Aphis (Bursaphis) kazdagensis Kök & Barjadze sp. nov.

(Figs 2–8, Table 2)

Type material. Holotype. Apterous viviparous female, TÜRKIYE, Çanakkale Province, Susuztepe region, Ida Mountains (Fig. 1), 39°43’43.0”N 26°51’37.4”E, 1392 m alt., 18.vii.2023, Papaver pilosum subsp. strictum (Papaveraceae), leg. Ş. Kök, slide code: K-23-92-1, the specimen number 2 on the bottom right part of the slide with 5 paratypes, COMU.

Paratypes. (n=8) Five apterous viviparous females on the same slide with holotype, the specimens numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, COMU; three apterous viviparous females on one slide, the same locality, host plant, sampling date and collector as in holotype, slide code: K-23-92-2, the specimen numbers 7, 8, 9, IZISU.

Description. Apterous viviparous female (n=9)

Colour in life:Apterae are yellowish green to dull green, while nymphs are mostly yellowish green. Pigmentation on slide: ANT I–IV pale, apical half of ANT V and all of ANT VI dusky to dark brown; head, clypeus, coxa and tarsi dusky; URS pale to dusky; femur and tibia pale with dusky apices; dorsum of abdomen reticulated and sclerotized; ABD TERG I–VI with intersegmental muscle sclerites; ABD TERG IV and V usually with pair of brown spinopleural sclerites of different shapes - sclerites located on the same tergites or adjacent sclerites on ABD TERG IV and V sometimes merged; stigmal plates brown; SIPH, cauda, subgenital and anal plates pale or dark brown; dusky transverse bands present on ABD TERG VII and VIII (Figs 3–8).

Body oval (Fig. 6). Frons w-shaped with rounded medial frontal tubercle. ANT tubercles slightly lower than medial frontal tubercle. ANT 6-segmented (Fig. 3). ANT 0.55–0.60 × BL and 2.15–2.38 × Head W respectively. ANT tubercles slightly lower than medial frontal tubercle. ANT I–II smooth, ANT III–VI imbricated. Antennal chaetotaxy: ANT I with 2–4, ANT II with 3–5, ANT III with 3–5, ANT IV with 2–3, ANT V with 1–4, ANT VI with 2–4 basal, 4 apical and 1–2 setae along the PT. MSL on ANT III 0.37–0.58 × ANT III BD. Sec. rhin. always absent on ANT III–V. PT 2.26–2.98 × ANT VI b, 1.50–2.05 × ANT V, 1.42–2.40 × ANT IV, 0.92–1.23 × ANT III and 0.48–0.63 × Head W respectively. ANT VI b 0.36–0.46 × ANT III, ANT VI 1.32–1.57 × ANT III, ANT V 0.53–0.61 × ANT III, ANT IV 0.46–0.64 × ANT III. ANT IV 0.85–1.11 × ANT V. MSL on frons 0.57–0.81 × ANT III BD. Rostrum relatively long, reaching to hind coxae. URS with 5–6 long, fine and point accessory setae (Fig. 7). URS L 1.46–1.60 × HT II L, 2.93–3.16 × URS W, 0.67–0.88 × PT, 1.89–2.14 × ANT VI b, 0.42–0.44 × Head W respectively. Setae on abdominal dorsum short and blunt, while ventral setae on abdomen are pointed and longer than dorsal ones. Length of posterior setae on middle trochanter 0.50–0.66 × diameter of trochantro-femoral suture. Length of longest dorsal setae on middle femur 0.21–0.27 × diameter of the same segment. HFEM 0.23–0.26 × BL and 0.90–1.03 × Head W respectively. HTIB 0.40–0.46 × BL and 1.59–1.78 × Head W respectively. First tarsal chaetotaxy: 3:3:2. HT II distinctly imbricated (Fig. 5). Marginal tubercles present on ABD TERG I and VII, and also 2–8 small ones sporadically present on ABD TERG II–VI. Diameter of marginal tubercle on ABD TERG I 1.07– 1.38 × ANT III BD and 1.88–2.67 × length of marginal seta on ABD TERG I respectively. Diameter of marginal tubercle on ABD TERG VII 1.33–1.81 × ANT III BD. Prothoracic marginal tubercles bigger than triommatidia and those on ABD TERG I and VII. MSL on ABD TERG III and ABD TERG VIII 0.37–0.62 and 0.70–1.00 × ANT III BD respectively. SIPH uniformly dark, tapering, imbricated with marked flange (Figs 4, 6). SIPH L 0.16–0.18 × BL, 0.63–0.71 × Head W, 1.08–1.32 × PT, 2.91–3.36 × ANT VI b, 1.15–1.41 × ANT III, 1.52–1.70 × URS, 0.65–0.71 × HFEM, 2.26–2.50 × HT II L, and 1.61–1.86 × Cauda L respectively. Diameter in the middle of SIPH 0.19–0.23 × SIPH L. SIPH L 3.27–3.78 × SIPH basal W. Subgenital plate oval, with 4–7 setae on the discal part and 11–17 setae on the hind margin and with spinulose imbrications as anal plate. ABD TERG VIII with 2 setae. Cauda finger or tongue shaped, and carrying 3–9 curved setae and numerous strong dark spinules, Cauda L 1.40–1.58 × Cauda W, 0.09–0.11 × BL, 0.36–0.41 × Head W, 1.30–1.44 × HT II L respectively (Figs 6, 8). Metric and meristic features are presented in Table 2.

