Contribution to the genus Camerobia Southcott (Acariformes: Camerobiidae): description of C. exnuda sp. n. from Türkiye

About authors:

Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, Erzincan, Türkiye

Vocational School of Health Services, Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, Erzincan, Türkiye

Acknowledgments:

The requisite legal permits for collecting samples from nature were obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Türkiye, the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks (21264211-288.04-E.4255389), the General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (50411936-903.07.02-E-4372543), and the Erzincan Governorship (E61652141640-12908). The study was conducted in accordance with the relevant national regulations and ethical principles. As no experimental animals were used in the study, an approval from an ethics committee was not necessary.

This work was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) under project number 121Z986.

We would like to thank TÜBİTAK for funding this study, as well as the relevant departments of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Türkiye and the Erzincan Governorship for their support in obtaining the sampling permits.

Annotation:

The genus Camerobia Southcott (Acariformes: Camerobiidae) is a small but morphologically distinctive group within the superfamily Raphignathoidea. It currently comprises six described species worldwide, with one species—C. turcica Koç and Kara—from Türkiye. In this study, another species, C. exnuda sp. n., is described from Türkiye based on female specimens. The new species is distinguished by its dorsocentral setal arrangement; namely, the absence of a pair of central setae (ex), which serves as a key diagnostic character. An updated key to the known species of Camerobia is also provided. Additionally, a pair of cupule-like depressions (ih) is described from the anogenital region of C. exnuda sp.n., resembling the fosssette-like paired micro-areas known from Stigmaeidae, and the possible homology of these structures is briefly discussed. Taken together, these findings expand the known distribution and diversity of Camerobia and provide additional data for understanding camerobiid morphology and taxonomy.

DOI: 10.21684/0132-8077-2025-33-2-151-157

Bibliography:

Akyol, M. 2020. A new species of the genus Neophyllobius Berlese (Acari: Camerobiidae) from Denizli province, Turkey. Acarological Studies, 2 (2): 88–93. https://doi.org/10.47121/acarolstud.722785

Akyol, M. and Koç, K. 2006. The camerobiid mites (Acari, Camerobiidae) of Turkey. Biologia, Bratislava, 61 (2): 125–132. https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-006-0020-1

Beron, P. 2020. Acarorum Catalogus VII. Trombidiformes, Prostigmata, Raphignathoidea. Fam. Barbutiidae, Caligonellidae, Camerobiidae, Cryptognathidae, Dasythyreidae, Dytiscacaridae, Eupalopsellidae, Homocaligidae, Mecognathidae, Raphignathidae, Stigmaeidae, Xenocaligonellididae. Pensoft, National Museum of Natural History & Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria, 306 pp. https://doi.org/10.3897/ab.e55087

Beron, P. 2022. Update 2020–2021 to Vol. VII. In: Acarorum Catalogus X. Trombidiformes Prostigmata. Superfamilia Labidostommatoidea (Labidostommatidae). Superfamilia Eupodoidea (Eupodidae, Dendrochaetidae, Rhagidiidae, Eriorhynchidae, Pentapalpidae, Penthalodidae, Penthaleidae, Proterorhagiidae, Strandtmanniidae). Superfamilia Tydeoidea. Ereynetidae. Superfamily Paratydeoidea. Paratydeidae. Superfamilia Anystoidea (Anystidae, Erythracaridae, Teneriffiidae, Pseudocheylidae, Stigmocheylidae). Superfamilia Caeculoidea (Caeculidae). Superfamilia Adamystoidea (Adamystidae). Superfamilia Pomerantzioidea (Pomerantziidae). Pensoft & National Museum of Natural History & Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria–Moscow, Russia, 411–420. https://doi.org/10.3897/ab.e68612

Bolland, H. R. 1986. Review of the systematics of the family Camerobiidae (Acari, Raphignathoidea). I. The genera Camerobia, Decaphyllobius, Tillandsobius, and Tycherobius. Tijdschrift voor Entomology, 129: 191–215.

Bolland, H. R. and Magowski, W. L.1990. Neophyllobius succineus n. sp. from Baltic amber (Acari: Raphignathoidea: Camerobiidae). Entomologische Berichten, 50: 17–21.

Doğan, S. 2007. Checklist of raphignathoid mites (Acari: Raphignathoidea) of Turkey. Zootaxa, 1454: 1–26. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1454.1.1

Doğan, S. 2019. Raphignathoidea (Acari: Trombidiformes) of Turkey: a review of progress on the systematics, with an updated checklist. Acarological Studies, 1 (2): 129–151.

Doğan, S. and Fan, Q.-H. 2025. A report on numerical variations in the dorso-central setae pdx of Neophyllobius yunusi Akyol and Koç (Trombidiformes: Camerobiidae). Acarological Studies, 7 (1): 69–71. https://doi.org/10.47121/acarolstud.1548944

Erman, O., Özkan, M., Ayyıldız, N. and Doğan, S. 2007. Checklist of the mites (Arachnida: Acari) of Turkey. Second supplement. Zootaxa, 1532: 1–21. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1532.1.1

Escobar-Garcia, H. A., de Andrade, D. J., Welbourn, C. and Ueckermann, E. A. 2023. Description of a new species of stilt-legged mite of the genus Neophyllobius Berlese (Acari: Camerobiidae) from Peru. International Journal of Acarology, 49: 214–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/01647954.2023.2236109

