Endonura agnieskae sp. nov. Figs 1-13, Tables 1, 2, 3

Type material.

Holotype: adult female on slide, Iran, Mazandaran Province, Nashtarud, forest reserve, sifting, 10.VII.1973, leg. A. Senglet, sample 7318. Paratypes: 4 females, 2 males and 2 juveniles on slide, same data as holotype.

Other material.

Female on slide, Iran, Mazandaran Province, Kiasar (36°16'N, 53°25'E), 10.VII.1975, leg. A. Senglet, 7546; 9 females, 2 males and juvenile on slide, Gilan Province, Limir, large trees in marsh, sifting, 28.VI.1973, leg. A. Senglet, 7306; female on slide, Iran, Gilan Province, Paresar, tree holes, leaves, sifting, 2.VII.1973, leg. A. Senglet, 7310; female on slide, Gilan Province, road to Jirandeh, 1000 m a.s.l., forest, 9.VIII.1974, leg. A. Senglet, 7486; female on slide, Semnan Province, near Loveh (37°19'N, 55°46'E / 1300 m a.s.l.), 22.VIII.1975, leg. A. Senglet, 7574.

Etymology.

The new species is dedicated to Agnieszka, wife of the first author.

Diagnosis.

Habitus typical of the genus Endonura . Dorsal tubercles present and well developed. 2+2 large pigmented eyes. Buccal relatively short, labrum nonogival. Central area of head with complete chaetotaxy. Tubercles Cl and Af separate. Tubercles Dl and (L+So) on head with 6 and 10 chaetae, respectively. Tubercles Di on Th. I present and fused with tubercle De. Tubercles De on Th. II and III with 3 and 4 chaetae, respectively. Tubercles L on Abd. III and IV with 3-4 and 7 chaetae, respectively. Abd. IV and V with 8 and 3 tubercles, respectively. Furcal rest without mi. Claw without inner tooth. Tibiotarsi with chaetae B4 and B5 rather short.

Description.

General. Body length (without antennae): 0.8 (juvenile) to 1.7 mm (holotype: 1.5 mm). Colour of the body bluish-grey. 2+2 large black eyes, in a typical arrangement for the genus (one anterior and one posterior eye, Fig. 3).

Chaetal morphology. Dorsal ordinary chaetae of five types: long macrochaetae (Ml), short macrochaetae (Mc), very short macrochaetae (Mcc), mesochaetae and microchaetae. Long macrochaetae thick, slightly arc-like or straight, narrowly sheathed, feebly serrated, apically rounded (Figs 3, 6, 11, 12). Macrochaetae Mc and Mcc morphologically similar to long macrochaetae, but much shorter. Mesochaetae similar to ventral chaetae, thin, smooth and pointed. Microchaetae similar to mesochaetae, but clearly shorter. S-chaetae of terga thin, smooth and short, distinctly shorter than nearby macrochaetae (Figs 3, 6, 11, 13).

Antennae. Typical of the genus. Dorsal chaetotaxy of Ant. III-IV as Fig. 10 and Table 2. S-chaetae of Ant. IV of medium length and moderately thickened (Fig. 10). Apical vesicle distinct, trilobate (Figs 1 and 2). Ventral chaetotaxy of Ant. III-IV as Fig. 9 and Table 2, sensillum sgv long and slightly s-shaped.

Mouthparts. Buccal cone rather short with labral sclerifications nonogival. Labrum chaetotaxy: 4/2, 4 (Fig. 5). Labium with four basal, three distal and three lateral chaetae, papillae x absent (Fig. 4). Maxilla styliform, mandible thin and tridentate.

Dorsal chaetotaxy and tubercles. Chaetotaxy of head complete (Fig. 3). Tubercles Di on head present, on Th. I differentiated and fused with De. Th. III and Abd. I-III with chaetae De3 free (Figs 6 and 11). On Abd. I-III, the line of chaetae De1-chaeta s parallel to the dorsomedian line (Fig. 11). On Abd. IV chaetae Di1 short. Cryptopygy absent, Abd. VI well visible from above. Chaeta Di2 on Abd. V as Mc, Mccormi.

Ventral chaetotaxy. On head, groups Vea, Vem and Vep with 3, 3-4, 4 chaetae, respectively. Group Vi on head with 6 chaetae (Fig. 4). On Abd. IV, furca rudimentary without microchaetae. On Abd. IV, tubercle L without free chaeta.

Legs. Chaetotaxy of legs as in Table 3. Claw without internal tooth (Fig. 8). On tibiotarsi, chaeta M present and chaetae B4 and B5 rather short and pointed (Fig. 7).

Remarks.

Due to the general appearance, dorsal and ventral chaetotaxy, E. agnieskae sp. nov. strongly resembles E. reticulata (Axelson, 1905), Holarctic and circumboreal species occurring in tundra, boreal and temperate biotopes of northern Europe (Scandinavian Peninsula), north-eastern Asia and North America (Smolis et al. 2011). Nevertheless, these species can be easily distinguished from each other by the set of characters: size of the eyes (expressed by the ratio of anterior eye diameter and diameter of base of chaeta Ocm, in agnieskae 2:1, in reticulata 1:1 or 5:4), the number of lateral labial chaetae (in agnieskae three, in reticulata four), the length of chaetae Ocp and A on the head (in agnieskae, equal in length, in reticulata chaeta Ocp, longer than chaeta A), the presence of tubercle Di on Th. I (in agnieskae, present and fused with De, in reticulata, absent), the location of chaeta De2 on Abd. I-III (in agnieskae, connected with tubercle De, in reticulata, free), the location of chaeta s on Abd. I-III (in agnieskae, the line of chaetae De1-chaeta s parallel to the dorsomedian line, in reticulata, not parallel) and the length of chaeta Di1 on Abd. IV (in agnieskae, distinctly shorter than chaeta Di1 on Abd. III, in reticulata, longer or equal to chaeta Di1 on Abd. III).