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![Austronothrus rostralis sp. nov. tritonymph; a) dorsal; b) ventral. Material examined. Holotype female, ANIC 3505, trough of flight intercept trap, Filmy Fern Gully, Norfolk Island National Park, 29°0'.59"S, 167°56'58"E, ca. 180 m. Two paratype males, ANIC 3506, trough of flight intercept trap, Maurge Jowett's [garden] (Red Road), Norfolk Island, 29°0'38"S, 167°56'44"E, ca. 250 m., coll. 1.ii.1985. Two paratype females, ANIC 3508, same data as ANIC 3506. Paratype male, ANIC 3510, trough of flight intercept trap, forest, Red Road Track, Norfolk Island National Park, 29°01'S, 167°57'E, ca. 180 m., coll. M. Sexton, 8.iii.1985. Two paratype females, ANIC 3511, same data as ANIC 3510. Types deposited in Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Canberra. Etymology. This species is named rostralis in reference to the characteristic shape of the rostrum and the rostral setae. Remarks. Austronothrus rostralis can be distinguished from the other members of the genus by the following combination of characters: 1) with seven pairs of genital setae; 2) the anterior notogastral margin with a median curved projection; 3) with long, flagelliform setae p 1 ; 4) with seta e 1 almost twice the length of d 2 and d 1 ; 5) with seta h 2 about the same length as h 1 and f 1 and markedly shorter than e 2 and f 2 ; 6) the almost parallel rostral setae, positioned close together on short tubercles and pointing anteriorly; 7) the smooth, thick, flagelliform seta p 1 , almost twice the length of p 2 . Austronothrus rostralis is morphologically similar to A. curviseta Colloff & Cameron, 2009 in relation to the lengths and disposition of the notogastral setae but the species differ in that the lamellar setae of A. rostralis are smooth rather than barbed and A. rostralis has seven, rather than eight, pairs of genital setae and much shorter setae cp, d 1 and d 2 than A. curviseta.](profile/Matt-Colloff/publication/262693741/figure/fig4/AS:392409558077446@1470569137537/Austronothrus-rostralis-sp-nov-tritonymph-a-dorsal-b-ventral-Material-examined.png)
Austronothrus rostralis sp. nov. tritonymph; a) dorsal; b) ventral. Material examined. Holotype female, ANIC 3505, trough of flight intercept trap, Filmy Fern Gully, Norfolk Island National Park, 29°0'.59"S, 167°56'58"E, ca. 180 m. Two paratype males, ANIC 3506, trough of flight intercept trap, Maurge Jowett's [garden] (Red Road), Norfolk Island, 29°0'38"S, 167°56'44"E, ca. 250 m., coll. 1.ii.1985. Two paratype females, ANIC 3508, same data as ANIC 3506. Paratype male, ANIC 3510, trough of flight intercept trap, forest, Red Road Track, Norfolk Island National Park, 29°01'S, 167°57'E, ca. 180 m., coll. M. Sexton, 8.iii.1985. Two paratype females, ANIC 3511, same data as ANIC 3510. Types deposited in Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Canberra. Etymology. This species is named rostralis in reference to the characteristic shape of the rostrum and the rostral setae. Remarks. Austronothrus rostralis can be distinguished from the other members of the genus by the following combination of characters: 1) with seven pairs of genital setae; 2) the anterior notogastral margin with a median curved projection; 3) with long, flagelliform setae p 1 ; 4) with seta e 1 almost twice the length of d 2 and d 1 ; 5) with seta h 2 about the same length as h 1 and f 1 and markedly shorter than e 2 and f 2 ; 6) the almost parallel rostral setae, positioned close together on short tubercles and pointing anteriorly; 7) the smooth, thick, flagelliform seta p 1 , almost twice the length of p 2 . Austronothrus rostralis is morphologically similar to A. curviseta Colloff & Cameron, 2009 in relation to the lengths and disposition of the notogastral setae but the species differ in that the lamellar setae of A. rostralis are smooth rather than barbed and A. rostralis has seven, rather than eight, pairs of genital setae and much shorter setae cp, d 1 and d 2 than A. curviseta.
