Description of new apterous winter species of Leuctra (Plecoptera: Leuctridae) based morphology and DNA barcoding and further records to stonefly fauna of the Caucasus, Georgia

Abstract

Leuctra adjariae sp. n. and Leuctra georgiae sp. n. (Plecoptera: Leuctridae) are described as two new apterous stonefly species from the Meskheti Range (Lesser Caucasus) in southwestern Georgia. Descriptions and illustrations are provided for both sexes and diagnostic characters are discussed. Males and females of the two species are associated by DNA barcodes. Comparisons with corresponding regions of COI between L. adjariae sp. n. and L. georgiae sp. n. produced K2P genetic distances of 8.38%, values well associated with interspecific variation. The well-supported monophyly as well as results of an ABGD analysis confirms the validity of both new species. Capnioneura gouanerae Vinçon & Sivec, 2011, previously described and known only from Turkey, is reported for the first time for the Caucasus.