Escobar-Garcia, H. A., de Andrade, D. J., Mohammad-Doustaresharaf, M. and Ueckermann, E. A. 2024. A new species of stilt-legged mite of the genus Neophyllobius Berlese (Acari: Camerobiidae) from Brazil. Acarologia, 64: 592–601. https://doi.org/10.24349/x6a3-jlvy

Fan, Q.-H. and Walter, D. E. 2006. Camerobia and Neophyllobius (Acari: Prostigmata: Camerobiidae) from Australia, with the descriptions of two new species. Zootaxa, 1309: 1–23. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1309.1.1

Fan, Q.-H. and Walter, D. E. 2011. Acamerobia inflatusgen. n. & sp. n. from Australia (Acari: Prostigmata: Raphignathoidea: Camerobiidae) with notes on the idiosomal chaetotaxy. Zootaxa, 3045: 45–56. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3045.1.3

Fan, Q.-H. and Zhang, Z.-Q. 2005. Raphignathoidea (Acari: Prostigmata). Fauna of New Zealand, 52: 1–400. https://doi.org/10.7931/J2/fnz.52

Gerson, U., Smiley, R. L. and Ochoa, R. 2003. Mites (Acari) for Pest Control. Blackwell Science Ltd, UK, 539 pp. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470750995

Grandjean, F. 1944. Observations sur les acariens de la famille des Stigmaeidae. Archives des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles, 26: 103–131. [In French]

Grandjean, F. 1946. Au sujet de l’organe de Claparède, des eupathides multiples et des taenidies mandibulaires chez les Acariens actinochitineux. Archives des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles, 28: 63–87. [In French]

Kethley, J. 1990. Acarina: Prostigmata (Actinedida). In: D. L. Dindal (Ed.), Soil Biology Guide. John Wiley and Sons, New York, USA, pp. 667–756.

Khanjani, M. and Ueckermann, E. A. 2002. Camerobiidae of Iran with descriptions of three new species (Acari: Camerobiidae). Systematic and Applied Acarology, 7: 159–166. https://doi.org/10.11158/saa.7.1.17

Khanjani, M., Hoseini, M. A., Yazdanpanah, S. and Masoudian, F. 2014. Neophyllobius lorestanicus sp. nov. and N. ostovani sp. nov. (Acari: Camerobiidae) from Iran. Zootaxa, 3764 (4): 441–454. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3764.4.4

Khanjani, M., Molavi, F. and Ueckermann, E. A. 2011. A new species of the genus Neophyllobius Berlese (Acari: Camerobiidae) from Iran. International Journal of Acarology, 37 (Suppl. 1): 129–134. https://doi.org/10.1080/01647954.2010.543698

Khaustov, A. A., Vorontsov, D. D., Perkovsky, E. E. and Klimov, P. B. 2021. First fossil record of mite family Barbutiidae (Acari: Raphignathoidea) from late Eocene Rovno Amber, with a replacement name Hoplocheylus neosimilis nomen novum (Tarsocheylidae). Systematic and Applied Acarology, 26 (5): 973–980. https://doi.org/10.11158/saa.26.5.12

Klimov, P. B., OConnor, B. M., Chetverikov, P. E., Bolton, S. J., Pepato, A. R., Mortazavi, A. L., Tolstikov, A. V., Bauchan, G. R. and Ochoa, R. 2018. Comprehensive phylogeny of acariform mites (Acariformes) provides insights on the origin of the four-legged mites (Eriophyoidea), a long branch. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 119: 105–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2017.10.017

Koç, K. and Kara, M. 2005. Two new species of Raphignathoidea (Acari: Raphignathidae; Camerobiidae) from Turkey. Acarologia, 45 (2–3): 195–202.

Kuznetsov, N. N., Khaustov, A. A. and Perkovsky, E. E. 2010. First record of mites of the family Stigmaeidae (Acari, Raphignathoidea) from Rovno amber with description of a new species of the genus Mediolata. Vestnik Zoologii, 44: 545–547.

Mirza, J. H., Kamran, M. and Alatawi, F. J. 2022. New genus and new subgenera of camerobiid mites (Acari: Prostigmata: Camerobiidae) with a key to world species of the genus Neophyllobius. Insects, 13 (344): 1–34. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13040344

Paredes-León, R., Corona-López, A. M., Flores-Palacios, A. and Toledo-Hernández, V. H. 2016. Camerobiid mites (Acariformes: Raphignathina: Camerobiidae) inhabiting epiphytic bromeliads and soil litter of tropical dry forest with analysis of setal homology in the genus Neophyllobius. European Journal of Taxonomy, 202: 1–25. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2016.202

Southcott, R. V. 1957. Description of a new Australian raphignathoid mite, with remarks on the classification of the Trombidiformes (Acarina). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 81 (3): 306–312.

Ulucay, I., Koc, K. and Akyol, M. 2016. A new species and two new records of the genus Tycherobius Bolland (Acari: Camerobiidae) from Turkey. International Journal of Acarology, 42 (3): 168–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/01647954.2016.1145737

Walter, D. E. and Krantz, G. W. 2009. Collecting, rearing, and preparing specimens. In: G. W. Krantz and D. E. Walter (Eds), A Manual of Acarology. 3rd ed. Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, Texas, USA, pp. 83–96.

Zmudzinski, M. 2020. New fossil stilt-legged mites of Neophyllobius Berlese, 1886 (Acariformes, Camerobiidae) from Eocene Baltic amber. Journal of Paleontology, 94 (4): 696–715. https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2020.13