Source publication
The genus Austronothrus was previously known from three species recorded only from New Zealand. Austronothrus kinabalu sp. nov. is described from Sabah, Borneo and A. rostralis sp. nov. from Norfolk Island, south-west Pacific. A key to Austronothrus is included. These new species extend the distribution of Austronothrus beyond New Zealand and confi...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... between apophyses 2.6 × length. Interlamellar seta 190 μm long, slender, curved, flagelliform, smooth, extending anteriorly as far as base of lamellar apophysis; on short tubercle twice as long as broad. Faint, parallel interlamellar ridges present. Diameter of bothridium 41 μm; anteriolateral auriculate ridge a blunt, tri-lobed projection (Fig. 4a); hexagonal reticulations of operculum sparingly ornamented with well-developed ridges. Prodorsal microsculpture smooth, porose. Notogaster: mean ratio of length to breadth 1.32. Notogaster smooth; faint parallel centrodorsal ridges extending from anterior of seta d1 to posterior of seta e1 (Fig. 1a). Lateral suprapleural scissure 37 μm ...
Context 2
... at base, distance between apophyses 1.5 × length. Interlamellar seta 207 μm long, slender, flagelliform, smooth, extending anteriorly as far as base of lamellar seta; on short tubercle twice as long as broad. Faint, parallel interlamellar ridges present. Diameter of bothridium 42 μm; anteriolateral auriculate ridge a long, thin, blunt, spine (Fig. ...
Context 3
... Prodorsum: rostral seta (ro) 23 µm long, straight, spiniform, smooth (Fig. 4a). Lamellar setae (le) 107 µm long, recurved, smooth. Lamellar apophyses almost as long as their mutual distance (56 µm); expanded laterally and basally, extending anteriorly almost as far as apices of rostral setae. Interlamellar setae (in) 153 µm long, flagelliform, smooth; extending anteriorly as far as apices of lamellar apophyses. ...
Context 4
... region: ratio of length to breadth 2.1; lateral margins parallel from seta c 3 to e 2 (Fig. 4a). Dorsosejugal suture discrete, transverse, with slight median projection. With 15 pairs of smooth notogastral setae including full complement of c, d and e series, positioned on porose sclerites, emerging from alveoli or short tubercles except c 3 and h 2 emerging from short apophyses. Seta c 3 the longest (186 µm), flagelliform; c 1 ...
Context 5
... epimeres porose, with median unsclerotised longitudinally striate integument, diverging laterally and becoming transverse posterior of genital plates (Fig. 4b). Epimeral setae smooth, spiniform, formula 4-2-3-3; setae 3c longer than others. Genital plates narrow, ovoid; each plate 85 µm long 30 µm broad with six setiform setae. Anal plate 260 µm long, 38 µm broad; three pairs of stout, setiform, adanal setae; subequal in length. Setae p 1 longest of the p series, then p 2 and p 3 . Etymology. ...
Citations
... This currently tropical lineage could have dispersed to this region in more recent times from tropical latitudes outside of Zealandia, colonising NC first and subsequently dispersing south(Figure 5b). This origin could be either from Australia, given its geographical proximity (e. g.,Buckley et al., 2010;Opell et al., 2016), or stepping stone dispersal from South East Asia (e.g.,Colloff & Cameron, 2014;Toussaint et al., 2017; and coinciding with the development of tropical and subtropical conditions in South Pacific islands.(3) Finally, dispersal could have followed the opposite route, from Western Antarctica. ...
