Rediscovery and redescription of the type species of Myrmozercon, Myrmozercon brevipes Berlese, 1902 (Acari: Mesostigmata: Laelapidae)

The type species of Myrmozercon (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae), M. brevipes Berlese, 1902, previously known only from its type collection from Tapinoma erraticum Latreille (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), is rediscovered after more than 100 years. The species is redescribed from specimens collected from two nests of T. erraticum in western Greece, providing new insights into this unusual species, which represents the most highly modified member of its genus. This species is unique in Myrmozercon in having its first pair of legs much shorter than legs II-IV, highly specialised chelicerae that probably lack a fixed cheliceral digit and have a flange-like moveable digit, and the deutosternal rows each with a single denticle.