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Two new species of hymenolepidid cestodes belonging to the genus Armadolepis Spassky, 1954 are described from dormice (Gliridae) from the southern East European Plain and the northwestern Caucasus, Russia. Armadolepis ( Bremserilepis) longisoma n. sp., with a rudimentary, unarmed rostellar apparatus is described from the fat dormouse Glis glis (Linnaeus) from the Republic of Adygeya, Russia. Additionally, A. ( Armadolepis) dryomi n. sp., characterised by a well-developed rostellar apparatus and armed rhynchus is described from the forest dormouse Dryomys nitedula Pallas from Rostov Oblast', Russia. Armadolepis ( Bremserilepis) longisoma n. sp. differs from A. ( Bremserilepis) myoxi (Rudolphi, 1819) in having a substantially longer strobila and cirrus-sac, wider scolex and ovary and larger rostellar pouch and testes. Armadolepis ( Armadolepis) dryomi n. sp. is distinguishable from A. ( Armadolepis) spasskii Tenora & Baruš, 1958, A. ( Armadolepis) jeanbaeri Makarikov, 2017 and A. ( Armadolepis) tenorai Makarikov, 2017 in having a substantially longer and wider strobila, and larger rostellar pouch and cirrus-sac. Furthermore, A. dryomi n. sp. can be distinguished from its congeners by the number and size of rostellar hooks and the arrangement of the testes. Phylogenetic affinities of Armadolepis were studied for the first time using partial sequences of the nuclear ribosomal 28S DNA gene. Phylogenetic analysis strongly supported the status of Armadolepis as a separate genus belonging to the ' Rodentolepis clade'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The taxonomic position of the hymenolepidid cestode genera Paraoligorchis Wason et Johnson, 1977 and Sudarikovina Spassky, 1951 from gerbils and ground squirrels from Africa, Southwest Asia and South Asia is clarified based on re-examination of type and voucher materials. The generic diagnosis of Sudarikovina is amended. The main corrections for diagnostic characters at the generic level include: irregularly-spaced transverse anastomoses of ventral osmoregulatory canals; presence of both specimens with dextral genital pores and specimens with sinistral genital pores; vagina clearly covered externally by a dense layer of intensely-stained cells; young uterus reticulate and fully-developed uterus with a labyrinthine structure. The previously proposed generic character of a minimum number of testes per proglottis of species of Sudarikovina is reduced to 3. The genus Paraoligorchis is recognized as a junior synonym of Sudarikovina. For the type species of Paraoligorchis, P. taterae Wason et Johnson, 1977, the replacement name Sudarikovina wasojohni nom. nov. is proposed, thus resolving the secondary homonymy of the transferred species and its senior homonym S. taterae Hunkeler, 1972. The validity of the tribe Sudarikovinini sensu Spassky (1991), to which Paraoligorchis and Sudarikovina had been attributed, cannot be resolved due the lack of molecular data. The cestode specimens from Shaw's jird, Meriones (Pallasiomys) shawi (Duvernoy) from Algeria and Tunisia, initially designated as Hymenolepis sp. by Joyeux (1923) and Hymenolepis procera Janicki, 1904 by Joyeux & Foley (1930), represent undescribed species of Sudarikovina, which are described in this study as Sudarikovina pentatesticulata sp. n. and S. tetratesticulata sp. n., respectively. The main diagnostic characters of the two new species, which distinguish them from their congeners, are the number and the size of the testes., Competing Interests: Declarations Conflict of interest The author declares that he has no conflict of interest. Ethical approval This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)