South Pacific archipelagos are central in the biogeographic debate on the relative importance of vicariance and dispersal in shaping the distribution of species. However, each taxonomic group was subject to different processes and histories, and here, we reveal the historical biogeography of the diverse Eumolpinae leaf beetles, widely distributed in the region. Extensive taxon sampling focusing on South Pacific Eumolpinae was used to infer the first molecular phylogeny of the group using three single‐copy protein‐coding nuclear and two mitochondrial markers. Upon assessing the clade of interest for lineage‐specific variation in substitution rates, the age of the most recent common ancestors was estimated using out‐group calibration and multi‐gamma site models (MGSMs). Biogeographic analyses used standard event‐based inferences also incorporating phylogenetic uncertainty. Zealandian Eumolpinae are monophyletic and appear to have split from their global relatives in the transition from the Cretaceous to the Paleogene. Variation in the rates of molecular evolution affected the in‐group stem branch, with a significant drop in the substitution rate, and the MGSM correction recovered the crown age of Zealandian Eumolpinae during the Late Eocene–Oligocene transition. Biogeographic inference resolved the origin of the radiation in New Caledonia, favouring a null model without island age constraints, and repeated dispersal events to the other islands, including three independent but synchronous colonisations of New Zealand during the Miocene. New Caledonia, with a highly diverse Eumolpinae fauna of uncertain origin, acted as a hub and pump of biodiversity of these beetles in the entire South Pacific region, sending migrants to other islands through long‐distance dispersal with lineages establishing when land became available.
... In the past century a number of outstanding researchers have worked on the soil microarthropod fauna of New Zealand (Womersley 1935;Salmon 1942aSalmon , 1942bSalmon , 1942cSalmon , 1943aSalmon , 1943bSalmon , 1944Salmon , 1946Salmon , 1954Salmon , 1958Hammer 1966Hammer , 1967Hammer , 1968Luxton 1982Luxton , 1983aLuxton , 1983bLuxton , 1985Luxton , 1988Deharveng & Wise 1987), and for a long time this region was considered a benchmark of knowledge, at least in the southern hemisphere. Since then, systematic work on Oribatida and Collembola in New Zealand has continued (Niedbała 1993(Niedbała , 2000(Niedbała , 2006Stevens et al. 2007;Liu & Zhang 2013a, 2013bColloff & Cameron 2014;Colloff 2015;Norton & Fuangarworn 2015;Niedbała & Ermilov 2016), but some of the taxonomic treatments dating from the early 20th century are in many respects outdated. There are older and more recent check-lists of fauna (Wise 1977;Greenslade 2010Greenslade , 2015Sirvid et al. 2010) which clarify the modern taxonomic position of previously described species, but add little new data. ...
... Approximately 417 species of oribatid mites in 177 genera are known to occur in New Zealand (Subías 2004(Subías , updated 2016Colloff & Cameron 2014). Comparing with the whole of New Zealand, the oribatid fauna of Central Otago is distinctly different in structure ( Figure 5), with an increased proportion of Enarthronota and Brachypylina (especially superfamily Ceratozetoidea), and a markedly reduced diversity of Mixonomata, a group which is species-rich in New Zealand and which includes taxa associated with decaying wood (Phthiracaroidea and Euphthiracaroidea). ...
We investigated diversity and community composition of microarthropods (Collembola and Oribatida) in a range of habitats in the high alpine zone of New Zealand’s South Island. We report the first comprehensive record of the fauna for the high alpine zone, and discuss habitat associations and related changes in
community composition. A total of 51 species of Collembola and 70 species of Oribatida were collected. The microarthropod communities in alpine New Zealand had some structural traits in common with arcto-montane environments elsewhere in the world, but were not completely comparable. There was a minimal
similarity between the faunal complexes of Oribatida and Collembola in alpine habitats and the known fauna of New Zealand, with high proportion of species new to science.
... Its biogeographic history is, however, a puzzle and difficult to resolve (Sharma and Giribet 2009). Similarly, the terrestrial oribatids in the subfamily Crotoniinae, once thought to be restricted to Gondwanan lands, are now also known from the Oriental region and their current distribution is consistent with complex dynamics around the plate margins of the Pacific Ocean, with older taxa persisting on emerging islands though localised dispersal (Colloff and Cameron 2014). ...
