Apidofauna of the calcareous (Samegrelo) and non-calcareous (Piraketi Khevsureti) landscapes of the Greater Caucasus - on the example of some habitats of the subalpine zone

Author: Nino Aludauri
Keywords: Apidofauna, calcareous landscapes, non-calcareous landscapes, Samegrelo, Piraketi Khevsureti, The Greater Caucasus
Annotation:

The main point of the present work is an investigation of the calcareous massifs of the Greater Caucasus in the border of Samegrelo (W.Georgia). As it is broadly known, limestone areas of the Greater Caucasus are very famous of their endemic flora on species, genera and even communities rank . It has a global importance. Our goal was to determine correlation event between such specific flora and their consument, representatives of invertebrate fauna - wild bees and bumblebees. From this viewpoint I choose Apidofauna. Before my investigations, this group of insects was not researched in Samegrelo highland. As this group is remarkable pollinators, they associated with flowering plants of limestone ground as well including endemic taxa. It should be pointed out that for comparison point of view, I choose non-calcareous landscape of the Greater Caucasus - subalpine belt of Piraketi Khevsureti. Field excursions took place during 2015-2016 in Samegrelo and Khevsureti. In Samegrelo I have collected the needed materials through altitudinal zonations (800-2400m a.s.l.). The most significant attention included krummholz (i.e. timber- and treelines), which is outstanding with above mentioned flora. Collected materials consist of 88 specimens of Apidofauna, among them: 46 for Samegrelo and 42 for Khevsureti. They belong to 1 family, 2 genera, and 16 species. Along the altitudinal belts they are represented in the following way: beech (Fagus orientalis) belt - 51% (23 specimens), dark coniferous belt - 29% (19 specimens), and orobiome - 19% (9 specimens); 1 specimen (2%), with a Greater probability, is new for science. Comparative analysis of two regions of subalpine zones of the Greater Caucasus shows that 20% of mentioned polyphagous insects are joint in one. Samegrelo is characterized by 65% of its own fauna, and Khevsureti - 35%. In conclusions, my investigations show the following main points: (1) about 60% of apidofauna was revealed for the first time for Okhachkue limestone massif; (2) 1 species probably is new for science; (3) similar to other groups of invertebrates (except molluscs), the correlation between endemic flowering plants of calcicolous flora of limestone area (Samegrelo) and apidofauna is not determined. This opinion is confirmed not only polyphagous but in strictly oligophagous group of insects - as Psylloides (Gegechkori, 1884) is.