Morphological ontogeny, distribution and ecology of Damaeus torquisetosus and Epidamaeus puritanicus (Acari: Oribatidae: Damaeidae)

The morphological ontogeny, distribution and ecology of Damaeus torquisetosus (Mihelčič, 1955) and Epidamaeus puritanicus (Banks, 1906) were investigated. In the juveniles of D. torquisetosus the legs are longer than the main body, especially leg IV, the prodorsal setae are of medium size, except for short seta in in nymphs, the dorsal setae on gastronotum are long or very long, except for distinctly shorter setae c₃ and h₂ in larva, seta h₃ absent in larva, most gastronotal setae are curved, finely barbed, with flagellate distal part and inserted on apophyses, the cornicle is straight and situated between setal pair lm and epimeral setae are of different lengths. Juveniles of D. torquisetosus differ from the known juveniles of other Damaeus species in the following: absence of seta h₃ in the larva, but present in other Dameus species, seta c₃ in nymphs is of medium size whereas in most other species it is short. In the juveniles of E. puritanicus legs I, III and IV are as long or slightly longer than the main body, the prodorsal setae are of medium size, curved and barbed, most gastronotal setae are long, except for shorter setae c₃, la, lm, h₂ and h₃ in larva, most dorsal gastronotal setae are curved, finely barbed, distally flagellate, and inserted on apophyses, the cornicle of nymphs is straight and located between setal pair lp and epimeral setae are of similar length. The juveniles of E. puritanicus differ from the known juveniles of other Epidamaeus species in the following: seta h₃ present in the larva which is similar to other Epidamaeus species except in E. verrucatus, seta h₂ in larva is long, whereas in other species it is short, seta c₃ in nymphs of medium size whereas in most other species it is short. Damaeus torquisetosus is known from Iberian Peninsula, whereas E. puritanicus has a holarctic distribution, but both species prefer forest litter.