... It is surprising that very few higher-level taxa are found solely in Australia and New Zealand, despite the geographical proximity of these landmasses. Notable examples include the spider families Gradungulidae (Forster et al. 1987) and Periegopidae (Forster 1995;Vink et al. 2013), the mite family Allothyridae (Krantz and Walter 2009) and a number of families of oribatid mites (Colloff and Cameron 2014). The resolution of the harvestman family Pettalidae (Figure 10.1h) is still ambiguous with respect to the monophyly of New Zealand and at least Western Australia (Boyer and Giribet 2007;de Bivort and Giribet 2010;Giribet et al. 2012;Giribet et al. 2016). ...
... The spider family Pararchaeidae shows this pattern ( Figure 10.4g) but it is possible that the sole New Caledonian species may be the result of a more recent dispersal event (Rix and Harvey 2010a). The ancient continental fragment Zealandia, which comprises the emerged landmasses of New Zealand, New Caledonia and some associated islands such as Lord Howe Island (Lewis et al. 2012) has very few endemic arachnid lineages ( Figure 10.4h), but the pseudoscorpion subfamily Philomaoriinae and the oribatid mite family Tumerozetidae (Colloff and Cameron 2014) are examples. Within harvestmen, the relationships of the Triaenonychidae of these three regions remain to be tested, but as in the case of Pararchaeidae, the triaenonychids of New Caledonia could be a case of recent dispersal. ...
The Arachnida, a class of arthropod animals that includes prominent examples such as spiders, ticks and scorpions (Figure 10.1), comprises some of the most successful biological radiations on Earth. The lineage is extremely ancient and has a fossil record that dates back to the Palaeozoic (Dunlop 2010), but it is also highly diverse, with some 114,000 named species (Zhang 2013). The vast majority of arachnids are terrestrial, but some, such as water mites and marine mites, have independently evolved an aquatic lifestyle (Walter and Proctor 2013).
... This paper proposes a new, monobasic family of Enarthronota that appears to be endemic to northern New Zealand, although such inferences are always tentative when dealing with insufficiently studied groups (see discussion in Colloff & Cameron 2014). The single species on which the family is based has escaped previous notice despite being relatively large, distinctive in form, and apparently active on both the soil surface and low growing plants, even near residential areas. ...
Nanohystrix hammerae n. gen., n. sp.-proposed on the basis of numerous adults and a few juveniles-is a new oribatid mite of the infraorder Enarthronota that appears to be phylogenetically relictual and endemic to northern New Zealand, in habitats ranging from native shrublands to native and semi-native forests. With an adult body length of 1-1.2 mm, the species is the largest known enarthronote mite outside Lohmanniidae, and it has an unusual combination of plesiomorphic and apomorphic traits. Plesiomorphies include: a well-formed median (naso) eye and pigmented lateral eyes; a bothridial seta with a simple, straight base; a vertically-oriented gnathosoma; a peranal segment; adanal sclerites partially incorpo-rated in notogaster (uncertain polarity); three genu I solenidia and a famulus on tarsus II. Autapomorphies include: five pairs of pale cuticular disks on the notogaster, with unknown function; six pairs of long, erectile notogastral setae, includ-ing pair h2 incorporated in the second transverse scissure along with the f-row, and pair h1 in a third scissure; chelicerae that are unusually broad, creating a flat-faced appearance; legs I that are inferred to have an unusually wide range of mo-tion. Further, it is the only enarthronote species known to have an elongated ovipositor, and one of few to have glassy, luminous notogastral setae. The gastronotum of juveniles lacks transverse scissures, but has isolated sclerites supporting setae, including erectile setae. The large character gaps between N. hammerae and other enarthronote taxa justifies pro-posal of a monotypic new family-Nanohystricidae n. fam.-which is tentatively grouped with several other relictual families in the paraphyletic Heterochthonioidea. Small muscles appear to be involved in the operation of all erectile setae, but seem to be only depressors, with erection effected by hysterosomal distension. Based on gut contents, its food is primarily fungal hyphae and spores, though ingestion of small arthropods also occurs (perhaps by necrophagy). Collections were made by Berlese-funnel samples of litter, by sweeping low vegetation, and (mainly) by pitfall traps; the latter two suggest that adults are surface-active. Tritonymphs were collected by pitfall traps, but earlier juveniles were collected only by Berlese-funnels. Adults are frequently infected with a eugregarine parasite, which can entirely fill the digestive caeca; immature trophozoites were also seen in tritonymphs. Adults also can serve as hosts for dispersal of secondary capilliconidia of the fungal genus Basidiobolus.
