A new genus of Neoliodidae (Acariformes: Oribatida) from Early Cretaceous Lebanese amber and Azarliodes andreneli n. comb.

Abstract

Neoliodidae is a family of oribatid mites including four extant genera with a worldwide distribution from temperate to tropical environments. It is considered the sister group of the rest of the Brachypilina. A new genus, Azarliodes n. gen., is proposed to include the species Neoliodes andreneli from the Early Cretaceous Lebanese amber, as Azarliodes andreneli n. comb., based on a new specimen of the same species and the re-examination of the holotype. The new genus preserves both rostral and lamellar setae. Accordingly, the loss of a pair of prodorsal setae in Neoliodes and Poroliodes, considered to be the lamellar ones, might have been a misinterpretation and the lost pair of setae could correspond in fact to the rostral ones. Furthermore, the taxon Neoliodini n. parvorder is erected to include the superfamily Neoliodoidea, considering the rest of the Brachypylina as a monophyletic group.