Mycobatidae (Acari: Oribatida) of North America

2008 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie M. Behan-Pelletier ◽  
Barbara Eamer

AbstractThe oribatid mite family Mycobatidae is represented in America north of Mexico by the eight genera, Cyrtozetes Behan-Pelletier, Ceresella Pavlitshenko, Guatemalozetes Mahunka, Minunthozetes Hull, Mycobates Hull, Pelopsis Hall, Punctoribates Berlese, and Zachvatkinibates Shaldybina. Species occur in forests, grasslands, and arctic soils, in canopy habitats, and in the marine and freshwater littoral zone. Three new mycobatid species from North America are described: Ceresella reevesisp. nov. from forest habitats of western North America, Cyrtozetes lindoaesp. nov. from canopy habitats of western Canada, and Punctoribates weigmannisp. nov. from forest litter in eastern North America. The descriptions of Pelopsis bifurcatus (Ewing) and Punctoribates punctum (C.L. Koch) are expanded based on specimens from North America. Punctoribates palustris (Banks) is redescribed based on specimens from throughout North America. Punctoribates armipes (Banks) is considered a junior subjective synonym of P. palustris (Banks). New distribution records are given for Guatemalozetes danos Behan-Pelletier and Ryabinin and Minunthozetes semirufus (Koch). Diagnoses are given for each genus discussed, and keys are provided to the eight genera of Mycobatidae of North America and to species of Cyrtozetes and Punctoribates, genera not recently revised.

2009 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
pp. 246-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie M. Behan-Pelletier ◽  
Barbara Eamer

AbstractThe oribatid mite genusCeratozetesBerlese is represented in America north of Mexico by 21 previously described species known from forest, grassland, subarctic and arctic soils and litter, and canopy habitats. The closely related genusCeratozetoidesShaldybina is represented in America north of Mexico only byC. cisalpinus(Berlese). Three new species ofCeratozetesfrom North America are described:C. biporosussp. nov.from forest habitats of southeastern North America,C. cyclopeasp. nov.from montane habitats in western North America, andC. pseudomediocrissp. nov.from forest habitats of western North America. A detailed revised diagnosis is given forCeratozetes,Ceratozetoides, all previously described species ofCeratozetes(C. angustus(Banks),C. borealisBehan-Pelletier,C. cuspidatusJacot,C. enodis(Ewing),C. fjellbergiBehan-Pelletier,C. gracilisMichael,C. kutchinBehan-Pelletier,C. longispinusJacot,C. mediocris(Berlese),C. oresbiosBehan-Pelletier,C. pacificusBehan-Pelletier,C. parvulusSellnick,C. spitsbergensisThor,C. subaquila(Ewing),C. subinconspicuus(Berlese),C. thienemanniWillmann,C. virginicus(Banks), andC. watertonensisBehan-Pelletier), andCeratozetoides cisalpinus.Ceratozetes figuratus(Ewing) andC. zeteki(Ewing) are considered junior subjective synonyms ofC. enodis(Ewing)syn. nov., andC. inupiaqBehan-Pelletier is transferred to Mycobatidae asCyrtozetes inupiaq(Behan-Pelletier)comb. nov. New distribution records are given forCeratozetoides cisalpinusandCeratozetes angustus,C. borealis,C. cuspidatus,C. gracilis,C. mediocris,C. longispinus,C. oresbios,C. pacificus,C. parvulus,C. thienemanni,C. virginicus, andC. watertonensis.A diagnostic key is provided to adults of theCeratozetesandCeratozetoidesspecies now known for America north of Mexico. An analysis of the systematic relationships of 23 of these species based on adult characters indicates thatCeratozetes, excludingCeratozetoides, is paraphyletic. The clade that includesCeratozetoides cisalpinusand 15 species ofCeratozetesincludes most species for which immatures are known. One sister clade includesCeratozetes cyclopea,C. enodis, andC. fjellbergiand another includesC. kutchin, C. parvulus, andC. thienemanni.The decision whether or not these 6 species should be retained inCeratozetessensu strictoawaits discovery of their immatures and molecular analysis.


