Intraspecific variation in Storchia pacifica (Summers) (Trombidiformes: Stigmaeidae), a widespread species intercepted by Australian biosecurity from seventeen countries

Abstract

Storchia pacifica (Summers, 1964) is redescribed from specimens intercepted by staff of the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry from Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, Laos, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Nigeria, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Uganda, Vanuatu, and Vietnam. Most of the specimens were intercepted on products made from woven natural fibre such as mats and baskets. The specimens show variation in the form of their dorsal setae, which are slender and tapered to strongly clavate distally. Otherwise, dorsal and leg chaetotaxy is consistent, as is the characteristic pattern of body striation of this species.