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1
The rst record of Hemineura wittmeri Badonnel, 1981
(Psocodea, Psocomorpha, Elipsocidae) from the Caucasus
Armen Seropian1, Natalia Bulbulashvili2
1 Institute of Ecology, Ilia State University, Cholokashvili av. 3/5 Tbilisi, 0162, Georgia
2 Rustaveli st. 8, 1400, Gori, Georgia
Corresponding author: Armen Seropian (armen.seropiani@iliauni.edu.ge)
Copyright: © Seropian and Bulbulashvili
This is an open access article distributed under
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License (Attribution 4.0 International –
CC BY 4.0).
Short Communication
Abstract
The second psocid species of the genus Hemineura Tetens, 1891, namely H. wittmeri
Badonnel, 1981, is recorded from the Caucasus region for the rst time based on several
female and male specimens collected in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia. Collecting
data are given along with diagnostic illustrations of the preserved specimens.
Key words: Elipsocinae, Georgia, faunistics, Hemineura, new record, Psocoptera
Hemineura Tetens, 1891, is the second most species-diverse Palaearctic ge-
nus in the subfamily Elipsocinae Kolbe, 1882, comprising nine species (H. big-
oti Badonnel; 1970, H. blascoi Baz, 1994; H. clunialis Lienhard, 1995; H. dispar
Tetens, 1891; H. hispanica (Enderlein, 1907); H. sclerophallina Lienhard, 1986;
H. trudiae Lienhard & Halperin, 1988; H. turanica Vishnyakova in Vishnyakova &
Kaplin, 1980; H. wittmeri Badonnel, 1981) distributed across the Arabian Penin-
sula, Mediterranean, Caucasus, Europe (including European Macaronesia), and
Turkmenistan (Vishnyakova and Kaplin 1980; Lienhard 2016). These interest-
ing psocids are known for their striking sexual dimorphism, having micropter-
ous or apterous females (resembling those of Mesopsocus Kolbe, 1880 spp.)
and macropterous males, generally found in autumn-winter (depending on the
locality) on various types of vegetation. The reliable identication of more than
half of Hemineura species by males is impossible due to the lack of proper
identication keys. Several species reproduce asexually through thelytokous
parthenogenesis (Lienhard, 1998), further highlighting the importance of fe-
males for studies.
The rst and most recent documented occurrence of this genus in the fau-
na of Georgia was H. hispanica by Seropian et al. (2023), who also, based on
the distributional data, estimated at least 14 barklice species from different
genera still expected to be found in the country. On November 5, 2023, 14 fe-
males (one of them juv.) and ve males (CaBOL-IDs 1009116–1009134) of H.
wittmeri Badonnel, 1981 (Figs 1A-F), were manually collected by the second
author in semi-arid shrublands of Gori on Paliurus spina-christi Miller, 1768
(N41.979802°, E44.078262°), along with several specimens of Ectopsocopsis
cryptomeriae (Enderlein, 1907), preserved in 96% ethanol, and stored at the sci-
Academic editor: Levan Mumladze
Received:
7 December 2023
Accepted:
10 January 2024
Published:
23 February 2024
ZooBank: https://zoobank.org/F84D274D-
084C-45B2-BB35-4AA2BF3F068E
Citation: Seropian A, Bulbulashvili N
(2024) The rst record of Hemineura
wittmeri Badonnel, 1981 (Psocodea,
Psocomorpha, Elipsocidae) from the
Caucasus. Caucasiana 3: 1–4. https://
doi.org/10.3897/caucasiana.3.e116995
Caucasiana 3: 1–4 (2024)
DOI: 10.3897/caucasiana.3.e116995
2
Caucasiana 3: 1–4 (2024), DOI: 10.3897/caucasiana.3.e116995
Seropian and Bulbulashvili: The first record of Hemineura wittmeri from the Caucasus
entic collections of Ilia State University (Georgia, Tbilisi). A photograph of one
of the preserved female specimens (Fig. 1F) was taken using a Canon EOS 60D
camera with a Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1–5× Macro Photo Lens mounted on a
Novoex Castel-L Focusing Rack and equipped with a Canon Macro Twin Lite
MT-26EX-RT. A digital image was prepared using Zerene Stacker image stack-
ing software and Adobe Photoshop CS6 (version 13.0). Diagnostic drawings
(Figs 1A–E) were made based on microscope photographs and using a Wacom
CTH-690 Intuos Medium Pen and Touch Tablet with the programs Krita (version
2.9.7) and Photoshop CS6 (version 13.0).
Figure 1. Hemineura wittmeri Badonnel, 1981. A – female, head, frontal view; B – subgenital plate, ventral view; C – go-
napophyses; D – male, forewing; E – same, hindwing; F – female, general habitus, lateral view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (A–B).
0.1 mm (C); 1 mm (D–F).
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Caucasiana 3: 1–4 (2024), DOI: 10.3897/caucasiana.3.e116995
Seropian and Bulbulashvili: The first record of Hemineura wittmeri from the Caucasus
Hemineura wittmeri was described from based on a single female from Sau-
di Arabia (Badonnel 1981), then consequently found in Israel (Lienhard 1998;
sexually reproducing population) and the Canary Islands (Lienhard and Baz
2004; parthenogenetic population). The newly discovered bisexual population
in Georgia is the rst record of H. wittmeri in the Caucasus region, extending the
known distribution range limits of this species ≈1500 km NE from the nearest
nds in Israel.
Acknowledgements
AS is indebted to Dr. Charles Lienhard (Switzerland, Natural History Museum of
Geneva) for help with the identication and review the manuscript along with
the second anonymous reviewer.
Additional information
Conict of interest
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Ethical statement
No ethical statement was reported.
Funding
No funding was reported.
Author contributions
AS led the writing and prepared diagnostic plate, NB collected the specimens.
Author ORCIDs
Armen Seropian https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3777-9954
Natalia Bulbulashvili https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6802-1209
Data availability
All of the data that support the ndings of this study are available in the main text or
Supplementary Information.
References
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Caucasiana 3: 1–4 (2024), DOI: 10.3897/caucasiana.3.e116995
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