The first description of a microtrombidiid mite (Actinotrichida: Prostigmata, Microtrombidiidae) from Baltic amber, with notes on related extant genera and species.

ABSTRACT

Discovery of parasitengone mites (Acari) in the Gulf of Gdansk deposits of Baltic amber ("Blue Earth" sediment) resulted in the first description of a fossil representative of Microtrombidiidae. The new species, based on larvae, displays affinity to recent members of Montenegtrombium Saboori and Pesic, 2006, Persianthrombium Sedghi, Saboori and Hakimitabar (in Sedghi et al. 2010) and Porttrombidium Haitlinger, 2000, known from the southwestern Palaearctic. A comparison with related genera and species places the newly described taxon in Porttrombidium (as Porttrombidium gedanense sp. nov.). Montenegtrombium is regarded as a junior synonym of Porttrombidium.