''Charletonia austisensis'' is a species of

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...

belonging to the family

Erythraeidae Erythraeidae is a family of mites belonging to the Trombidiformes. Larval forms of these mites are parasitic on various other arthropods, for example harvestmen, but the adults are free-living predators. These oval mites are rather large, usually ...

. ''C. austisensis'' belongs to the species group with two

seta In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae, ...

e between coxae II and III. It differs from its cogenerate species by various length measurements. The species was first found in

Austis Austis (, ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Nuoro in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southwest of Nuoro. Austis borders the following municipalities: Neoneli, Nughedu Santa Vittoria, ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, after which it is named.Haitlinger, R. Y. S. Z. A. R. D. "New records of mites from Corsica and Sardinia, with descriptions of five new species (Acari: Prostigmata: Erythraeidae, Trombidiidae, Eutrombidiidae)." Genus 18.3 (2007): 529-543.

Description

Larva

The species' dorsum possesses 34 barbed setae, and an eye on each side. Its dorsal

scutum The ''scutum'' (; :''scuta'') was a type of shield used among Italic peoples in antiquity, most notably by the army of ancient Rome starting about the fourth century BC. The Romans adopted it when they switched from the military formation of ...

is punctate, longer than it is wide, with three pairs of scutalae. It also shows 2 pairs of sensillae, both of which are nude. Its

idiosoma ''Idiosoma'' is a genus of Australian armoured trapdoor spiders that was first described by Anton Ausserer in 1871. Originally placed with the Ctenizidae, it was moved to the armoured trapdoor spiders in 1985. The name is derived from the Greek ...

counts with a pair of short setae ventrally. Between its coxae II and III it exhibits two setae and 14 setae posterior to coxae III, all barbed. Its gnathosoma shows nude hypostomalae and galealae. The

palp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicera ...

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

has barbed seta, as does the palpgenu. The palptibia, in turn has 3 setae (two barbed, one nude), and the palptarsus possesses 6 nude setae.

Description

Larva

References

Further reading