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2973 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
VALERIE M. BEHAN-PELLETIER

The oribatid mite genus Oribatella (Oribatellidae) includes 107 species worldwide, with 13 species reported for eastern North America. Herein, I describe six new Oribatella species from eastern North America: O. flagellata sp. nov., O. jacoti sp. nov., O. nortoni sp. nov., O. metzi sp. nov., O. texana sp. nov., and O. transtriata sp. nov. Oribatella metzi and O. nortoni are described on the basis of adults and immatures. The deutonymph and tritonymph of O. metzi lack dorsocentral setae dm and dp, and the diagnosis of the genus is expanded to accommodate these newly described immatures, and also newly described adult characters. I provide expanded, detailed diagnoses for previously described species of eastern North America: Oribatella arctica Thor, 1930, O. brevicornuta Jacot, 1934, O. dentaticuspis Ewing, 1910, O. gigantea Berlese, 1916, O. mediocris Berlese, 1916, O. minuta Banks, 1896, O. plummeri Jacot, 1934, O. pusilla Berlese, 1916, O. quadridentata Banks, 1895, O. reticulata Berlese, 1916, O. reticulatoides Hammer, 1955 and provide new distribution records where available. I question the specific status of O. extensa Jacot, 1934, and consider records of O. sexdentata Berlese, 1916 from eastern North America to be doubtful. Oribatella quadricornuta (Michael, 1880) is confirmed to occur in eastern Canada. Finally, I give a key to adults of the 18 species of Oribatella now known from eastern North America.


1986 ◽  
Vol 118 (10) ◽  
pp. 991-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie M. Behan-Pelletier

AbstractRepresentatives of the oribatid mite family Ceratozetidae of subarctic western North America, including 14 species in eight genera, are treated. A new genus Laminizetes, and eight new species, Diapterobates siccatus, Trichoribates ogilviensis, Laminizetes fortispinosus, Ceratozetes inupiaq, C. kutchin, C. fjellbergi, Sphaerozetes firthensis, and Melanozetes tanana, are proposed, and Dentizetes rudentiger Hammer, Diapterobates humeralis (Hermann), Neogymnobates luteus (Hammer), Trichoribates striatus Hammer, Sphaerozetes castaneus Hammer, and Melanozetes meridianus Sellnick are redescribed. Immatures of Dentizetes rudentiger and Sphaerozetes firthensis are described. A key to the adults of the 31 species of Ceratozetidae recorded from the western North American arctic and subarctic is given. Relationships among the 12 genera in the Ceratozetidae recorded from the North American arctic and subarctic are discussed.


Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4337 (2) ◽  
pp. 151 ◽  
Author(s):  
VALERIE M. BEHAN-PELLETIER

The oribatid mite family Tegoribatidae has been represented in continental North America by the genera Tegoribates and Tectoribates. Herein, I describe a new genus of Tegoribatidae from North America, Protectoribates, and two new species: Protectoribates occidentalis sp. nov., from forest habitats in western North American, and Tegoribates walteri sp. nov., from forest habitats in California, based on adults and immatures. The descriptions of adults of the type species of Tegoribates, T. subniger Ewing, and other North American species, T. americanus Hammer and T. bryophilus Woolley, are expanded and immatures of T. americanus are described for the first time. Immatures of Protectoribates are apheredermous whereas those of Tegoribates are eupheredermous, though retaining centrodorsal setae. Scutozetes Hammer 1952 is transferred from Tegoribatidae to Ceratozetidae after re-examination of type material. I provide a revised diagnosis for Tegoribates and a key to tegoribatid genera and species for North America. Finally, I provide a revised diagnosis for Tegoribatidae based on world genera. 


