New data on the Philippine oribatid mite fauna, with a contribution to knowledge of the genus Drymobatoides (Acari, Oribatida, Mochlozetidae)

Abstract

A list of identified oribatid mite taxa (Acari, Oribatida) from Capual, Luzon, Mindanao, Polillo, Samal and Samar Islands of the Philippines, including 54 species from 46 genera and 26 families, is presented; of these, 19 species, four genera and one family are recorded in this country for the first time. A new generic diagnosis for Drymobatoides (Mochlozetidae) is proposed. The taxonomic status of the mochlozetid genus Rykella is discussed, resulting in the proposal that Drymobatoides Jacot, 1936 is a senior subjective synonym of Rykella Balogh, 1962 (n. syn.) and in the following reassignments from Rykella: Drymobatoides asiaticus (Yamamoto and Aoki, 2000) n. comb., D. elamellatus (Berlese, 1916) n. comb., D. insignis (Balogh, 1962) n. comb.. A new species of Drymobatoides from the Phillippines is described; D. boronganensis n. sp. differs from D. malabaricus (Clement and Haq, 1982) by the morphology of rostral, lamellar and bothridial setae, the length of the interlamellar seta, and the presence of a ventrodistal rectangular incision on leg femur II. An identification key to the seven known species of Drymobatoides is provided.