Kongsbergia (Kongsbergia) uttarakhandensis Pešić & Smit, 2024

Pešić, Vladimir, Smit, Harry, Sharma, Neha, Rana, Kumbhlesh Kamal, Bahuguna, Pankaj & Rayal, Rajesh, 2024, Two new Kongsbergia species from the Western Himalaya with a key to the species of the genus from India (Acari: Hydrachnidia, Aturidae), Ecologica Montenegrina 74, pp. 1-8 : 5-7

Kongsbergia (Kongsbergia) uttarakhandensis Pešić & Smit n. sp.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:34DEAB78-E53F-4EF6-847B-27391C03D010

( Fig. 3 )

Type material — Holotype male, dissected and slide mounted ( RMNH), India, Uttarakhand State, SNO-DEV-RTH-01 Devprayag , 30º08'39.30" N, 78º35'51.30" E, 2 March 2020, leg. K. Kamal Rana. Paratypes: 1/0/0, same data as the holotype, conserved in Koenike fluid ( RMNH) .

Diagnosis. Male (Female unknown) — Dorsal shield with simple setae, without colour pattern; excretory pores located on the dorsal surface, behind the medially slightly indented posterior margin of the dorsal shield; gonopore located on a small projection. IV-L-5 distoventrally projecting, anterodorsal extension truncate, triangular ventral projection in segment centre bearing the medioventral stout, sword-shaped seta, not contracted distally, and longer distoventral seta, distally ending in a fine flagellum-like tip, proxomoventral seta stout and peg-like located in the proximal half of the segment.

Description. Male — Colour yellowish brown, idiosoma egg-shaped, lateral margins weakly convex; lateral eyes with black pigment dots. Dorsal and ventral shield present; dorsal shield with simple setae and with wrinkles in lateral area, without any obvious colour pattern. Excretory pore located on dorsal surface, behind the medially slightly indented posterior margin of the dorsal shield ( Fig. 3A ). Gnathosomal bay moderately deep, suture Cx-I/II distinct, not reaching the medial line. Genital field with 25-30 pairs of acetabula, in one or two rows near posterior and lateral margins of the venter. Gonopore located on a small subrectangular projection ( Figs. 3B ). Palp stout, P-2 dorsal margin convex, ventral margin with a large, posteriorly located tubercle, and one much smaller, more anteriorly located knob-shaped tubercle, P-4 stout, maximum H at the base of the segment ( Fig. 3E ). IV-L: IV-L-2 distoventrally projecting, IV-L-4 distoventrally not projecting, with some pectinate setae at distal margin; IV-L-5 distoventrally projecting, with a triangular ventral projection in segment centre bearing a medioventral stout, sword-shaped seta with a rounded tip and with a small proximally located tubercle on the outer margin of seta and a distoventral seta which is longer, and distally ending in a fine flagellum-like tip, located nearly at the same level and partly embracing each other, proxomoventral seta short and stout, located in the proximal half of the segment; IV-L-6 stout, at its base covered by a distoventral process of the preceding segment ( Figs. 3 C-D).

Measurements (holotype, in parentheses selected measurements of paratype fixed in fluid) — Dorsal shield L 275 (277), W 207 (206); ventral shield L 294 (313), W 209 (213), gnathosomal bay L 59 (77), Cx-III W 217. Palp: palp total L 242; dL/H, dL/H ratio: P-1, 16/23, 0.68; P-2, 77/64, 1.21; P-3, 36/42, 0.85; P-4, 63/29, 2.13; P-5, 50/16, 3.2; L ratio P-2/P-4, 1.24. Chelicera total L 116, basal segment L 84, claw L 36. Legs: dL of I-L-2-6: 35, 43, 45, 61, 77; I-L-6 H 28, L/H I-L-6 ratio 2.77; dL of IV-L: 61, 64, 53, 53, 80 (110 till the end of distal projection), 91.

Female — Unknown.

Etymology — The species is named for its occurrence in the Uttarakhand State of India.

Discussion — The species from Uttarakhand most closely resembles Kongsbergia thienemanni K. Viets, 1935 , a species originally described on the basis of specimens collected from a waterfall near Rana Bedala in East Java (K. Viets 1935). Both species share unique morphological traits in the male, i.e., the excretory pores located on the dorsal surface, behind the medially slightly indented posterior margin of the dorsal shield, the gonopore located on a small projection, and the similar shape of IV-L- 5 (distally projecting, with a triangular ventral projection in the center of the segment bearing a medioventral and distoventral seta).

From the new species, K. thienemanni is distinguished by the following morphological traits of IV-L-5: (i) the shortest (medioventral) of the two setae located in triangular ventral projection is very slender and contracted distally in thienemanni , but stout and not contracted in the new species, (ii) the short proximoventral seta which is stout in the new species is much more slender in thienemann i, and (iii) the anterodorsal extension is pointed in thienemanni and truncated in the new species.

Distribution — Known only from the locus typicus in Uttarakhand State.

Figures

Figure 3. Kongsbergia uttarakhandensis Pešić & Smit n. sp., male holotype, Uttarakhand, Devprayag: A – dorsal shield; B –ventral shield; C – IV-L-4-6; D – IV-L-2-6; E – palp. Scale bars = 100 μm.