Tectocepheidae

Tectocepheus velatus, from the Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility.

Belongs within: Poronoticae.

The Tectocepheidae are a group of oribatid mites found in soil and litter, particularly in disturbed habitats. Adults are covered with a granular cerotegument, and share a number of features in common with poronotic families despite lacking an octotaxic system themselves. Nymphs are plicate (wrinkled) and do not carry the scalps of earlier instars (Norton & Behan-Pelletier 2009). Two genera are recognised within the family with species of Tegeozetes having pteromorphs angled downwards whereas those of Tectocepheus are horizontal.

Characters (from Norton & Behan-Pelletier 2009): Adults with granular cerotegument present. Prodorsum with lamellae and lamellar cusps, translamella present or absent. Genal notch present. Dorsophragmata and pleurophragmata present. Chelicerae chelate-dentate; palp eupathidium acm and solenidion separate, or incompletely coupled; subcapitular mentum without tectum. Axillary saccule of subcapitulum usually absent. Discidium, custodium, and postanal porose area absent. Pedotectum I large, extending to insertion of exobothridial seta, or small, barely covering acetabulum I; pedotectum II present. Notogaster with ten pairs of setae. Pteromorphs present, without hinge, or absent. Genital plates with six pairs of setae. Immatures plicate, apheredermous, unideficient. Seta d present to tritonymph on tibiae and genua I to IV when respective solenidion exists.

<==Tectocepheidae [Pliconotae, Tectocepheoidea]
    |--Tegeozetes Berlese 1913 S04
    |    |--*T. tunicatus Berlese 1913 S04
    |    |    |--T. t. tunicatus S04
    |    |    `--T. t. breviclava Aoki 1970 S04
    |    `--T. angolensis Balogh 1958 (n. d.) S04
    `--Tectocepheus Berlese 1896 S04
         |  i. s.: T. americanus Pérez-Íñigo & Baggio 1989 S04
         |         T. cervus Balogh & Mahunka 1969 (n. d.) S04
         |         T. concurvatus Knülle 1954 S04
         |         T. coniunctus Knülle 1954 S04
         |         T. cuspidentatus Knülle 1954 S04
         |         T. depressus Pérez-Íñigo & Baggio 1989 S04
         |         T. elegans Ohkubo 1981 S04
         |         T. knuellei Vanek 1960 S04
         |         T. latilamellaris Kardar 1974 S04
         |         T. punctulatus Djaparidze 1985 S04
         |         T. shirakamiensis Fujikawa 2001 S04
         |         T. spinosus Mahunka 1984 S04
         |         T. tenuis Knülle 1954 S04
         |         T. titanius Ohkubo 1982 S04
         |         T. translamellaris Kardar 1974 S04
         |         T. translamellatus Knülle 1954 S04
         |         T. vicarius Balogh 1958 S04
         |--+--*T. velatus (Michael 1880) S04, SK10, S04 [=Tegeocranus velatus S04, Scutovertex velatus CH98]
         |  |    |--T. v. velatus S04
         |  |    |--T. v. clavatus Mahunka 1983 S04
         |  |    |--T. v. expansus Berlese 1914 [=T. minor expansus] S04
         |  |    `--T. v. universitatum Adbel-Hamid 1964 S04
         |  `--T. minor Berlese 1903 SK10, S04 [incl. T. bisignatus Moritz 1968 S04, T. velatus novus Hammer 1967 S04]
         `--+--T. alatus Berlese 1913 SK10, S04
            `--T. sarekensis Trägårdh 1910 SK10, S04 (see below for synonymy)

Tectocepheus sarekensis Trägårdh 1910 SK10, S04 [=T. velatus sarekensis S04; incl. T. velatus angulatus Mihelčič 1957 S04, T. velatus ibericus Mihelčič 1957 S04, T. velatus inflexus Mihelčič 1957 S04]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[CH98] Colloff, M. J., & R. B. Halliday. 1998. Oribatid Mites: A catalogue of Australian genera and species. CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood.

Norton, R. A., & V. M. Behan-Pelletier. 2009. Suborder Oribatida. In: Krantz, G. W., & D. E. Walter (eds) A Manual of Acarology 3rd ed. pp. 430–564. Texas Tech University Press.

[SK10] Schäffer, S., S. Koblmüller, T. Pfingstl, C. Sturmbauer & G. Krisper. 2010. Ancestral state reconstruction reveals multiple independent evolution of diagnostic morphological characters in the "Higher Oribatida" (Acari), conflicting with current classification. BMC Evolutionary Biology 10: 246.

[S04] Subías, L. S. 2004. Listado sistemático, sinonímico y biogeográfico de los ácaros oribátidos (Acariformes, Oribatida) del mundo (1758–2002). Graellsia 60 (número extraordinario): 3–305.

Last updated: 15 December 2018.