... In a phylogenetic analysis, Colloff and Cameron (2009) recognised the subfamily Crotoniinae, containing Crotonia, Holonothrus and Austronothrus. Despite recent findings of Austronothrus on Norfolk Island and Borneo (Colloff & Cameron 2014), New Zealand is the only place where all three genera have been recorded. Crotoniine mites are a characteristic element of the oribatid fauna of New Zealand, with 13/69 species of Crotonia (including the new species described here), second only to 26 spp. ...
New Zealand contains 13 of the 69 species of Crotonia described globally and is the only place where all three genera of the Crotoniinae-Crotonia, Austronothrus and Holonothrus-have been recorded. Due to the pioneering work of Hammer (1966) and Luxton (1982) it also has the highest number of distribution records of Crotonia spp. anywhere. In the present study I build upon previous work to re-examine the Crotonia fauna of New Zealand in the light of recent taxonomic and biogeographical research. A new species is described, C. ramsayi sp. nov., a member of the Unguifera species group, and supplementary descriptions are provided for C. brachyrostrum (Hammer 1966), C. caudalis (Hammer, 1966), C. cophinaria (Michael, 1908), and C. unguifera (Michael 1908), as well as a key to species. Crotonia spp. from New Zealand occur predominantly in localities with relatively low mean annual temperature and high water balance, reflecting a requirement for cool, moist conditions. In New Zealand Crotonia spp. occur in an extremely wide variety of vegetation communities compared with other regions in its range (Australia, Africa and South America), and this is indicative that water balance requirements are met, regardless of vegetation type. Some elements of the New Zealand Crotonia fauna, notably the Cophinaria species group, are common to Australia, Africa and South America, indicating a shared evolutionary history pre-dating the separation of Africa from Gondwana 110 mya. The high proportion of species that occur west of the Alpine Fault is consistent with a relictual distribution of Gondwanan elements on the Australian Plate. However, it is unclear whether uplift of the Southern Alps formed a barrier to dispersal. A high representation of the morphologically closely-related Obtecta, Flagellata and Unguifera groups, shared only with South America (and, for Unguifera, with Oceania) represents a dramatically different faunal composition compared with other former Gondwanan landmasses and is consistent with submergence of most of New Zealand during the Oligocene (ca. 25 mya). All of these characteristics indicate a distinctive evolutionary pathway for the Crotonia fauna since New Zealand separated from the rest of Gondwana 80 mya.
