Guntheria Womersley, 1939 and two related genera of chigger mites (Acariformes: Trombiculidae) in Africa, with a description of one new species

Stekolnikov A.A.

International Journal of Acarology, 50 (2): 109-114 (2024).

S U M M A R Y

A new species Guntheria chawiensis sp. n. was described from an alcohol-fixed specimen of shrew originating from Kenya and deposited in the collection of Musée royal de l’Afrique centrale (Tervuren, Belgium). This species represents the first record of the genus Guntheria Womersley, 1939, which occurs almost exclusively in Australia and New Guinea, on the African continent. Other African species previously associated with the genus name Guntheria are reviewed, namely, Guntherana hexasternalaea Vercammen-Grandjean, 1960 and Euschoengastia laurenti Jadin and Vercammen-Grandjean, 1954. The former species was placed in a monotypic genus Hexasternalaea Vercammen-Grandjean, 1960, stat. n. and the latter species was recognized as a member of previously monotypic genus Makwacarus Stekolnikov, 2018. Thus, two new combinations were established – Hexasternalaea hexasternalaea comb. n. and Makwacarus laurenti comb. n.