Remarks on Birjandtrombella Noei, 2020 (Acari: Trombidiformes: Prostigmata)

Abstract

Birjandtrombella farniae Noei, 2020, originally placed in Trombellidae Thor, 1935, was described from larvae ectoparasitic on moths, from Birjand city, South Khorasan province, Iran (Noei and Rabieh 2020). According to Mąkol and Wohltmann (2012, 2013) the family Neotrombidiidae Feider, 1955 consists of four genera: Discotrombidium Feider, 1977, Monunguis Wharton, 1938, Neotrombidium Leonardi, 1901 and Anomalothrombium André, 1936. Discotrombidium and Anomalothrombium are based on post-larval forms only, the monotypic genus Monunguis (parasitic on bat flies, Streblidae) is based on larva only (Womersley 1963; Lindquist and Vercammen-Grandjean 1971) and Neotrombidium (parasitic on subcortical beetles of the families Cerambycidae, Cleridae, Elateridae and Tenebrionidae, and on the ground beetle family Carabidae) is based on both larval and post-larval forms (Noei et al. 2017). The family Neotrombidiidae and Trombellidae can be distinguished by the number of normal setae on femur I (7 vs. with less than seven normal setae in Trombellidae) and reticulated area on coxae I and III (present vs. absent). In this paper, the monotypic genus Birjandtrombella Noei, 2020 (parasitic on Lepidoptera: Crambidae, Noctuidae, Pyralidae) is transferred from Trombellidae to the family Neotrombidiidae and the generic diagnosis is amended. The modified drawing of the Fig. 3 [after Noei and Rabieh (2020)] is also presented.