Checklist of known moth flies and sand flies (Diptera, Psychodidae) from Armenia and Azerbaijan

Abstract All credible and available published records for 17 species of moth flies known so far from Armenia (Phlebotominae 11 species, Psychodinae 6 species) and Azerbaijan (Phlebotominae 18 species) are summarized. The first records of 18 species of Psychodinae (tribes Mormiini, Paramormiini, Psychodini, Pericomaini) from Armenia and 6 new faunistic records (tribes Psychodini, Pericomaini) for the fauna of Azerbaijan are listed. The checklist of recent moth flies from Armenia includes now 35 species, and from Azerbaijan, 24 species.


Introduction
As mentioned by Oboňa et al. (2017b), the Caucasus is among the top 25 biologically richest and most endangered hotspots in the world, with an exceptional concentration of endemic species and species at risk. It is also one of the ecoregions of WWF's Global 200 project, which were identified as having outstanding terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats (Myers et al. 2000;Krever et al. 2001). The remarkable richness of the flora and fauna is determined by complex orography, geology, and climate and results in a variety of habitats, landscapes, and microclimates in this mountain range at the border of Europe and Asia and at the junction of temperate and subtropical zones. This area is affected by both Atlantic air masses and the dry continental climate of continental Eurasia (Price 2000).

Material and methods
The material presented here comes from two different sampling campaigns. The first campaign collected material by sweep-netting vegetation along streams and lakes in Armenia from August 26 to September 4, 2015 by J. Oboňa, P. Manko and Ľ. Hrivniak; it is preserved in 75% ethanol. A list of 28 sampling sites, with coordinates and altitudes, is given in Table 1. Captured moth flies were mounted in Canada balsam on 85 slides in the laboratory. The second collection campaign by Ľ. Hrivniak in Azerbaijan from May 26 to June 4, 2017 used the same collecting methods. Samples were collected at various sites by sweep-netting from vegetation along streams and lakes and   Table 2. The collected material was preserved in 96% ethanol in the field. Captured moth flies were mounted in Canada balsam on 7 slides in laboratory. All material, determined by the first author, is deposited in the National Museum, Natural History Museum, Department of Entomology, Prague, Czech Republic. Slides are numbered by inventory slide number of the family Psychodidae, and catalogue number (cat. no.) of the slide to be included in the NMPC Diptera collection (Tkoč et al. 2014). Nomenclature is according to , , and  for Phlebotominae; for Psychodinae the nomenclature is modified from Vaillant (1972) and Wagner ( , 2013 using the classifications of e.g. van Harten 2005, Oboňa and, and Kroča and Ježek (2015). The following abbreviations are used in the paper: H = Ľ.

Parajungiella Vaillant, 1972
Comments. This is a cosmopolitan species, very common from lowlands to mountains.

Joostiella caucasica Vaillant, 1983
Comments. The genus and species, originally described from near the Baksar River, Zlohl in the central Caucasus, were published by Vaillant (1983: 335). Wagner (1986: 87) later recorded this species from Turkey and Armenia, and additional records from Armenia were published by Wagner and Joost (1986: 111 Distribution. This species is widespread in Europe, known from Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, European Turkey, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Romania, European Russia, Sardinia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Ukraine. It is also recorded in Transcaucasia, Tunisia, and Morocco (Ježek 2004;Kvifte et al. 2011Kvifte et al. , 2013Ježek et al. 2017). New for Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Pericoma platystyla
Comments. Wagner (1986: 84)  Comments. This species is distributed throughout almost all of Europe, including Spain, the British Isles and Scandinavia. It is also known from Algeria, Morocco, the Central Caucasus (Terskol, Russia) and Tajikistan, but it is relatively sporadic there Vaillant and Joost 1983;Ježek 2004;Ježek et al. 2014 Distribution. This is a very common species, which is recorded from throughout Europe and the Canary Islands. In Europe, it is known from Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Sardinia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Ukraine (Wagner 1981;Ježek and Goutner 1995;Krek 1999;Ježek 2002;Kvifte et al. 2013;Ježek et al. 2016 Distribution. This is a common European species known from Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine (Ježek and Omelková 2012;Salmela et al. 2014;Ježek et al. 2017). It is known from the central Caucasus at Terskol, Russia (Vaillant and Joost 1983: 100). New for Armenia.

Discussion
According to Oboňa et al. (2016bOboňa et al. ( , 2017b and Hrivniak et al. (2018), as compared to many European countries, Transcaucasia (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan) is insufficiently investigated for flies of the families Anisopodidae, Bibionidae, Dixidae, Drosophilidae, Limoniidae, Pediciidae, Ptychopteridae, and Scatopsidae. Only 17 species of Psychodidae are known for Armenia and 18 species are known from Azerbaijan Vaillant 1972;Wagner 1981Wagner , 2013Wagner and Joost 1986;Wagner et al. 2002;Melaun et al. 2014;Oboňa et al. 2017a). In the present paper, we include 35 recent species (18 of them newly recorded) from Armenia. Included are 11 species of Phlebotominae and 24 species of Psychodinae. Similarly, our checklist of moth flies from Azerbaijan includes 24 species, of which 6 are newly recorded. The species recorded include 18 species of Phlebotominae and 6 of Psychodinae. Our results certainly represent only a small part of the Armenian and Azerbaijan psychodid fauna. Finding common and widespread species such as Paramormia (Duckhousiella) ustulata, Psychodocha cinerea, Tinearia alternata, Pericoma (Pachypericoma) blandula, Pneumia canescens, Pneumia nubila, or invasive species such as Clogmia albipunctata, for the first time from these countries shows that the psychodid fauna is still poorly known.
Knowledge of species distribution is important for studying biogeography and making effective conservation actions. This checklist will provide a baseline for further studies and for initiation of concerted conservation actions in Armenia and Azerbaijan. No doubt that future collecting in Georgia and Azerbaijan, done with the support of the International Visegrad Fund (project No. 21810533), will yield additional faunistic novelties of interest, as shown by similar studies in this region of other dipteran families (e.g. Oboňa et al. 2016bOboňa et al. , 2017bNegrobov et al. 2017;Starý et al. 2017;Hrivniak et al. 2018).