Mexico have been examined.

Specimens identified as Bimichaelia diadema from Cozumel, Quintana Roo ( Vázquez Gonzáles et al. 2016: 142) were not available for this article.