Twenty-four new species of Eutegaeoidea from Australia and New Caledonia are described, and two new genera proposed. These are Eutegaeus woiwurrung sp. nov., E. nothofagi sp. nov., E. bidhawal sp. nov., E. ptilosus sp. nov., Humerotegaeus carinatus gen. et sp. nov., H. concentricus gen. et sp. nov., Atalotegaeus crobylus sp. nov., Neoeutegaeus torsteini sp. nov., N. melipsilon sp. nov. N. malcolmi sp. nov., N. corniculatus sp. nov. (Eutegaeidae), Compactozetes goongerah sp. nov., C. crenellatus sp. nov. (Compactozetidae) and Pterozetes lawrencei sp. nov. (Pterozetidae) from temperate rainforests in Victoria and Tasmania; Compactozetes bundjalung sp. nov., C. calderi sp. nov., C. duonodulus sp. nov., Sadocepheus remus sp. nov. (Compactozetidae) and Porrhotegaeus githabul sp. nov. (Porrhotegaeidae fam. nov.) from temperate and sub-tropical rainforests of the Great Dividing Range in central and northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, Porrhotegaeus catherinae sp. nov. from scalybark closed forest on Lord Howe Island, Eutegaeus odontatus sp. nov. and Compactozetes pirumorpha sp. nov. from moist upland forest on Norfolk Island and Neseutegaeus wardi sp. nov. and Atalotegaeus deficiens sp. nov. from tropical rainforest and moss forest in New Caledonia. Based on the predominantly Southern Hemisphere distribution of Eutegaeoidea, indicating strong Gondwanan affinities, and the morphology of adults and immatures, this taxon is treated as distinct from the Cepheoidea which has a distribution almost entirely within the Northern Hemisphere. Eutegaeoid species previously described from Australia (Eutegaeus soror P. Balogh, 1985, Atalotegaeus mensarosi J. & P. Balogh, 1983, Neseutegaeus monteithi J. & P. Balogh, 1983, Neoeutegaeus phyllophorus J. & P. Balogh, 1983 and Porrhotegaeus ornatus J. Balogh & Mahunka, 1966) are redescribed based on type material and new distribution records provided. Species have distribution patterns predominantly indicative of short-range endemics associated with remnant Gondwanan rainforest. Neseutegaeus monteithi is recombined to Atalotegaeus Luxton, 1988a. Definitions of genera and families of Eutegaeoidea are revised and their relationships reconsidered. Birotegaeus Luxton, 1988a and Pareutegaeus Woolley, 1965 are designated junior synonyms of Eutegaeus Berlese, 1916. Immatures are described for the genera Atalotegaeus, Eutegaeus, Neoeutegaeus Aoki, 1964 and Porrhotegaeus J. Balogh & Mahunka, 1966. Neoeutegaeidae fam nov. is established for Neoeutegaeus Aoki, 1964 and Humerotegaeus gen. nov., Porrhotegaeidae fam. nov. for Porrhotegaeus and Bornebuschiidae fam. nov. for Bornebuschia Hammer, 1966 and Dicrotegaeus Luxton, 1988 which had previously been placed in Cerocepheidae or Compactozetidae. Eutegaeus aysenensis Ermilov, 2021 and E. queulatensis Ermilov, 2021 from Chile are recombined to Atalotegaeus. A key is provided to the genera of the eight families of Eutegaeoidea, as recognised herein: Eutegaeidae, Neoeutegaeidae fam nov., Cerocepheidae, Compactozetidae, Bornebuschiidae fam. nov., Pterozetidae and Porrhotegaeidae fam. nov.
Review of all orders with maps of their geographical distribution.
Special attention is payed to the comparison between the arachnofaunas of close areas: Mediterranean and Central European; Mexico and the USA; Central America and the Caribbean Islands; South Africa, Madagascar, Seychelles, and Mascarene; and special areas like Patagonia and New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and Lord Howe Island.
A list of type depositories of new mite species published in two journals (Systematic & Applied Acarology and Zootaxa) during the last five years (2012–2016) is presented in this paper. The 1370 new species are deposited unevenly among 134 collections. The top collection is the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia (145 species), which alone accounts for 10% of the total new species, and the top ten collections accounted for 48% of the total. The average number of new species per collection is 10 and over three quarters of the collections are below the average. Just over half (51%) of the collections are in Europe. However, overall there were still more new species deposited in collections in developing counties (741) than developed countries (629). The top country for type depositories of new mite species for each continent is: Russia (199 species) for Europe, Brazil (134 species) for South America, Iran (133 species) for Asia, Australia (87 species) for Oceania, USA (80 species) for North America and South Africa (36 species) for Africa. The top European collections hold type specimens mostly of foreign origin, whereas those of South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia hold type specimens mostly originating from their own countries.
