Entomobryidae, Schaffer, 1896

Antipova, M. D. & Babenko, A. B., 2022, An annotated checklist of the springtails (Hexapoda: Collembola) recorded from the foothill and mountain parts of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, North Caucasus, Russia, Russian Entomological Journal 31 (4), pp. 331-345 : 340-341

Family Entomobryidae

Entomobrya elegans Stach, 1963 . The species was described from the Karaugom Gorge (1800 m a.s.l). Subsequently, it was recorded from the Stavropol Krai (near Pyatigorsk) and Georgia [ Jordana, 2012]. There are also unconfirmed records from beech forests of Serbia [ Koledin et al., 1988; Matic et al., 1997].

* E. kuznetsovae Jordana, Potapov, Baquero, 2011 . The species was described based on collections from the Elbrus region. Based on our material from the Tsey Gorge, this is the most common representative of the genus, inhabiting a very wide range of habitats.

E. lanuginosa (Nicolet, 1842) . This species is the most frequently cited in the literature, but most of these citations are uncertain and its real distribution area is apparently restricted to Central and Northern Europe [ Jordana, 2012]. In the Caucasus, the species was recorded as ranging from Adygea [ Kremenitsa et al., 2010] to Azerbaijan [Samedov and Rassulova, 1975]. According to Kuchiev [2006], the species is “ common in the forest belt in all forest types throughout the nature reserve.” However, the species is absent from our material coming from the upper part of Tsey Gorge. We believe that the presence of this species in the territory of the nature reserve is possible, but requires confirmation. Since, on the one hand, “ it may be confused with the pale forms of E. schoetti Stach, 1922 , E. nivalis (Linnaeus, 1758) and E. nicoleti (Lubbock, 1870) ” [ Jordana, 2012]. On the other hand, the typical E. lanuginosa has been found in our material from the more western region of the North Caucasus (Kabardino-Balkaria).

E. nicoleti (Lubbock, 1870) . A predominantly European species introduced to Australia [ King et al., 1985]. There are two Caucasian records of this species: the first one from Dagestan [ Baquero et al., 2021] and the second one is devot- ed to the synonymy of E. nicoleti and E. bimaculata Stach, 1963 [ Jordana, 2012]. The original description of the latter was based on rather large material from the northern Caucasus (from the Karaugom Gorge to the Elbrus region). It seems noteworthy that the colouration of E. bimaculata is almost identical to that of E. kuznetsovae , but the chaetotaxy of E. bimaculata from Karaugom turned out to be similar to that of E. nicoleti [see Jordana, 2012]. The species E. nicoleti has not been found by us in the Tsey Gorge, although it occurs in similar landscapes of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic (our unpublished data).

* E. nivalis (Linnaeus, 1758) . One of the most widespread species of the genus, which was recorded almost all over the world, but most of the “old” records outside the northern Holarctic need to be confirmed [ Jordana, 2012]. In the Caucasus region, the species has previously been known from Georgia [ Stach, 1963] and the environs of Sochi [ Scherbina, 2020]. Based on our material, this species is common, but not abundant, in the young mixed and pine forests of the Tsey Gorge.

E. cf. multisetis Baquero, Potapov et Jordana, 2021 . A recently described Caucasian species known from the republics of Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan. The taxonomic status of the form we encountered in many areas of the Tsey foreland requires further exploration. Its polychaetosis, colouration and habitus bring the form closer to the original description of E. multisetis , but a careful analysis of the available samples is necessary for a more accurate identification.

E. wojtusiaki ( Stach, 1963) . The species was originally described from the republic of North Ossetia (Karaugom Gorge). Its type material was lost, and the chaetotaxy of omitted from the original description [ Jordana, 2012]. In the forest belt of the Tsey Gorge , we have found a form with a colour same to that given in the description, but its conspecificity with the true E. wojtusiaki requires comparison with topotypes .

Several other published records of members of the genus Entomobrya from North Ossetia remain undetermined: the vicinity of Alagir [ Kremenitsa, 2002] and Nar [ Kuznetsova et al., 2019].

