Feltria (Feltria) kyrgyzica, Pešić & Smit, 2025

Pešić, Vladimir & Smit, Harry, 2025, Two new species of the genus Feltria Koenike, 1892, with notes on the water mite fauna of Kyrgyzstan (Acari, Hydrachnidia), Zootaxa 5604 (1), pp. 29-40 : 30-33

Feltria (Feltria) kyrgyzica sp. nov.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:18EA15D1-EA00-49B3-9D2F-F57A98709797

Figs. 1–2

Type material — Holotype ♂, dissected and slide mounted ( RMNH), Kyrgyzstan, Karakol region, upper part of stream next to the road to May Saz pass ( Fig. 5A ), 42º25.029’ N, 79º02.658’ E, 3346 m asl., 12.viii.2013, leg. Pešić & Smit. Paratypes: 1/8/0 same data as the holotype, 1♀ dissected and slide mounted ( RMNH); 1/1/0, stream next to the road to May Saz pass, 42º25.002’ N, 78º58.097’ E, 2955 m asl., 12.viii.2013, leg. Pešić & Smit.

Other material — Kyrgyzstan: upper part of stream crossing the road to Son-Kul Lake , 41º 54.819’ N, 75º25.697’ E, 3412 m asl., 17.viii.2013, leg. Pešić & Smit, 1♂, dissected and slide mounted ( RMNH) .

Diagnosis —Both sexes: Setae associated with Dgl-1 fine, Dgl-2 accompanied by strongly thickened setae. Coxal plates in four groups. Genital field with 70 to 90 pairs of Ac. Male: Dorsum with large anterior shield and a pair of transverse posterior plates. Genital plate transverse. Palp robust and stout. III-L-6 with a long and pointed ventrolateral projection in the distal third. Female: Dorsum with rhomboid shield surrounded by four rounded platelets. Excretory pore in posterodorsal position. Palp slenderer than in male.

Description — Male (holotype, juvenile specimen; in parentheses some measurements of a mature specimen from the upper part of the stream next to the road to Son-Kul Lake): Idiosoma 450 in length (paratype from stream next to the road to May Saz pass 391 in length and 288 in width). Dorsum with a large dorsal shield, 347 in length and 252 in width, generally including Dl-1-3 and Dgl-1-3 ( Fig. 1C ), but occasionally (in holotype, Fig. 1A ) Dgl-1 on a separate paired plate; Dgl-4+Dl-4 on a pair of large, transverse platelets. Frontal area with pre-antenniform glandularia, pre-ocular setae and Lgl-1 fused to each other. Coxal plates in four groups, close to each other, occupying more than half of the idiosoma surface ( Fig. 1B ); anterior coxae with well-developed posterior apodemes; Cx-IV posterior margin perpendicularly to longitudinal axis.

Genital plate transverse, its anterior margin a straight line, separated from Cx-IV by a narrow strip of membrane bearing the Vgl and a pair of triangular lateral platelets; 118 (128) in length and 272 (300) in width, with 72–80 pairs acetabula; gonopore short, slit-shaped, in the center ( Figs. 1B, D ); excretory pore on a broad platelet, laying in the posterior indentation of the genital plate margin ( Fig. 1B ), in a mature specimen this platelet fused to genital field ( Fig. 1D ), directed posteroventrally.

Palp robust and stout, P-2 ventral margin convex, P-4 with a weakly-developed ventral groove flanked by two setae ( Fig. 1E , 2A ); dorsal length/height of palpal segments: P-1, 23/- (23/31); P-2, 72/67 (74/65); P-3, 39/45 (42/47); P-4, 90/38 (89/41); P-5, 53/24 (51/25); length P-2/P-4 ratio 0.8 (0.83). Gnathosoma ventral length 64 (91 with apodemes); chelicera length 116.

III-L-6 with a long and pointed ventrolateral projection in the distal third, bearing 4–5 long setae ( Fig. 1F ); dorsal lengths of III-L-2-6: 52 (52), 64 (66), 92 (91), 106 (100), 114 (121); dorsal lengths of IV-L-1-6: 84, 52 (56), 72 (82), 102 (116), 118 (123), 109 (131).

Female (from upper part of stream next to the road to May Saz pass; in parentheses some measurements of conserved specimens): Idiosoma length 490 (497–512, n=3) in length and (359–400, n=3) in width, length/width ratio 1.28–1.38 (n=3); dorsal shield, including Dgl- 2, 338 in length and 256 in width; Dgl-1 on platelets anterolateral to dorsal shield. Dl-2 elongated, Dl-3 and Dgl-3 separate from each other, Dgl-4+Dl-4 on a pair of large, transverse platelets ( Fig. 2B ); excretory pore platelet broad, directed posteroventrally. Coxal field 302 in length, Cx-III 316 in width. Genital plates subtriangular, 122–125 in length and 156 in width, with about 90 pairs of acetabula.

Chaetotaxy of palp as given in Fig. 2D ; dorsal length/height of palpal segments: P-1, 23/28; P-2, 64/58; P-3, 39/39; P-4, 88/38; P-5, 55/20; length P-2/P-4 ratio 0.73. Gnathosoma ventral length 103; chelicera 122 in length. III-L-6 without ventrolateral projection. Dorsal lengths of I-L-2-6: 46, 52, 67, 80, 90; I-L-6 height 32, I-L-6 dorsal length/height ratio 2.8; dorsal lengths of IV-L-1-6: 86, 50, 78, 116, 125, 131.

Etymology —The new species is named after the country where it was collected. The name kyrgyzica is an adjective, gender feminine.

Discussion — Feltria kyrgyzica sp. nov. belongs to F. minuta -complex, a group rather dishomogenous in male morphology (primarily defined by genital plate with straight anterior margin and gonopore in a central position) but in females well defined by the combination of postantenniformia included into, but Dgl-1 and Dl-2 and Dl-3 separate from, dorsal shield. The new species from Kyrgyzstan is most similar to Feltria indica Pešić & Panesar, 2008 , known from the Indian Himalayas ( Pešić & Panesar 2008). The male of both species with III-L-6 bearing a long and pointed ventrolateral projection in the distal third and with a similar pattern of dorsal sclerites in both sexes. The latter species can clearly be separated by having thickened setae associated with glandularia Dgl-1 (fine in K. kyrgyzica sp. nov.) in both sexes (see Figs. 1 and 7 in Pešić & Panesar 2008).

Distribution — Kyrgyzstan; known from streams in the Tien Shan Mountains at an elevation of about 3000– 3400 meters.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Feltria kyrgyzica sp. nov., ♂ (A–B, E–F holotype, upper part of stream next to the road to May Saz pass; C–D, specimen from upper part of stream crossing the road to Son-Kul Lake): A—Dorsum; A—Venter; C—Frontal area of dorsum; D—Genital field; E—Palp (segments 2–5); F—I-L-5 and -6. Scale bars = 100 µm.

FIGURE 2. Feltria kyrgyzica sp. nov. (A, ♂ from upper part of stream crossing the road to Son-Kul Lake; B—F, ♀ paratype, upper part of stream next to the road to May Saz pass): A, D—palp; B—Dorsum and excretory pore platelet; C—Venter (right genital plate lacking). Scale bars = 100 µm.

FIGURE 5. Photographs of sampling sites: A—Stream next to the road to May Saz pass, 2955 m asl., 12.viii.2013 (locus typicus of Feltria kyrgyzicus sp. nov.). B—River next to the road to Son-Kul Lake, 2426 m asl., 15.viii.2013 (locus typicus of Feltria tienshanensis sp. nov.). Photos by V. Pešić.