مشخصات پژوهش

The cosmopolitan plant species Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (Fabaceae), licorice, has medicinal importance and is frequently used in food, confectionery and pharmaceutical products. Until now, two eriophyoid species were found on G. glabra, Tetra glycyrrhizae Denizhan, Monfreda, Çobanoglu & de Lillo, 2007 from Turkey and Aculus lorestaniensis Lotfollahi, Hayatolgheyb & Jafari, 2017 from Iran. In order to study the eriophyoid mites associated to Fabaceae plants in Hatamvand village of Lorestan province (Iran), a preliminary sample collection on licorice was done on early July 2014. Eriophyoid mites were recovered from the samples through their direct examination under a stereomicroscope and were slide mounted according to Baker et al. (1996). All morphological measurements were taken by means of a phase contrast microscope Olympus BX53 according to Amrine and Manson (1996) as modified by de Lillo et al. (2010). A third species, Tegolophus sp. nov., was found and described. The low population of mites was vagrant on both sides of the leaves and no apparent damage was observed. Until now about 81 Tegolophus species have been described worldwide and three of them have been found in Iran, including: T. hassani (Keifer, 1959) from Olea europaea L. (Oleaceae); T. califraxini (Keifer, 1938) from Fraxinus rotundifolia Miller (Oleaceae); T. marrubiumer Xue, Sadeghi & Honarmand, 2016 on Marrubium vulgare L. (Lamiaceae). The new species is completely different from all Tegolophus species found on Fabaceae. It has few similarities with T. braziliensis Keifer, 1969 in dorsal and ventral semiannuli number and ornamentation, genital coverflap ornamentation and setae 3a length, small spines projecting forward from the underside of the frontal lobe. These two species distinctly differ from each other in prodorsal shield size and ornamentation, coxal ornamentation, number of the empodial rays and setae sc, c2, d, e and f length. This is the third eriophyoid mite and the first Tegolophus spec