Macrochelid Mites are large, soil dwelling Mites in the Order Parasitiformes, which are usually predatory rather than parasitic in nature, feeding on Insects or other Mites, though some species are found in association with Beetles or Flies.
In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 19 June 2018, Jenő Kontschán of the Plant Protection Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences describes a new species of Macrochelid Mite from Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County in eastern Hungary.
The new species is placed in the genus Macrocheles and given the specific name kekensis, meaning 'from Kék' the village where the specimens from which the species is described were discovered. The species is described from three female specimens, collected from a Scarab Beetle, Hoplia hungarica. These range from 440 μm to 460 μm in length and from 280 μm to 310 μm in width, and are oblong in shape with a reticulate pattern (pattern resembling a network) on their carapaces and a covering of fine hairs.
Macrocheles kekensis, female. (1) Dorsal view of body. (2) Ventral view of body (without legs and gnathosoma, only the coxae illustrated). Kontschán (2018).
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