Walchia cognata Schluger and Amanguliev, 1975

Stekolnikov, Alexandr & Daniel, Milan, 2012, 3216, Zootaxa 3216, pp. 1-104 : 94-95

Walchia cognata Schluger and Amanguliev, 1975

( Fig. 66)

Walchia cognata Schluger and Amanguliev, 1975: 463 , figs. 1–4.

Walchia (Walchia) cognata, Kudryashova 1998: 316 , fig. 276.

Walchia valskayae Kudryashova, 1976a: 1100 , figs. 1–7; Kudryashova et al. 1978: 167, fig. 27.

Gahrliepia (Walchia) sp., aff. parvula, Kepka 1962: 284, figs. 12–14.

Diagnosis. SIF = 4B-N-3-2000.0000; fsp = 7.6.6; fPp = N/N/NNN; fCx = 1.1.1; fSt = 2.2; fSc: AL ≥ PL; Ip = 542–614; fD = 2H-6-8-8(9)-(6–9)-…; DS = 40–50; VS = 37–51; NDV = 80–95. Sensilla clavate, eyes 2 + 2 (1 + 1?), cheliceral blade distally with small ventrolateral tooth and one large dorsal hook. Measurements of two examined specimens from Turkey (second specimen in parentheses): AW 45(48), PW 59(59), SB 40(41), ASB 18(18), PSB 40(38), SD 58(56), P-PL 23(22), AP 34(32), AL 31(32), PL 28(30), S 33(32), H 31(33), D min 22(23), D max 29(31), V min 16(20), V max 26(24), pa 207(205), pm 189(189), pp 218(214), Ip 614(608), DS 44(42), VS 46(45), NDV 90(87), TaIII 56(54).

Type material (not examined). Holotype of Walchia cognata is deposited in ZMMU; type locality is Aydere gorge in Hasardag Reserve (38° 29' N, 56° 26' E) ( Turkmenistan: Balkan Prov.) . Holotype and paratypes of W. valskayae are deposited in ZMMU; type locality is Ajami (37° 28' 56" N, 47° 12' 54" E, 1780 m a.s.l.) in Iran (East Azerbaijan Prov.) .

Hosts. Cricetulus migratorius (Pallas) , Meriones persicus (Blanford) , Microtus socialis (Pallas) , Mus musculus L., Apodemus sylvaticus (L.), Crocidura russula (Hermann) .

Distribution. Iran, Turkmenistan. This species is here recorded from Turkey for the first time.

Material from Turkey examined. Two larvae (previously preserved in the private collection of M. Daniel, now deposited in ZISP) ex Crocidura russula , Turkey: İzmir Prov., Bergama , 150 m a.s.l., 28 July 1960, coll. O. Kepka.

Remarks. The above specimens constitute a part of material identified by Kepka (1962) as Gahrliepia (Walchia) sp., aff. parvula. He reported on the presence of one genulala I and one genuala II for these mites ( Kepka 1962, fig. 14). According to our examination, this is an obvious error: both examined specimens have 2 genualae I and have no genuala II. Other characters of the material from Bergama are identical with those given by Kudryashova (1998) for W. cognata .

In our material, posterior pair of eyes is invisible; however, Kepka (1962, figs. 12 and 13) figured two pairs of eyes that is in accordance with the redescription of W. cognata made by Kudryashova (1998). Possibly the presence of these eyes is subject to individual variation. According to the original description ( Schluger & Amanguliev 1975), posterior pair of eyes is invisible in engorged specimens.

Cheliceral blade was not described or figured in the original description of W. cognata . Kudryashova (1976 a, 1998) and Kudryashova et al. (1978) described cheliceral blade of W. cognata (= W. valskayae ) as “tricuspid”; really, the dorsal tooth in her figures probably corresponds to the large hook figured by Kepka (1962, fig. 13), but seen in its frontal projection.