Melophagus storozhenkoi Matyukhin, Yatsuk & Nartshuk, 2025

Melophagus storozhenkoi Matyukhin, Yatsuk & Nartshuk , sp. nov.

( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 )

Type material examined: Holotype, ♀ “ Tajikistan, Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region , near Lake Zorkul , collected from Marco Polo sheep ( Ovis ammon polii Blyth, 1841 ), 9 III 1997 ( S.A. Kovalyov) [Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg (inventory number INS_DIP_0001113)].”

Description. Head and thorax length combined 2.0 mm. Body light brown.

Head trapezoidal. Palpi wide, approximately equal in length to head. Parafrontals wide, triangular, with 15 setae and 1 parietal seta on each head side. Postvertex large, width twice as long. Its posterior margin rounded. Medial pit closer to posterior margin. Eyes as in M. ovinus ovinus (Linnaeus, 1758) . Ventral side of head light.

Thorax width approximately equal to its length. Longitudinal suture not visible. Prothoracic spiracle noticeably wider than the narrowest place between coxal recesses of first and second pairs of legs. Humeral tubercles not separated by noticeable suture. Setae: 40 humeral and laterocentral (counted together), 10 mesopleural, 5 postalar, 2 prescutellar. Postalar and prescutellar setae longer than laterocentral. Scutellum small, protruding. Posterior margin rounded. 4 scutellar setae. Ventral side of thorax light.

Legs, femur and tibia with strong setae. Arranged as in M. ovinus ovinus (Linnaeus, 1758) .

Abdomen covered with black strong not long setae. Tergites 1+2 with rounded lateral sclerites. Tergites 3–6 absent. Tergite 7 represented by two small sclerites. Sternite 1 mainly covered with identical setae, but at distal ends they are longer. Genital opening is shown in Fig. 1B View FIGURE 1 .

Comparison. Based on the number of preserved tergites on the abdomen, M. storozhenkoi sp. nov. is closer to M. dispnoetus , M. kamtshaticus , M. kaukasicus , M. montanus and M. ovinus . These species differ from the new one in the following features:

—from M. dispnoetus in color and thickness of abdominal setae (in M. dispnoetus they are light, thin), size of spiracles (in M. dispnoetus they are small);

—from M. kamtshaticus in number of scutellar setae (in M. kamtshaticus there are 8–12), color of head and thorax (in M. kamtshaticus they are dark brown), morphology of sternite 1 (in M. kamtshaticus it is narrow, posterior edge with an angle in the middle);

—from M. kaukasicus in length of palps (in M. kaukasicus they are two-thirds of head), color, thickness and length of abdominal setae (in M. kaukasicus they are light, thin, long), color of head and thorax (in M. kaukasicus dark they are brown);

—from M. montanus in number of scutellar setae (in M. montanus there are 6–7), morphology of scutellum (in M. montanus it is narrow and wide), length of abdominal setae (in M. montanus they are long);

—from M. ovinus in number of scutellar setae (in M. ovinus there are 8), morphology of scutellum (in M. ovinus it is narrow and wide), color and thickness of abdominal setae (in M. ovinus they are light, thin).

Hosts. Marco Polo sheep— Ovis ammon polii Blyth, 1841 ( Bovidae ).

Geographic distribution. Eastern Pamir. Presumably may include the entire distribution area of O. a. polii — the Pamir-Altai mountain system of Tajikistan and the neighboring areas of Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and China, some areas of Pakistan ( Danilkin 2005).

Etymology. The new species is named in honor of Russian entomologist Prof. Sergey Yuryevich Storozhenko (FSC Biodiversity FEB RAS, Vladivostok, Russia).