Prozercon elifae, Karaca, 2025

Prozercon elifae sp. nov.

Specimens examined. Holotype (♀): soil and litter samples under Lebanon cedar ( Cedrus libani ), 40º57'N, 27º3'E, 88 m a.s.l., vicinity of Kırıkali village , Malkara county (Tekirdağ province), 23.03.2014 GoogleMaps . Paratype: (♀) same data as holotype GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis. On podonotum, only seta j5 smooth, other podonotal setae plumose with various lenghts. On opisthonotum, all setae plumose with various lenghts. Setae Z2, Z5, S2 and S4 unilateral plumose. Seta S3 absent. Setae Z5 and JV5 situated as parallel to posterior margin of opisthonotum. Gland pore gdS2 located on the line connecting setae Z2 and S4, closer to Z2, gdZ3 located on the line connecting setae J4 and Z3, closer to Z3. Dorsal cavities weakly developed. Podonotum covered by reticulate pattern, opisthonotum with alveolar pits and irregular dots.

Description

Female (n=2)

( Fig. 4 View FIGURES 2–5 )

Dorsal idiosoma. Length (without gnathosoma) and width in holotype 346 and 227, respectively. Measurement of one paratype: length 344, width 210. Ornamentation of idiosomal shields were illustrated in Fig. 4 View FIGURES 2–5 . Dorsal cavities uniform, equal in size, saddle-like and weakly sclerotized. Podonotal shields with 20 pairs of setae, including six pairs in j row (j1–6), five pairs in z row (z2–6), six pairs in s row (s1–6), and three pairs in r row (r2 and r4–5). Setae r1 and r3 inserted ventrally, on peritrematal shields. Only podonotal seta j5 short, smooth and thorn-like, other podonotal setae plumose with various lenghts Setae j1, z3, s3 and s6 markedly elongate, densely plumose, brush-like and apically rounded. Remaining plumose setae (j2–4, j6, z2, z4–6, s1–2, s4–5, r2 and r4–5) partly short on podonotum. Seta j6 and z6 reaching the margin of posterior part of podonotum. Podonotal shield covered with reticulate pattern with irregular pits in the crossing points on its posterocentral surface. Opisthonotal shields with 20 pairs of setae, including five pairs in J row (J1–5), five pairs in Z row (Z1–5), four pairs in S row (S1–2 and S4–5), and six pairs in R row (R1–6). All opisthonotal setae (except marginal) located on enlarged raised bases. All opisthonotal setae plumose with various lenghts. Setae J1–5, Z1, Z3–4, S1, S5 and R1–6 similar in appearance, all of them bilateral plumose. Setae Z2, S2 and S4 unilateral plumose in contrary of other plumose setae. As a distinctive morphological character, seta Z5 and JV5 situated as parallel to posterior margin of opisthonotum. Only seta S5 which is the longest on opisthonotum, densely plumose, brush-like and apically rounded. Seta S3 absent.All marginal setae (S1 and R1–6) plumose. None of setae in J, S and R rows reaching the insertions of the following seta in the same row. Only setae Z5 and S5 reaching the beyond of opisthonotum, remaining setae in Z and S rows not reaching the margin of opisthonotum. The range between Z5–Z5 60–63 and Z5–JV5 29–31, respectively. Opisthonotal shield covered with relatively large alveolar pits in lateral parts and irregular dots in the middle parts ( Fig. 4 View FIGURES 2–5 ). Gland pore gds1 located on the line connecting setae j3 and s1, closer to s1, gdj4 located on the line connecting setae j4 and z4, closer to z4, gds4 located on the line connecting setae z5 and s5, closer to s5, gdZ1 located above the insertion of seta Z1, gdS2 located on the line connecting setae Z2 and S4, closer to Z2, gdZ3 located on the line connecting setae J4 and Z3, closer to Z3, gdS5 located on the line connecting setae S5 and JV5 ( Fig. 4 View FIGURES 2–5 ).

Ventral idiosoma ( Fig. 2 View FIGURES 2–5 ). Posterolateral tips of peritrematal shield reaching the level of setae R2–3. Chaetotaxy and ornamentation of peritrematal shield characteristical for Prozercon species. Peritrematal shield with two pairs of setae (r1 and r3), both short, smooth and needle-like. Peritreme slightly twisted anteriorly, and gland pore gv1 located closer to anterior part of peritreme. Sternal shield with three pairs of setae (st1–3). Epigynal shield with one pair of setae (st5). Setae st4 present between posterior part of sternal shield and anterior part of epigynal shield. All the above-mentioned setae (st1–5) short, smooth and needle-like or thorn-like. Gland pore gv2 absent between posterior part of epigynal shield and anterior part of ventrianal shield. Ventrianal shield with nine pairs of short, smooth and needle-like setae (JV1–5, ZV2–4, Ad), postanal longest, one pair of gland pore gv3, and one single postanal seta (Pa). Seta JV5 similar to opisthonotal setae Z 5 in terms of shape, but slightly shorter. Anterior margin of ventrianal shield with one pair of setae (JV1 present, ZV1 absent). Gland pore gv3 located closer to the insertions of adanal setae. Anterior part of ventrianal shield covered with squamous pattern, continuously extending the insertions of setae JV3 and ZV3–4.

Lengths and ranges of opisthonotal setae are given in Table 1 for the female specimens.

Male and immature stages. Not found.

Etymology. The name of the new species is dedicated to honour of my dear friend, Dr. Elif Hilal Duran, who has made a significant contribution to the Turkish Zerconidae fauna.

Remarks. Prozercon elifae is quite similar to P. banazensis Urhan et al., 2015 , and P. didimensis Keçeci et al., 2021 . These species have common morphological features as follows: except seta j5 (smooth) all podonotal and opisthonotal setae plumose, setae Z5 and JV5 unilateral plumose and situated as parallel to posterior margin of opisthonotum, seta S5 brush-like and reaching the beyond from lateral margin of opisthonotum, all marginal setae in R row situated as parallel to lateral margin of opisthonotum, gland pore gdS2 located closer to the insertions of setae Z1–2 or S2, gland pore gdZ3 located between J and Z setal rows, none of opisthonotal setae in J, Z and S rows reaching the insertions of the following setae in the same rows, dorsal cavities equal in size and parallel to transverse axis. On the other hand, the distinctive morphological features of these four species are shown in Table 2, where all species are compared in terms of shapes of some setae and locations of some gland pores on the podonotal and opisthonotal regions. Most of the podonotal and opisthonotal setae of the new species are plumose with various lengths. However, some podonotal setae (j2–6, s1, s4, z2 and z4–5) and some marginal setae in R row (R3–7) are smooth, and their shape looks needle-like or thorn-like. Comparing the other species in Table 2, important distinguishing characters for P. elifae sp. nov. are the absence of opisthonotal seta S3 and the location of gland pore gdS5. The location of gdS5 differs in P. elifae sp. nov., in contrary of the other species. It is located between setae S5 and JV5 on opisthonotum in the new species, but it is located between setae S4 and S 5 in the remaining species ( Table 2).

In the P. elifae sp. nov. which presented as a new species in this study, setae J5 and JV5 extend parallel to the posterior edge of the opisthonotum, this feature has been observed in only two different species ( P. banazensis and P. didimensis ) except for P. elifae sp. nov. Except these three species, there is no other species in the genus that have this feature. Also, P. elifae sp. nov. does not have opisthonotal seta S3 when compared to P. banazensis and P. didimensis . The absence of the seta S3 seta directly seperates P. elifae sp. nov. from the other two species and makes it a different species.