Redescription of Ameroseius eumorphus Bregetova (Acari: Mesostigmata: Ameroseiidae), a new record of Epicriopsis Berlese from Iran and a new homonym in Ameroseiidae

In this paper we redescribe Ameroseius eumorphus Bregetova, 1977 based on morphological characters of female specimens collected from soil and litter from Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari and Khuzestan Provinces, Iran, using comparison with photographs of its holotype. The world distribution, hosts and habitats of this species are reviewed. Epicriopsis baloghi Kandil, 1978 is recorded for the first time from Iran. Ameroseius qinghaiensis Ma, 2008 is a junior primary homonym of Ameroseius qinghaiensis Li and Yang, 2000 and a new replacement name is proposed for this species. We also present corrected data for leg segment sizes of Ameroseius lidiae in Khalili-Moghadam and Saboori (2014).

The present information on mites of this family in Iran is poor. Twenty three species have been previously reported (Hajizadeh et al. 2013a,b, Kazemi and Rajaei 2013, Nemati et al. 2013, Khalili-Moghadam and Saboori 2014, Khaleghabadian et al. 2015. The present knowledge on Ameroseius eumorphus is based on Bregetova (1977), who provided a brief description of the species. Barilo (1986) presented some morphological information about A. eumorphus, such as dorsal shield with 28 pairs of lanceolate or very slightly serrate setae, epistome arcshaped with an elongate, acute and smooth central projection, and ventri-anal shield wider than long. In this paper, redescription of A. eumorphus is presented based on morphological characters of female specimens, using comparison with photographs of the holotype in Academy of Sciences

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Soil and litter samples were collected from different parts of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari and Khuzestan Provinces. Mites were extracted from samples using Berlese funnels, cleared in lactic acid at 55°C and then mounted in Hoyer's medium on permanent microscope slides. Line drawings were made using a phase-contrast Olympus BX52 microscope equipped with a drawing tube. Figures were performed with Corel X-draw software, based on the scanned line drawings. Measurements are expressed as mean (minimum-maximum) ranges in micrometers (µm). The dorsal setae notation and leg chaetotaxy followed that of Lindquist & Evans (1965) and Evans (1963b), respectively. Lengths of leg segments were measured dorsomedially, and tarsi were measured with the stalk and pretarsus. Specimens on which this paper is based on are deposited in the Acarological Laboratory, Department of Plant Protection, Agricultural College, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord (APAS) and some of them are deposited in the Acarological collection of Jalal Afshar Zoological Museum (JAZM), Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.

Ameroseius eumorphus Bregetova, 1977 (Figures 1-3)
A. eumorphus Bregetova, 1977: 153. A. eumorphus -Narita et al. 2013 Diagnosis -Palp tarsal claws and corniculi two and three tined respectively; setae h1 about twice thicker than h2 and h3; fixed cheliceral digit with four large teeth near the base of digit and subapical offset gabelzahn. Dorsal shield with 28 pairs of lanceolate setae and very slightly serrate (j1 leafshaped), tips of J2 and J4 do not reach the base of J4 and Z5, respectively. Opisthogasteric region with 6 pairs of setae, 2 of which on the ventri-anal shield (in addition to circumanal setae). Ventri-anal shield wider than long, anterior margin with clearly depression, pre-anal setae (Jv2) set closed together.

Ameroseius eumorphus
Distribution, habitat and host of A. eumorphus -The distribution, habitat and host of A. eumorphus are presented in Table 2.
Type deposition -holotype and 5 paratypes deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Hungary; 14 paratypes in the Faculty Agricultural Sciences at Moshtohor, Egypt.
Ye and Ma (1993) described Ameroseius crassisetosus from Apodemus sylvaticus (Rodentia) in Xinjiang Province, China. Later, Li and Yang (2000) described Ameroseius qinghaiensis from compost in Qinghai Province, China. Then, Ma (2006) synonymized the two mentioned species, but according to our observation and checking of descriptions and figures of these two species and also based on the following diagnostic characters, we believe that these species are not synonyms and each of those are considered as a valid and separate species. Differential characters are as follows: dorsal sheild with 27 pairs of setae in A. qinghaiensis and 29 pairs in A. crassisetosus; the length of J4 setae in A. crassisetosus is enough long to pass the base of Z5, but these don't reach the base of Z5 in A. qinghaiensis; dorsal 546 Acarologia 56(4): 537-551 (2016) setae in A. crassisetosus are much thicker than those in A. qinghaiensis. Also, in addition to the diagnostic characters mentioned above, there are other small diagnostic characters which are shown in Table 3. Ma (2008) collected another Ameroseius species from Rattus norvegicus (Rodentia) in Qinghai Province, China, described it as a new species and considered the same name (Ameroseius qinghaiensis) for it. According to original description and figures of Ameroseius qinghaiensis in these two papers (Li andYang 2000 andMa 2008), they refer to two different species. Characters distinguishing the two species are shown in Table 3. Ameroseius qinghaiensis Ma, 2008 is a junior primary homonym of A. qinghaiensis Li and Yang, 2000 now. For this reason, we propose Ameroseius chinensis nom. nov. as a replacement name for Ameroseius qinghaiensis Ma, 2008. Etymology -The specific epithet is derived from the country of origin, China.
Note on Ameroseius lidiae Bregetova, 1977-Ameroseius lidiae Bregetova, 1977 was redescribed by Khalili-Moghadam and Saboori (2014). The lengths presented for the leg segments were incorrect and the amendment data of leg segment sizes is presented as in Table 4.