Drepanura koytendagi Mehrafrooz Mayvan & Kováč, 2025

Mayvan, Mahmood Mehrafrooz, Lips, Josiane & Kováč, Ľubomír, 2025, Two new cavernicolous species of Entomobryidae (Collembola) from Turkmenistan, Central Asia, Zootaxa 5701 (4), pp. 447-464 : 454-461

Drepanura koytendagi Mehrafrooz Mayvan & Kováč sp. nov.

( Figs 6D , 9–12 , Table 2 )

Type locality. TURKMENISTAN, Lebap Province, Koytendag District, v. Gurshun Magdanly (=Svintsovyi rudnik), Promezhutochnaya Cave , Coordinates: 37°38'35.37"N, 66°24'5.76"E, 670 m a.s.l.

Type material. Holotype: female on slide [ PrDr115Tu ], dark zone, hand collecting on bat guano, 18.v.2023, leg. J. Lips . Paratype: 10 specimens on slides [ PrDr116Tu- PrDr125Tu ], ibidem, 15.v.2023, leg. J. Lips . Holotype and paratypes deposited in CoPJSU.

Additional material. TURKMENISTAN, Lebap Province, Koytendag District, v. Gurshun Magdanly (=Svintsovyi rudnik), Kaptarkhana (Kaptarhana) Cave , Coordinates: 37°49'41.16"N, 66°24'37.62"E, 620 m a.s.l, 3 specimens on slides [ KaDr126Tu- KaDr128Tu ], dark zone, hand collecting, 16.v.2023, leg. J. Lips ( CoPJSU) .

TURKMENISTAN, Lebap Province, Koytendag District, v. Gurshun Magdanly (=Svintsovyi rudnik), Gap-Gotan (Kap Kutan) Cave , Coordinates: 37°38'29.65"N, 66°24'29.01"E, 740 m a.s.l, 3 specimens on slides [ GADr129Tu- GaDr131Tu ], dark zone, hand collecting, 10.v.2023, leg. J. Lips ( CoPJSU) .

Description. Body length (excluding antennae) 4.7 mm (n=17), up to 5 mm in Holotype. Ground colour white, antennae pale blue, and eye spots dark.

Head. Eight eyes, GH smaller in size to EF ( Fig. 9B ), G smaller than H and barely visible with a light microscope. Antennae longer than head, without scales. Antennae 2.92 times the length of the head, relative length of Ant I:II: III:IV in holotype as 1:3.3:0.93:0.8; Ant IV with apical vesicle; Ant III with sensory organ formed by 2 long-ovoidal sensilla and 3 additional guards sensilla ( Fig. 9D ); Labrum with 4 ciliated prelabral setae and 3 rows of 5, 5 and 4 smooth setae; subapical labral papillae 4, each with 7 secondaries apical spinules ( Fig. 10B ). Head ventrally with smooth setae. Labium setal pattern formed by 5 smooth setae (a 1 –a 5) in anterior row; basal row with 5 ciliated setae M 1, R 1, E, L 1, L 2 ( Fig. 10C ). Labial palp as in figure 11B, with 5 main papillae (A–E) with 0, 5, 0, 4, 3 guard setae respectively; papilla E conspicuously loop-shaped, deviating from the typical linear form; all guard setae of labial papilla finely ciliated except guard seta b 2 on papilla B smooth. Right mandible with 4 teeth and left mandible with 5 teeth.

Body. Abd IV:III length ratio in holotype = 3.35. Trochanteral organ with approximately 23–26 setae ( Fig. 9E ). Tibiotarsus not sub-segmented. Claw ( Fig. 12B ) with 4 inner teeth: paired at 77–79%, first unpaired at 80–83% from basis, and the last one closer than 94%; dorsal teeth present and located at the level of lateral teeth. Empodium lanceolate, with serrated external lamella. Tenent hair is clavate, half of the length of the claw. Length of manubrium and dens in holotype as 0.71 and 0.86 mm, respectively. Manubrial plate with 6 setae and 2 pseudopores ( Fig. 11C ). Mucro falcate with mucronal spine; area not crenulated of dens about 1.8 times the length of mucro ( Fig. 12C ). Simplified Mc formula: 4-1-0-2-2/3-2/2-4/0-2-1/0-2-2-2-3.

Chaetotaxy of head. Setal pattern of dorsal head as in figure 9A. H1 area with 4 Mc (An 2, An 3a1, An 3a2, and An 3); H2 area with one Mc (A 5); H4 area with 2 Mc (S 3 and S 4i); H4’ area with 3 Mc (S 4, S 5, and S 5i); H5 area with 2 Mc ( Ps2 and Ps5).

