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: AGS3235) .

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.