Species composition and zoogeographic characteristics of winter gnats (Diptera, Trichoceridae) in the center of the European part of Russia

Abstract

This article examines the species composition of winter gnats Diptera, Trichoceridae) found in the European part of Russia. This group of dipterans includes small insects that can be observed in natural biotopes from September to April. The bulk of the collections that served as material for this message were carried out by us in the Vladimir Oblast. Insects were collected in various natural communities using Barber traps installed there, as well as by route method. At the time of collection, environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and light were recorded. The last revision of this group of dipterans for Russia was carried out in 2013 by A.V. Petrashiyunos and N.M. Paramonov. According to their data, the trichocerid fauna of Russia at that time consisted of 27 species. As a result of our research, 11 species of mosquitoes from the genus Trichocera were discovered in the European part of Russia. These are Trichocera hiemalis, Trichocera inexplorata, Trichocera major, Trichocera parva, Trichocera recondita, Trichocera regelations, Trichocera saltator, Trichocera sparsa, Trichocera brevis, Trichocera implicata, Trichocera altipons. For the first time in Russia, three species were identified: Trichocera brevis, Trichocera implicata, Trichocera altipons. Having analyzed the habitats of the studied group of trichocerid species, we found that 1 species has a circumpolyzonal type of habitat, 1 species has a sub-holarctic type of habitat, 1 species has a transpalearctic polyzonal type of habitat, 2 species have a trans-eurasian polydisjunctive type of habitat and 6 species have a European type of habitat.