Chaetotaxy of mesothorax. Dorsal setal pattern as in figure 10A. Area T1 with 3 Mc (m 1, m 2, and m 2i); T2 with 2 Mc (a 5 and m 5).

Chaetotaxy of abdomen. Dorsal setal pattern as in figure 11A & 12A. Abd I with 10 Mc (A 1, A 2, A 3, A 5, m 2i, m 2, m 3, m 4p, m 4, and m 5), Abd II area A1 with 2 Mc (a 2 and a 3), area A2 with 4 Mc (m 3, m 3ep, m 3e, and m 3ea); Abd III without Mc on A3, area A4 with 2 Mc (a 2 and a 3) and one Mc on A5 (m 3), ‘acc’ between pm6 and p 6, ‘ms’ interior; Abd IV without Mc on A6 area, A7 with 2 Mc (A 3 and B 3), A8 with 2 Mc (A 4 and B 4), A9 with 2 Mc (B 5 and A 5), A10 with 3 Mc (A 6, Ae7 and B 6).

Etymology. The new species of the genus Drepanura is named after the Koytendag Mountains, a mountain range in the eastern Turkmenistan, where its locus typicus – Promezhutochnaya Cave — is situated.

Affinity to subterranean habitats. Specimens of D. koytendagi sp. nov. were collected in a dark zone of the Gap-Gotan–Promezhutochnaya cave system and Kaptarkhana gypsum cave. Part of the specimens were collected on bat guano, showing its affinity to this substrate. The new species is characteristic with relatively long antennae (three times longer than head), that can be considered as indication of troglomorphy. In addition, eye G is markedly diminished compared to other eyes, thus barely visible in a light microscope, showing a tendency to eye reduction not observed in other congeners. Regarding development of body pigmentation, the pigment is absent, except antennae that are pale blue. Based on the observed character states, the new species of Drepanura could be assigned to the category of troglobionts.

Remarks. Among 30 species of the genus described to date ( Bellinger et al. 1996 –2025), D. koytendagi sp. nov. shows the closest similarity in dorsal setal pattern to D. quadrilineata Stebaeva, 1973 and D. sexmaculata ( Stach, 1963) . The new species differs from D. quadrilineata in number of Mc on H1 area: D. quadrilineata has 3 Mc, while the new species has 4. In H4 area, D. quadrilineata has 4 Mc, while the new species has 2 Mc. Furthermore, D. quadrilineata has 3 Mc in T1 area on Th II and 5 Mc in T2 area, whereas the new species has 4 Mc in T1 and 7 in T2 areas. Additionally, the manubrial plate of D. quadrilineata contains 5 ciliated setae, whereas the new species has 6 ciliated setae. Drepanura sexmaculata differs from the new species in number of macrosetae on head: 4 Mc in H4 area, whereas the D. koytendagi sp. nov. has only 2 Mc there. Moreover, it differs from the new species in number of macrosetae on Th II: 3 and 5 Mc in areas T1 and T2, respectively, while there are 4 and 7 Mc, respectively, in the new species. In addition, it possesses 5 ciliated setae on the manubrial plate, compared to 6 ciliated setae in the new species.

Figures

FIGURE 6. A, Entrance of Gap-Gotan Cave (Photo: Bernard Lips); B, Entrance of Promezhutochnaya Cave (Photo: Bernard Lips); C, Entrance of Kaptarkhana Cave (Photo: Bernard Lips); D, Drepanura koytendagi sp. nov. in Kaptarkhana Cave (Photo: Josiane Lips).

FIGURE 9. Drepanura koytendagi sp. nov. A, Head, dorsal side—setal pattern; B, eyes and interocular setal pattern; C, shape and size of macrosetae and mesosetae on head (hollow and black circles—Mc; triangles—mes); D, Ant III, distal area with sensory organ; E, leg III, trochanteral organ. Scale bars: A = 0.025 mm, B–E = 0.01 mm.

FIGURE 10. Drepanura koytendagi sp. nov. A, Th II–III, dorsal side—setal pattern; B, labrum with detail of its apical edge; C, labium—setal pattern of labial triangle. Scale bars: A = 0.05 mm, B–C = 0.01 mm.

FIGURE 11. Drepanura koytendagi sp. nov. A, Abd I–III, dorsal side—setal pattern; B, labial palp with setae A–E on papillae and accessory setae on B, D, E; C, manubrium, ventral side—apical part of manubrial plate. Scale bars: A = 0.05 mm, B–C = 0.01 mm.

FIGURE 12. Drepanura koytendagi sp. nov. A, Abd IV–VI, dorsal side of, setal pattern; B, claw and empodium; C, distal area of dens, and mucro. Scale bars: A = 0.05 mm, B–C = 0.01 mm, D = 0.025 mm.