SYSTEMATICS OF MITE ANYSTAE KRANTZ, 1978 IN THAILAND

Abstract

Species in the hyporder Anystae Krantz, 1978 (sensu Zhang et al. 2011) are predatory mites usually found in soil and litter, moss, bark, on vegetation, or in deep soil habitats. In Thailand, only one known anystaen species was previously documented: Adamystis thailandensis Fuangarworn & Lekprayoon, 2010 (Adamystidae). The systematics of the Anystae in Thailand was comprehensively studied for the first time, based on specimens collected during 2011-2015 and old materials in the museums. The phylogenetic analysis including representatives from all anystaen families was also conducted for the first time to assess the interfamilial relationships of Anystae and related taxa, based on morphological characters. Eighteen species of the ansystaen mites are recognized in this study. Of these, 12 species are new to science and 5 species are new records for the Thai fauna. They are classified into 15 genera, in 10 families, one of which is a new genus, Chulacarus n. gen., in a new family, Chulacaridae n. fam. The new species were described and illustrated, including Anystis siamensis n. sp., Walzia chamrasae n. sp., W. monosetosa n. sp. (Anystidae); Neocaeculus orientalis n. sp.(Caeculidae); Chulacarus elegan n. sp. (Chulacaridae); Lactyoscythis kanchanaburiensis n. sp., Tarsolarkus pilosus n. sp., Tarsotomus ottoi n. sp. (Erythracaridae); Apomerantzia pasak n. sp. (Pomerantziidae); Anoplocheylus corticicola n. sp. (Pseudocheylidae); Stigmocheylus bochkovi n. sp. (Stigmocheylidae) and Austroteneriffia sunthorni n. sp. (Teneriffiidae). The redescriptions or supplementary descriptions were given for the new recorded species: Erythracarus nasutus Otto, 1999 (Erythracaridae); Tanytydeus kakadu Seeman & Walter, 1999, Tan. cf. egypticus (Soliman,1975) (Paratydeidae); Pomerantzia philippina Bochkov & Walter, 2007 (Pomerantziidae) and Anoplocheylus aegypticus Baker & Atyeo, 1946 (Pseudocheylidae). The descriptions of complete life cycles of Ano. corticicola n. sp., Ano. aegypticus Baker & Atyeo, N. orientalis n. sp., and Tan. kakadu Seeman & Walter, 1999 were also given for the first time, resulting in a new interpretation of the ontogeny of Pseudocheylidae and Paratydeidae. The phylogenetic analyses revealed that Anystae as a group is not monophyletic; it was retrieved as para- or polyphyletic. All families were recovered as a monophyletic group but deeper relationships are ambiguous due to changes in parameters (i.e. additivity, but additivity increases clade support). The overall results show incongruence with the previous studies concerning relationships of Anystae: the family Pseudocheylidae was retrieved as a sister group to the Eleutherengona; the superfamilial groupings in the previous classifications are not monophyletic; and Chulacaridae, once thought to belong to the superfamily Anystoidea, was recovered as a sister taxon of Paratydeidae + ((Stigmocheylidae + Pomerantziidae) + (Pseudocheylidae + Eleutherengona)) in the preferred tree.