A New Genus and Species of the Family Diplogyniidae (Acarina)

Of the seventeen genera listed by Baker and Wharton (1952) under the family Diplogyniidae, only three had been described before the publication of Trägardh\u27s paper in 1951. The first is Diplogynium Canestrini, 1888 (= Anoplocelaeno Berlese, 1910), of which the type is Diplogynium acuminatum Canestrini, 1888. A study of the description by Canestrini (1888) reveals a lack of information essential for present-day purposes of comparison and classification, especially as it pertains to shape and arrangement of ventral plates and the numbers and distribution of the hairs on these plates. His illustration of D. acuminatum suggests a characteristic placement of the third pair of sternal hairs; however, this detail is rather obscurely depicted. In this regard, Tragardh states: . . . it is, however, obvious that the description and figures, given by Canestrini, although very good for the time when they were published, are quite insufficient now for identification purposes. The second genus, Antennocelaeno Berlese, 1904, was described by Berlese as a subgenus of Celaenopsis. His description is as follows: Characteres generis Celaenopsis sed ambulacra magna unguibus nullis. Insecticoli. Typus C. Braunsi (Wasm.). Antennophorus Braunsi Wasmann, termitophilus. Wasmann (1902) described A. braunsi as a guest in colonies of the Schornsteintermite , Termes tubicola Wasm., near Bothaville in the Orange Free State. The most specific part of the description is Ihr hellbrauner Ri.ickenschild ist vollkommen kreisformig, glatt und glanzend, unbehaart, auch ohne Marginalborsten, schwach und gleichmassig gewolbt. The shape of the dorsal plate and absence of hairs are in definite contrast with the comparable characters of the specimens to be considered in this paper. The third genus is Passalacarus described by Pearse and Wharton in 1936 and redescribed by Trägardh (1951). The characters of this genus are so distinct that they merit no further comment in this paper