The first Caeculus (Acari: Caeculidae) from Baltic amber (Upper Eocene)

ANDRÉS OSVALDO PORTA

General Roca

Congreso; 11 Congreso de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina; 2016

Asociación Parasitologica Argentina

At the moment only three species of caeculid mites, all belonging to the genus Procaeculus Jacot, 1936, has been reported from amber: P. eridasonae Coineau and Magowski, 1994, from Baltic amber, P. dominicensis Coineau and Poinar, 2001, from Dominican amber (upper Eocene) and Procaeculus sp. from Chiapas amber (early Miocene) from mines in Simojovel, Mexico. In this contribution we describe a new species of caeculid mite, the first from Baltic amber (upper Eocene) belonging to the genus Caeculus Dufour, 1832, proceeding from the lithuanian coast of the Baltic sea. The new mite differs from other representatives of the genus by the setation of the legs and the aspidosomal and hysterosomal plates and by the presence of entire femurs in all legs. The latter condition is plesiomorphic for the family and has not been previously recorded for other species of the genus. All the samples are deposited in the MACN