Two new species of Leptus (Trombidiformes: Erythraeidae) parasitizing acridid grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Caelifera: Acrididae) from the Zagros Mountains, Iran

ABSTRACT

Two new mite species of Leptus Latreille, 1796 (Acari: Erythraeidae) are described and illustrated based on their larval stages. All mites were collected from grasshopper hosts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) during surveys in the Zagros Mountains of Iran. This study is part of a more extensive survey of the Parasitengona fauna and their grasshopper hosts in diverse terrains along this mountain range, one of the global biodiversity hotspots. Leptus (Leptus) mallahae Kiany, Seiedy & Hakimitabar sp. nov. was collected parasitizing Oedipoda miniata (Pallas, 1771), Acrotylus insubricus (Scopoli, 1786), and Sphingoderus angustus Descamps, 1967. Leptus (L.) etesamiae Kiany, Seiedy & Hakimitabar sp. nov. was collected on Sphodromerus luteipes Uvarov, 1933.Leptus mallahae Kiany, Seiedy, & Hakimitabar in Kiany, Seiedy, Hakimitabar, Kiany & Husemann, 2024 http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:A0C6312E-C5B8-4AF6-AB65-FC379234C832Leptus etesamiae Kiany, Seiedy, & Hakimitabar in Kiany, Seiedy, Hakimitabar, Kiany & Husemann, 2024http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8CF993F7-374E-4DDE-AD01-7014267805A0

KEYWORDS:

• Prostigmata
• Parasitengona
• Leptinae
• taxonomy
• Fars province

Acknowledgments

Our great thanks go to Prof. Alireza Saboori, University of Tehran, and Dr. Saber Sadeghi (head of the entomology lab.) Shiraz University, Dr. Mohammad Mehrabadi (head of the department) and Dr. Hamidreza Khadem-Safdarkhani (Ph. D. graduate of Entomology), Department of Entomology, Tarbiat Modares University, for their generous help and for providing us with the laboratory equipment. This research was supported by the University of Tehran.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).