Etymology. The name of the new aphid species is dedicated to the Ida Mountains known as “Kaz Dağları” in the Turkish language, which have a rich endemic biodiversity and are located in the Çanakkale and Balıkesir provinces in northwestern Türkiye.

Biology. This new species feeds on inflorescences of Papaver pilosum subsp. strictum (Papaveraceae). This is an ant-attended species. Alate viviparous females, sexual morphs and life cycle are unknown.

Distribution. It is known only from Ida Mountains, at 1392 m. alt., Susuztepe region in Çanakkale Province, Türkiye (Fig. 9).

Differential diagnosis. Until now, the following species from the genus Aphis were reported on Papaver spp.: Aphis (Aphis) craccivora Koch, 1854, A. (A.) fabae Scopoli, 1763, A. (A.) gossypii Glover, 1877, A. (A.) nasturtii Kaltenbach, 1843 and A. (A.) solanella Theobald, 1914 (Holman 2009; Blackman & Eastop 2024). Although A. (A.) idaei van der Goot, 1912 and A. (A.) triglochinis Theobald, 1926 were reported on Papaver somniferum (Papaveraceae), they are considered as suspicious records by Blackman & Eastop (2024).

Aphis (Bursaphis) kazdagensis sp. nov. is clearly different from the above-mentioned species belonging to the subgenus Aphis due to the presence of 5 or 6 accessory setae on URS, while all aphid species from the subgenus Aphis have 2 or rarely 3 accessory setae on URS (Nieto Nafria et al. 2021). Besides, apterous viviparous females of the new species are distinguished from those of A. (A.) fabae, A. (A.) gossypi, A. (A.) idaei, A. (A.) nasturti, A. (A.) solanella, and A. (A.) triglochinis by the dark sclerotization of the abdominal dorsum: ABD TERG I–VI have intersegmental muscle sclerites and ABD TERG IV and V have usually a pair of brown spinopleural sclerites of different shapes in the new species, while the pigmentation of abdominal dorsum in front of SIPH is absent in all above-mentioned taxa except A. (A.) craccivora, which has often an extensive solid black shield from metanotum to ABD TERG VI (Stroyan 1984; Heie 1986).

Apterous viviparous females of Aphis (Bursaphis) kazdagensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from those of all other species in the subgenus Bursaphis due to its characteristic abdominal pigmentation. All species of the subgenus Bursaphis except A. (B.) argentina have a rather reduced and indistinct pigmentation on the abdominal dorsum anterior to SIPH. Apterous viviparous females of the new species are distinguished from those of A. (B.) argentina by the abdominal dark sclerotization: ABD TERG I–VI have intersegmental muscle sclerites and ABD TERG IV and V have usually a pair of brown spinopleural sclerites of different shapes in the new species (Fig. 6), while well-developed spinopleural sclerites are present on ABD TERG I–VI in A. (B.) argentina (Nieto Nafria et al. 2021). Other differences between these two species are given in the identification key.

Apterous viviparous females of the new species are distinguished from those of all remaining Bursaphis species by MSL ANT III/ANT III BD ratio: 0.37–0.58 in the new species, while 0.7–4.0 in A. (B.) argentina, A. (B.) costalis, A. (B.) epilobiaria, A. (B.) epilobii, A. (B.) fluvialis, A. (B.) grossulariae, A. (B.) holoenotherae, A. (B.) manitobensis, A. (B.) oenotherae, A. (B.) schneideri, A. (B.) solitaria, and A. (B.) varians (Remaudière 1993; Blackman & Eastop 2024). It is not known if similar differences occur between apterous viviparous females of the new species and A. (A.) popovi, since the latter was described based on fundatrices only, with long setae on ANT III, where MSL ANT III/ANT III BD ratio is 1.13–1.20 (Rakauskas 1996). Other differences between all Bursaphis species are given in the identification key.