The genus Aturus Kramer, 1875 has a worldwide distribution but is absent in the Australasian region (Smit 2020). Worldwide 140 Aturus species are known (without synonyms and species incertae, Joel Hallan pers. comm.), two species are described from India (Aturus scutelliferus Walter, 1928; Aturus hiotosomus Cook, 1967), but no species have been reported from the Himalayan Mountains.The purpose of this paper is to describe the first Aturus species of the Himalaya Mountains. The analyzed specimen was collected in one of the tributaries of the Mangde Chhu river in central Bhutan.The following abbreviations have been used: Cx-I—first coxae; Dgl-1—dorsoglandularia 1; Lgl-1—lateroglandularia 1; P1-5—palp segments 1-5. Length of palp segments are given as dorsal length (not following the curve of the dorsal margin); length of venter is measured from the anterior tip of Cx-I till the posterior idiosoma margin. All measurements are given in μm. The holotype will be lodged in the National Biodiversity Centre (NBC), Serbithang, Thimphu, Bhutan.

doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5169.5.8
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Smit, H., & Gurung, M.M. (2022). Description of the first species of the water mite genus Aturus Kramer, 1875 from the Himalaya Mountains (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Aturidae). Zootaxa, 5169(5), 494–496. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5169.5.8