Simulium (Simulium) kiritshenkoi Rubtsov

Crosskey, R. W., 2002, A taxonomic account of the black y fauna of Iraq and Iran, including keys for species identi cation (Diptera: Simuliidae), Journal of Natural History 36 (15), pp. 1841-1886 : 1870-1872

12. Simulium (Simulium) kiritshenkoi Rubtsov

Iran references. Rubtsov (1940, original description, Iran, as Simulium (Odagmia) ), Smart (1945, Persia, world catalogue entry), Rubtsov (1951, recorded Iran), Rubtsov (1956, male and aquatic stages described), Rubtsov (1963, repeat descriptions), Crosskey (1967, species discussed, Persia additional record), Rubtsov and Yankovsky (1984, Iran in Palaearctic generic synopsis), Crosskey (1988, world checklist entry), Rubtsov and Yankovsky (1988, Iran in regional catalogue entry), Crosskey and Howard (1997, world inventory entry).

Iraq references. Khalaf (1963, S. (Odagmia) caucasica ), Abul-hab (1978a, 1978b, 1981, 1983, recorded northern Iraq), Crosskey and Howard (1997, world inventory entry).

Material seen

Iran: HOLOTYPE (slide No. 3805, parts, named on label ‘kiritschenkovi’), Shahrud (now Emamrud) (36ss25¾/55ss00¾), 26 May 1914 (Kiritshenko); 5 paratypes (two on slides), data as holotype ( ZISP); 1 paratype, data as holotype ( BMNH, donated Rubtsov). 1 Tabriz (38ss05¾/46ss18¾), 6 April 1914 (Andrievsky) ( ZISP). 3 (1), 2 (1), Elburz Mountains, stream at Talharz, 23 km NNE of Tehran, 1800 m (35ss49¾/51ss31¾), 13 October 1978 ( Kurtak and Kurtak ); 1, same data except date 6 October 1978; 30 pupae, 16 larvae, same data except date 27 October 1978. 5, Karind (5 Karand ) (36ss16¾/46ss15¾), 1918 ( Shortt ). 3, 3, Chalus (5 Chalous ), Caspian Sea coast (36ss40¾/51ss25¾), May 1951 ( Giaquinto ) [listed as caucasicum in Crosskey (1967): here re-identi ed]. Iraq: 26 pupae (incl. pharate), 14 larvae, Kurdistan , Arbil (5 Irbil) Province , Khalifan (36ss14¾/44ss44¾), 28 August 1976 ( Abulhab ). 19 pupae, 41 larvae, Kurdistan , Dahuk (5 Daquq ) Province , Sulaf [? co-ordinates], 17 August 1976 ( Abul-hab ). 12 pupae, 18 larvae, Kurdistan , Dahuk Province, Sarsang [? co-ordinates], 16 August 1976 ( Abul-hab ). 1 pupa, 12 larvae, Kurdistan , Dahuk Province, Showa Falls [? co-ordinates], August 1976 ( Abul-hab ). 3 (1), 4 (31), Kurdistan , Sulaymaniyah Province, Ahmadawa (5 Amad Awah ) (35ss18¾/46ss05¾), 28 October 1976 ( Abul-hab ); 21 pupae, 43 larvae, same data except date 26 June 1976. 3 pupae, 12 larvae, Kurdistan , Sulaymaniyah Province, Dola Sur [? co-ordinates], 2 June 1976 ( Abul-hab ). 39 larvae, Kurdistan , Sulaymaniyah Province, Surdash (35ss52¾/45ss04¾), 3 June 1976 ( Abul-hab ). 1 pupa, 1 larva, Kurdistan , Sulaymaniyah Province, Sarchinar (35ss35¾/45ss23¾), 4 April 1989 ( Mohsen ).

Note. Also seen were a few specimens collected by A. I. Rubtsov in Georgia, determined by him as kiritshenkoi , and at some time donated to the BMNH collection. The data are: Georgia: Abkhaziya, stream in Akhali-Afoni, 2 November 1954 (Rubtsov) .

Remarks

Simulium kiritshenkoi is the common representative of the Simulium (Simulium) ornatum species-group in northern Iraq and Iran and was rst described from Shahrud (now Emamrud) in northern Iran ( Rubtsov, 1940). In Iraq it is a species of Kurdistan, occurring in the Dahuk, Arbil and Sulaymaniyah Provinces bordering eastern Turkey and northwestern Iran. Abul-hab (1978a) rst reported it from Iraq on the basis of collections made in 1976 in the Ahmadawa area of Sulaymaniyah Province.

The species is morphologically extremely similar to the widespread European morphospecies S. ornatum s.l., of which Terteryan (1968) in Armenia treated it as a subspecies. Rubtsov, in various works, continued always to consider kiritshenkoi a valid species but it is not certain that it is speci cally diVerent from some other nominal species of the ornatum species-group that occur in the Transcaucasus and adjacent areas; Kachvoryan et al. (2000) have found no chromosomal grounds on which to consider it distinct from S. (S.) caucasicum , another Rubtsov (1940) taxon of the group which Terteryan (1968) also treated as a subspecies of ornatum .

Material from Iran and Iraq conforms exactly with the type material of kiritshenkoi and with the morphological characters that have supposedly de ned this taxon, whether at speci c or subspeci c rank, so for purposes of the present paper I follow Rubtsov’s treatment of it as a valid species; there is as yet no formal nomenclatural change to this staus determined by means of correlated morphological and cytological studies. As recognized here, then, kiritshenkoi resembles ornatum complex in the pale grey pollinose frons of the female and narrow slightly upturned pro le of the beak-like process of the male ventral plate (gure 65) but diVers in its more weakly woven pupal cocoon, largely orange-red antennae, paler appearance of the female, and more extensively yellow legs (the femora in particular being entirely yellow). The con rguration of the pupal gill (typical example in gure 47) is reminiscent of that in S. (S.) intermedium of western Europe, the common stalk of the lowermost pair of laments typically being rather short ( cf. fontanum , gure 46).

[Note. If caucasicum ( Rubtsov, 1940: 387, subspecies of ornatum ) and kiritshenkoi ( Rubtsov, 1940: 389, species) are formally treated as conspeci c with each other but not with ornatum a choice of valid name between two simultaneously published names will be required. The name kiritshenkoi should be given preference (validity) over caucasicum on grounds that: (1) kiritshenkoi is free from geographical import, caucasicum implies restriction to the Caucasus; (2) kiritshenkoi was described as a species, caucasicum as a subspecies; (3) kiritshenkoi holotype is in ZISP without associated problems, the caucasicum situation is ambiguous because ‘holotype’ cited by Yankovsky (1995) was not collected till 1948 and thus postdates original description; (4) kiritshenkoi was originally described in English ( Rubtsov, 1940: 513–514) as well as Russian so facilitating reference to the rst description, caucasicum in Russian only.]