Genus Ramsayellus Spain & Luxton, 1970

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• Ramsayellus Spain, A. & Luxton, M. 1970. Zelandobates Hopkins, 1966 and Zealandobates Hammer, 1967 (Acari): Request for a ruling on the virtual homonymy of the two names. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 27: 119–120 [replacement name].
• Zealandobates Ramsay 1966. Zealandobates grandis n. sp., page 5 in. In, Hammer, M. Investigations on the Oribatid fauna of New Zealand. Part I. Biologiske Skrifter Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 15(2): 1-108 pls I-XLV [nomen nudum].
• Zealandobates Hammer, M. 1967. Investigations on the Oribatid fauna of New Zealand. Part II. Biologiske Skrifter Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 15(4): 1-64 pls I-XL.

Introduction

Spain & Luxton (1970) proposed the name Ramsayellus as a replacement name for Zealandobates Hammer, 1967, on the grounds that it was likely to be confused with Zelandobates Hopkins, 1966. It appears that the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature never voted on this proposal. Zealandobates and Zelandobates are not homonyms, so Ramsayellus is an unnecessary replacement name. However, the name Zealandobates has not been used after Spain & Luxton (1970), the name Ramsayellus has been used a number of times, and Ramsayellus is the type genus of the family Ramsayellidae Luxton, 1985. The genus name Ramsayellus is therefore retained here in the interests of stability. Luxton (1985) and Colloff & Halliday (1998) wrongly attributed the name Ramsayellus to Balogh, 1972.

General References

Balogh, J. 1972. The Oribatid Genera of the World. Budapest : Akadémiai Kiadó 188 pp. 71 pls.

Colloff, M.J. & Halliday, R.B. 1998. Oribatid Mites: A Catalogue of the Australian Genera and Species. Melbourne : CSIRO Publications.

Hammer, M. 1967. Investigations on the Oribatid fauna of New Zealand. Part II. Biologiske Skrifter Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 15(4): 1-64 pls I-XL

Hopkins, C.L. 1966. Two new species of water-mite (Acari, Hydrachnellae) from New Zealand. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Zoology 8(9): 111–117

Lee, D.C. 1986. Taxonomy and Distribution of Sarcoptiform Mites (Cryptostigmata and Astigmata: Acari) in South Australian Soils. PhD Thesis, University of Queensland, Brisbane. 272 pp.

Luxton, M. 1985. Cryptostigmata (Arachnida: Acari) - a concise review. Fauna of New Zealand 7: 1-106

Norton, R.A. & Behan-Pelletier, V.M. 2009. Suborder Oribatida. pp. 430–564 in Krantz, G.W. & Walter, D.E. (eds). A Manual of Acarology. Lubbock, Texas : Texas Tech University Press Third edition, 807 pp.

Schatz, H., Behan-Pelletier, V.M., OConnor, B.M. & Norton, R.A. 2011. Suborder Oribatida van der Hammen, 1968. pp. 141–148 in Zhang, Z.-Q. Animal Biodiversity: An Outline of Higher-level Classification and Survey of Taxonomic Richness. Auckland : Magnolia Press.

Spain, A. & Luxton, M. 1970. Zelandobates Hopkins, 1966 and Zealandobates Hammer, 1967 (Acari): Request for a ruling on the virtual homonymy of the two names. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 27: 119–120

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