Acarologia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (Suppl) ◽  
pp. 91-97
Author(s):  
Zoë Lindo

Members of the oribatid mite family Peloppiidae are found throughout the Holarctic in subarctic and arctic habitats, and temperate and boreal forests, and while common, are rarely collected in high abundance. Pacific Northwest forest habitats of western Canada have high relative diversity of peloppiid mites representing species of the genera Ceratoppia, Dendrozetes, and Metrioppia. Many of these are newly described species that are seemingly endemic to the region. Here I review the status and diversity of Peloppiidae from North America, and summarize the distributions of described species. Despite recent efforts, significant work remains. Within Ceratoppia two widely-distributed and established species have considerable morphological variation, while the type specimens are missing or destroyed, making confirmation of new specimens difficult. For other genera, extensive review of the Canadian National Collections in Ottawa, Canada suggest there are at least four undescribed species of North American Peloppiidae - two potentially new species of Paenoppia, and new species each of Parapyroppia and Pyroppia.


2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 542-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramon S. Nagesan ◽  
James A. Campbell ◽  
Jason D. Pardo ◽  
Kendra I. Lennie ◽  
Matthew J. Vavrek ◽  
...  

Western North America preserves iconic dinosaur faunas from the Upper Jurassic and Upper Cretaceous, but this record is interrupted by an approximately 20 Myr gap with essentially no terrestrial vertebrate fossil localities. This poorly sampled interval is nonetheless important because it is thought to include a possible mass extinction, the origin of orogenic controls on dinosaur spatial distribution, and the origin of important Upper Cretaceous dinosaur taxa. Therefore, dinosaur-bearing rocks from this interval are of particular interest to vertebrate palaeontologists. In this study, we report on one such locality from Highwood Pass, Alberta. This locality has yielded a multitaxic assemblage, with the most diagnostic material identified so far including ankylosaurian osteoderms and a turtle plastron element. The fossil horizon lies within the upper part of the Pocaterra Creek Member of the Cadomin Formation (Blairmore Group). The fossils are assigned as Berriasian (earliest Cretaceous) in age, based on previous palynomorph analyses of the Pocaterra Creek Member and underlying and overlying strata. The fossils lie within numerous cross-bedded sandstone beds separated by pebble lenses. These sediments are indicative of a relatively high-energy depositional environment, and the distribution of these fossils over multiple beds indicates that they accumulated over multiple events, possibly flash floods. The fossils exhibit a range of surface weathering, having intact to heavily weathered cortices. The presence of definitive dinosaur material from near the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary of Alberta establishes the oldest record of dinosaur body fossils in western Canada and provides a unique opportunity to study the Early Cretaceous dinosaur faunas of western North America.


1956 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Berkeley ◽  
C. Berkeley

Records are given of two species and a variety new to western Canada and notes on three other species already known from the region. A new species, Aricidea lopezi, and four species new to western North America, are described from the neighbourhood of Friday Harbour, Washington.


1990 ◽  
Vol 61 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 193-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Hough ◽  
K. H. Jacob ◽  
L. Seeber

Abstract A key element in the assessment of seismic hazard is the estimation of how energy propagation from a given earthquake is affected by crustal structure near the receiver and along the more distant propagation path. In this paper, we present data from a variety of sources in eastern North America recorded at epicentral distances of a few to 800 km, and characterize and interpret systematic features. Site effects have been classically considered in terms of amplification either within a sediment-filled valley or from a single topographic feature (Geli et al., 1988). We present evidence of high frequency (5–30 Hz) resonances observed in hard-rock recordings of both body waves and Lg waves, and suggest that site effect should be expanded regionally to include structural and topographic information over sufficiently large areas to include several wavelengths of any features that may interact with seismic waves in the frequency range of interest. A growing body of evidence suggests that ground motions at high frequencies recorded at large epicentral distances in eastern North America are controlled by resonance effects. We hypothesize that a fundamental difference between eastern and western North America spectra stems from a combination of differences in the character of topography and near-surface structure. Active tectonics of western North America gives rise to a complex crust that scatters seismic energy in a random manner and results in very effective attenuation of high frequencies. The older eastern North American crust contains scatterers that are more ordered, with characteristic length scales that give rise to resonance phenomena in the frequency band critical for earthquake hazard. We present preliminary analysis of topographic data from the Adirondack Mountains in New York that demonstrates the existence of characteristic length scales on the order of up to 1–3 kilometers. Features with these length scales will effectively scatter energy at frequencies in the 1 to 10 Hz range.


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