Short Communication |
Corresponding author: Mariam Gogshelidze ( mariam.gogshelidze.1@iliauni.edu.ge ) Academic editor: Levan Mumladze
© 2024 Mariam Gogshelidze, János Novák.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Gogshelidze M, Novák J (2024) First record of the family Atemnidae (Pseudoscorpiones) from Armenia. Caucasiana 3: 257-262. https://doi.org/10.3897/caucasiana.3.e137446
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Diplotemnus balcanicus (Redikorzev, 1928) is reported from Armenia for the first time. This is also the first record of the family Atemnidae for Armenia. The finding is based on one male specimen found in the Ararat region, Angel’s Canyon, near Vedi. The description of the main morphological and morphometrical characteristics of the collected specimen is provided.
Ararat region, Caucasus, Diplotemnus, new record, Pseudoscorpion
Comprehensive works on the pseudoscorpion fauna of Armenia, together with Azerbaijan and Georgia, were published by
The scarcity of research and the number of recorded taxa indicate that the pseudoscorpion fauna of this country is still very poorly studied. In this paper, we report Diplotemnus balcanicus (Redikorzev, 1928) as a new record for the Armenian pseudoscorpion fauna, which is also the first reported data of the family Atemnidae in the country. A single male specimen of D. balcanicus was collected at Mount Ararat. This species is widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North Africa and also occurs in neighboring countries (Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Iran (
The male specimen of Diplotemnus balcanicus was collected in the frame of the Caucasus Barcode of Life (CaBOL - https://ggbc.eu/) project by Dr. Jonas Astrin on 14.V.2022 in Armenia (Fig.
The specimen underwent clearing in lactic acid and was examined as a temporary slide using stereo and light compound microscopes (Accu-Scope-Exc-350). Following the lactic acid treatment, the specimen was rinsed in distilled water and then preserved in 70% ethanol. The measurements and photos were acquired through Capta Vision software.
Species identification was based on key references, including
Armenia • 1♂ (ZFMK-TIS-97516); Ararat valley, Angel’s Canyon, near the town Vedi; 39°56'52.8"N, 44°44'27.6"E; 1025 m a.s.l.; sifted leaf litter; 14-May.2022; leg: Astrin J.
Carapace and tergites yellowish-brown, pedipalps dark reddish-brown. Setae on body and palps apically dentate.
Carapace (Fig.
Chelicera. 2.02x longer than broad, with five setae on hand; one seta on the movable finger; serrula exterior with 18 blades; galea not visible (broken); curved teeth at the base of galea present; fixed finger with three small teeth at the marginal end.
Coxae. Pedipalpal coxae with 8 setae; setation of pedal coxae: coxa I :8, coxa II: 8, coxa III: 7(9) and coxa IV 12 setae.
Pedipalp (Fig.
Abdomen. Chaetotaxy of tergites I-XI: 6:6:4:5:6:5:5:5:5:5:4. On the anal cone two short setae visible. Lyrifissures on half of the tergites III-XI: 2:2:2:2:2:2:2:2:4; sternal chaetotaxy: III-XI: 6:8:(?):6:6:6:7:6:5; sternal lyrifissures (on half-tergites): III-XI: 2:2:2:2:2:2:2:4:2.
Legs. Leg I: trochanter 1.25 x, femur 1.71x, patella 2.78x, tibia 3.46x, tarsus 5.08x times longer than broad; leg IV (Fig.
Dimensions (in mm). Body – 3.27; Carapace – 1.09/0.80 (1.37x); Chelicera – 0.24/0.11 (2.20x); Cheliceral movable finger 0.22; Pedipalp: Femur – 0.89/0.30 (2.91x); Patella – 0.80/0.39 (2.06x); Chela – 1.34/0.52 (2.55x); Hand with pedicel – 1.37; Chelal movable finger – 0.44; Leg I: trochanter – 0.17/0.14 (1.25x); femur – 0.25/0.15 (1.71x); patella – 0.47/0.17 (2.78x); tibia – 0.39/0.11 (3.46x); tarsus – 0.39/0.07 (5.08x). Leg IV: trochanter – 0.29/0.17 (1.67x); femur + patella – 0.87/0.28 (3.13x); tibia – 0.75/0.18 (4.11x); tarsus – 0.45/0.11 (3.97x).
Besides Diplotemnus balcanicus, two other species of the family Atemnidae are known in the neighboring countries: Atemnus politus (Simon, 1878) from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Turkey, and A. syriacus (Beier, 1955) from Turkey (
Diplotemnus balcanicus can be distinguished from the other two Diplotemnus species of Europe and Asia by the following characters: the number of preocular seta (D. pieperi Helversen, 1965 has three preocular seta, whereas D. balcanicus only has one), and the smaller body size (D. egregius Beier, 1959 pedipalpal femur 1.45–1.65 mm and pedipalpal patella 1.45–1.55 mm in length, whereas in the newly found D. balcanicus specimen these measurements range from 0.99–1.25 and 1.08–1.21 mm) (Beier, 1959; Helversen, 1965; Novák and Harvey, 2015;
The Armenian specimen is smaller than the Slovakian specimen rediscovered in 2019 (body length: Armenian specimen – 3.27 mm, Slovakian specimen – 3.75 mm; palpal femur: Armenian specimen – 0.89 mm, Slovakian specimen – 1.25 mm; leg IV femur + patella: Armenian specimen – 0.87 mm, Slovakian specimen – 1.20 mm) (
Considering the above-mentioned distinctive characters between the studied specimen and other atemnid taxa, coupled with great interspecific variation and the huge geographical area of D. balcanicus, the newly recorded specimen in Armenia can be attributed to D. balcanicus, adding further information on the dimensional variation of the species.
The pseudoscorpion family Atemnidae Kishinda, 1929, currently comprises 21 genera and 190 species worldwide (
Diplotemnus is a very widespread genus and has been found in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Currently, there are nine species of Diplotemnus known to science, and only D. balcanicus is distributed in the Caucasus region (except Georgia). The taxonomic status of D. balcanicus was recently clarified by
We are grateful to the Caucasian Barcode of Life project for collecting and delivering the pseudoscorpion material. We would like to thank the collector, Dr. Jonas Astrin, for providing information about the collecting methods and habitat pictures. Special thanks belong to Dr. Shalva Barjadze for providing us with the laboratory and all the necessary equipment. Also, we are grateful to Armen Seropian for the specimen photos. We are grateful to Dr. Jana Christophoryová for her valuable comments and suggestions on upgrading the manuscript during the review process.
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
No ethical statement was reported.
Visegrad Fund (scholarship ID: 52310276); German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the grant number 01DK20014A.
All authors have contributed equally.
János Novák https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3023-19720
All of the data that support the findings of this study are available in the main text or Supplementary Information.