Rilaena kopala Chitadze and Dzuliashvili, 2025

Chitadze, Beka, Dzuliashvili, Kristina & Seropian, Armen, 2025, New data on harvestmen (Opiliones) of Georgia with the description of a new Rilaena species, Zootaxa 5725 (4), pp. 591-599 : 595-596

Rilaena kopala Chitadze and Dzuliashvili sp. nov.

zoobank.org:act: 0ACC260D-27A3-4A4F-B2BA-F6A04AE9D0ED

Figs 3–6

Holotype. 1 ♂ (CaBOL ID 1038667): Georgia: Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Abudelauri Lake vicinity; N42.5481°, E44.8803°; 2240 m a.s.l.; leg. K. Dzuliashvili; hand collecting; subalpine meadow; 9 Oct. 2024 . Paratypes. 6 ♂ (CaBOL-ID 1038668, 1038669, 1038670, 1038671, 1038672, and 1038673): same data as holotype .

Barcoding: We submit the first five identical sequences of R. kopala sp. nov. to the BOLD Systems, obtained from the specimens CaBOL IDs 1038667, 1038668, 1038669, 1038670, and 1038671 (BGE-IDs 00665_H04, 00665_H05, 00665_H06, 00665_H07, and 00665_H08) ( BOLD: AGS 3235).

Diagnosis. Males of Rilaena kopala sp. nov. are most similar in general body and penis shapes to those of R. kasatkini Snegovaya, Cokendolpher & Mozaffarian, 2018 and R. kaschkataschica from Iran and Russia, respectively. From R. kasatkini they differ in lack of longitudinal ridge on eye tubercle ( Fig. 1 ) ( vs. present; Snegovaya et al. 2018: fig. 2), cephalothorax posteriorly with spines ( Figs 1–2 ) ( vs. posteriorly with denticles; Snegovaya et al. 2018: fig. 2), palpal Fe with ventral spines as prominent as dorsals ( Fig. 6 ) ( vs. dorsal denticles larger than ventrals; Snegovaya et al. 2018: fig. 2), BLI 2.18 ( vs. 0.75), and dorsally convex glans with left-looking stylus ( Figs 3–4 ) ( vs. banana-form; Snegovaya et al. 2018: fig. 2). From R. kaschkataschica they differ in having more prominent denticles on legs ( vs. less prominent; Snegovaya et al. 2025: fig. 2), cephalothorax posteriorly with spines ( Figs 1–2 ) ( vs. less prominent; Snegovaya et al. 2025: fig. 2A), BLI 2.18 ( vs. 1.04), palpal Fe with ventral spines as prominent as dorsals ( Fig. 6 ) ( vs. less abundant and spine-shaped; Snegovaya et al. 2025: figs 2D–E), prominent denticles on basal and distal segments of chelicera ( Fig. 5 ) ( vs. less prominent; Snegovaya et al. 2025: figs 2F–G), and dorsally convex glans with left-looking stylus ( Figs 3–4 ) ( vs. triangular-shaped glans and straightforward stylus; Snegovaya et al. 2025: figs 2H–K).

Description. Male ( Holotype). Total length 4.34 mm long, 3.04 mm wide. Eye tubercule 0.62 mm long, 0.83 mm wide, with 12-15 pointy denticles. Body dark-brown, with small light spots. Chelicerae simply shaped, with numerous spine-like denticles ( Fig. 5 ). Cheliceral basal segment 1.31 mm long, distal segment 2.19 mm long. Penis medium size, 2.54 mm long; base wide, tapering towards neck, slightly expanded towards glans; glans 0.31 mm long, stylus 0.16 mm long. Measurements of leg and pedipalp segments as in Table 1.

Variation (n= 7♂): Body 5.41–3.93 long, 3.88–2.73 wide. Penis 3.25–2.43 long, glans 0.32–0.27, stylus 0.18– 0.17. Eye tubercle with 9–16 spines.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. The new species is named after Kopala, a Khevsuretian mythological hero, honoring the cultural heritage of the region where the species was discovered.

Distribution. Known from the type locality only.

Figures

FIGURES 3–6. Rilaena kopala sp. nov., male (3—penis, lateral view; 4—ditto, dorsal view; 5—chelicerae, retrolateral view; 6—pedipalp, retrolateral view). Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 1–2. Rilaena kopala sp. nov., male (1—general habitus, dorsal view; 2—ditto, lateral view). Scale bars: 1 mm.