** Entomobryoides purpurascens (Packard, 1873) . A Holarctic species usually inhabiting Formicidae ant nests, only rarely found outside them [ Jordana, 2012]. In the Tsey Gorge, it has been captured in two areas marked by high ant activity and the presence of ant nests (2233 m and 2295 m a.s.l.).

Lepidocyrtus spp. There have been no special taxonomic studies devoted to Caucasian representatives of this genus. The known publications [Dobrolyubova, 1984, 1984a; Petrova and Dobrolyubova, 1987; Kremenitsa, 2002; Kuchiev, 2006; Kuznetsova et al., 2019] include records of six species: L. lanuginosus Linnaeus, 1788 , L. cyaneus Tullberg, 1871 , L. lignorum Fabricius, 1775 , L. violaceus Geoffroy, 1785 , L. curvicollis Bourlet, 1839 , and L. paradoxus, Uzel, 1890 . All of them concern the Republic of North Ossetia. Given the modern approaches to the taxonomy of the genus, it is difficult to judge about the true species identity of these forms. In our material from the Tsey Gorge, a light-coloured form of the lignorum -group is present in rhododendron thickets on a lateral moraine of the Skazsky Glacier (2490 m a.s.l.) and in the upper part of the Tsey foreland (2295 m a.s.l.). In contrast, a dark-coloured form of the same group, ( L. cf. violaceus ) has been found in a beech forest down the slope (1865 m a.s.l.). Besides the above species, L. cf. lanuginosus was also recorded from pine forests near the villages Verkhniy Tsey and Nar [ Kuznetsova et al., 2019].

Pseudosinella alba (Packard, 1873) . A cosmopolitan species inhabiting a wide range of habitats. In the republic, it was recorded only from pine forests near the village of Nar [ Kuznetsova et al., 2019].

P. cf. immaculata (Lie-Pettersen, 1896) . A Palaearctic species. In North Ossetia, only one individual was found in a pine forest near the village of Nar [ Kuznetsova et al., 2019]. No exact species identity was possible to establish.

P. cf. zygophora (Schille, 1908) . Several specimens of this European species were recorded from pine forests around the village of Nar [ Kuznetsova et al., 2019]. More material is needed to establish the exact species status.

P. cf. octopunctata (Börner, 1901) . A cosmopolitan species preferring dry habitats with fragmented vegetation and sandy soil. In the Tsey Gorge, the species is common on the plot with sparse willow, birch and young pines (2295 m a.s.l.).

* Willowsia buski (Lubbock, 1870) . A cosmopolitan, often synanthropic species preferring dry places and tree trunks [ Fjellberg, 2007]. The species was also recorded from the Caucasus ( Azerbaijan) [ Zhang et al., 2011]. In the nature reserve, we have encountered it in rhododendron thickets on a lateral moraine of the Skazsky Glacier (2490 m a.s.l.). Because all specimens were captured by hand with an aspirator, accidental transfers from neither flower pots nor other anthropogenic habitats can be presumed.

W. nigromaculata (Lubbock, 1873) . Another cosmopolitan synanthrope. In outdoor habitats, it can be encountered on tree trunks [ Fjellberg, 2007; Zhang et al., 2011]. This species was found in a perennial pasture near Alagir [ Kremenitsa, 2002]. In the nature reserve, we have recorded it in the floodplain of the Tseyson River.

* W. platani (Nicolet, 1842) . Considered as an indoor species [ Fjellberg, 2007]. Similarly to both the previous ones, this prefers open dry places and tree bark, but most often it is confined to human buildings (fences, house walls, window sills, flower pots, shells etc.). The species is widely distributed across Europe and Asia, including the Caucasus region [ Zhang et al., 2011]. In the Tsey Gorge, it has been captured by sifting litter in a pine forest with admixture of birch (2205 m a.s.l.), as well as with pitfall trapping in a lower maple forest (1984 m a.s.l.).