Protaphorurini, Bagnall, 1949

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 : 334-335

Tribe Protaphorurini

Protaphorura sakatoi (Yosii, 1966) . Originally, this species was described from Kabul and Badakhshan, both Afghanistan. It has since been considered as the xerophile of a steppe fauna [Kaprus’ and Pomorski, 2008]. The current distribution covers the southern Palaearctic, ranging from Eastern Europe to the Altais. It has also been recorded from the western and central Caucasus [Kaprus’ and Pomorski, 2008]. According to N.A. Kuznetsova et al. [2019], P. sakatoi is a dominant species in mature pine forests in the vicinity of Verkhniy Tsey and Nar. Most likely, this species was included in the annotated list of springtails of the North Ossetian Nature Reserve [Kuchiev, 200] as Onychiurus octopunctatus Stach. In our material, the species has been found in a young birch-willow forest (2233 m a.s.l.) and in a lower beech forest (1865 m a.s.l.).

P. subarctica (Martynova, 1976) . In the republic, it was recorded by N.A. Kuznetsova et al. [2019] in pine forests of the nature reserve. Prior distribution of the species was said to be restricted to the northern regions of the Palaearctic, not before 60º latitude [Babenko and Kaprus’, 2014]. In our opinion, the conspecificity of northern and Caucasian individuals attributed to this species is doubtful, although it is not easy to reliably distinguish them. Caucasian specimens with pseudocellar formulae 32/022/33342 referred to by N.A. Kuznetsova et al. are characterized by a noticeably less distinct differentiation of dorsal setae, in particular, their M/s ratio on Abd.5 is = 12–15/6–9, AD = 10. In the northern populations assigned to this species, the length of these setae as regards to the anal spines is almost twice as large (M/ s = 21–25/12–15). In addition, these forms differ in the structure of the claw (in Caucasian individuals, there is no inner tooth) and the position of the prespinal setae (in Caucasian individuals, these are located almost in a row). Possibly the same form has been recorded from the North Caucasus (Teberda), referred to as P. pulvinata (Gisin, 1954) [ Petrova and Dobrolyubova, 1987].

** P. unari Rusek, 1995 . This species was described from alpine, subalpine and mountain forest ecosystems of the western Carpathians ( Slovakia). The Caucasian specimens we found at the shrub successional stage in the Tsey foreland (2295 m a.s.l.) are very similar to the typical P. unari by the number and arrangement of the dorsal pseudocelli (d.pso 33/

02(3)3/33342, v.pso 1/–), the absence of m chaetae on Th.1 (i3–), rather clearly differentiated sensilla on the dorsal side of the body, as well as the absence of a tooth on the claw. The only distinguishing feature is a smaller PAO with 22–24 vesicles (vs 33 in the type material).

** Protaphorura sp. This is presumably a new species with the pseudocellar formulae 32/02(3)3/33342, found at the shrub stage of overgrowth (2295 m a.s.l.), as well as at the stages of young mixed forests (2240–2250 m a.s.l.). In terms of most morphological features, it is very close to P. cf. subarctica (see above), but clearly differs in the number of pso on Th.2–3.

In North Ossetia, several undetermined individuals were also recorded, e.g. P. sp. gr. armata from a perennial pasture east of Alagir [ Kremenitsa, 2002]. It is likewise impossible to establish the identity of Onychiurus armatus , referred to in the list of the springtails of the North Ossetian Nature Reserve [ Kuchiev, 2006] as a rare species of the alpine belt of Tsey Range (above 2800 m a.s.l.).