Psychodidae (Diptera) of Azerbaijan and Georgia – faunistics with biodiversity notes

Abstract

Records of 46 Psychodidae (Sycoracinae 1, Trichomyiinae 1, Psychodinae 44) species/subspecies are presented in this paper based on specimens collected by sweep-netting in Azerbaijan and Georgia in 2019. Nine species are recorded for the first time since their original description; 12 species are new for Transcaucasia; 22 species are new for Azerbaijan; and 17 species are new for Georgia. Saraiella ressli montana Ježek, 1990 is proposed as a synonym of S. ressli Wagner, 1983, syn. nov. Knowledge of some aspects of the ecology and biogeography of selected (especially rare) species has been expanded and a clear pattern was found in species richness, rare species, and new records in relation to land use, habitat diversity, and preservation of the environment surrounding the sampling site.

New synonymy and two new species of Caucasian moth flies (Diptera, Psychodidae, Psychodinae) from Azerbaijan and Georgia

“…Therefore, adequate attention must be paid to insects and other invertebrates, because they serve important ecosystem services and their loss may affect the whole functioning of the ecosystem. The less disturbed and close to natural habitats and localities deserve great attention, especially in protected areas (e.g., the Batsara Nature Reserve) and their vicinity (e.g., Kazbegi National Park), where we find not only a high species diversity of the family Psychodidae but also new species for science, as presented in Ježek et al (2021aJežek et al ( , 2021b and in this paper. The relatively large number of species new to science described on the basis of our recent sampling campaigns (e.g., Oboňa et al 2017;Ježek et al 2018Ježek et al , 2021aJežek et al , 2021b, together with the high degree of endemism, point to the importance of research on the Psychodidae family in the Caucasus.…”

“…Paradoxically, there are particularly large geographical gaps in biodiversity information in the Caucasus countries (Wetzel et al 2018), and the dipterans of this region are exemplary in this respect (Oboňa et al 2019). Much more attention should be devoted especially to preserved areas in nature reserves (NR), as evidenced, for example, by the high number of species found at a single locality in the Batsara Nature Reserve (Ježek et al 2021b). Another new species from this NR is described in this work.…”

“…With the present paper, the checklist of psychodid flies increases to 83 species for Georgia and to 62 for Azerbaijan (compared with Ježek et al 2018, 2021band Oboňa et al 2019.…”

New faunistic data on Diptera (Hexapoda, Insecta) from the Ziarat Juniperus forest ecosystem (Pakistan)

“…Chaudhary and Aslam (2005) , Javaid et al (2006) ). The primary objective of faunistic studies are to document and record medical and economic important species of insects ( Ježek et al 2021 , Shehzad et al 2017 ). These studies are crucial for assessing the abundance of species found within a specific geographical area and monitoring the long-term shifts in population trends and diversity ( Ejsmont-Karabin 2019 , Shamna et al 2023 ).…”