Contribution to the knowledge of Entomobryomorpha (Hexapoda: Collembola) from Northeastern Iran with new records and a key to the species

Abstract

View on Scopus Soil-dwelling Entomobryomorphan Collembola from the Northeast of Iran were sampled for the first time as part of a biodiversity surveying study with the aim of improving ecosystem conservation. Materials were obtained by sampling in three different ecosystems including forest, rangeland and agricultural fields between 2018 and 2019. The specimens were cleared using either Nesbitt’s fluid or lactic acid and permanent microscopic slides were prepared using Hoyer’s medium. As the result of this study, twenty-nine species belonging to twenty-two genera and five families of the order Entomobryomorpha were identified. Among them, two genera and eight species are recorded for the first time from Iran. The new records are Desoria trispinata (MacGillivray, 1896), Drepanosira hussi Neuherz, 1976, Heteromurtrella sp., Orchesella flavescens (Bourlet, 1839), Willowsia bartkei Stach, 1965, Agrenia sp., and Isotomiella gracilimucronata Rusek, 1981. Micrographs of their important features and a key to the species are also provided.

Keywords

• checklist
• agricultural species
• forest species
• soil fauna
• springtails