No abstract

Sciarids (Diptera, Sciaridae) or black fungus gnats are small, mainly dark coloured insects whose larvae usually develop in rotting plant remains permeated by fungal hyphae. Typical habitats for sciarids are shaded forests and wet meadows, but some species can migrate from natural biotopes to anthropogenic ecosystems and live as synanthropes. Synanthropic sciarid species in the case of their larvae mass development, may cause significant damage to agricultural plants and mushrooms and are considered as pests. The information on pest activities of sciarids in the literature is provided for 34 species, but only 7 species can be considered as dangerous pests. In the framework of taxonomic and ecological research on Sciaridae in Ukraine, some chorological and faunistic peculiarities of pest sciarids have been studied. We collected material during the expeditions and excursions in different biotopes of Ukraine from 2012 to 2018 using the Malaise trap, by the method of non-count sweeping with entomological net and with exhauster directly from substrate. The collected imagoes were placed into 5 mL vials with 70% ethanol. In the lab, the fixed material was dehydrated in absolute ethanol and mounted on slides in Euparal. All of the studied material is kept in Andriy Babytskiy’s Private Collection, Kyiv (PABK) and mostly availible to the public on the UkrBIN. In Ukraine 4 species of harmful sciarid pests from 3 genera are recorded, namely Bradysia brunnipes (in Crimea), B. difformis (in Kyiv and Volyn Regions), Lycoriella ingenua (in Kyiv and Volyn Regions) and Pnyxia scabiei (Western regions excluding the Carpathians). B. brunnipes, also known as “cucumber gnat”, is one of the widespread cucumber pests in greenhouses, damaging roots and above-ground shoots of cucumbers. In Ukraine, mass development of this species and significant loses of the harvest caused by it have not been reported. B. difformis is a widespread pest sciarid, but in Ukraine it has been recorded for the first time. The mass development of this species was recorded in hothouses with cacti and other succulent plants at the O. V. Fomin Botanical Garden, where the larvae of B. difformis cause significant damage to these plants, especially to their sprouts. L. ingenua is the most common sciarid pest which damages mushrooms in hothouses. In Ukraine it was massively recorded  in cellars and on vegetables in storages. P. scabiei was recorded in Western Ukraine, except the Carpathians, as a potato pest species that damages sprouts in the fields and tubers in storages. Considering the absence of records of P. scabiei in natural biotopes of Ukraine, it is likely that this species was introduced to our country from America together with potatoes and should be recognized as an alien species to the natural entomofauna of Ukraine.

Botrychium matricariifolium (A. Braun ex Döll) W.D.J. Koch-рід кіс ний го ларк тич ний євро пейсько-аме ри канський вид, диз'юнктивний аре ал яко го охо п лює Скан ди на вію, Ат лан тич ну, Се ред ню та Схід ну Єв ро пу, Пів ніч ну Аме ри ку з ок ре ми ми ек ск ла ва ми в Азії та Пів ден ній Аме ри ці [7, 19, 22]. На те ри то рії Ук ра ї ни вид тра п ля є ть ся в За кар патській ни зо ви ні, Кар па тах, на Во ли но-Подільській ви со чи ні, Во линсь ко му По ліс сі та Придніп ров'ї [10, 22]. Його за не се но до спи ску за гроже них ви дів Кар пат [32], «Чер во ної кни ги Ук ра ї ни» [22] як рід кіс ний вид із диз'юнктивним ареа лом та охо рон ним ста ту сом «зни каю чий». Охо ро ня є ться B. matricariifolium і на між на род но му рів ні: його вне се но до пе ре лі ку Єв ро пейсь ко го чер во но го спи ску [28] під ка те го рі єю NT (Near Threatened) та До дат ку І Бернської кон вен ції [5, 9]. Іс нує дум ка, що B. matricariifolium є давнім стабілізованим гіб ридом між Botrychium lunaria (L.) Sw. та B. multifidum (S.G. Gmel.) Rupr. [24]. На сьо го дні най пов ні ші ві до мості щодо поши рен ня B. matricariifolium в Ук ра ї ні на ве де ні В.І. Мель ни ком [10]. Од нак ана ліз ма те ріа лів, які

Thirty-six species of terrestrial molluscs were found in the dry grasslands and rock outcrops of the study area, including three that were not previously known for Central Ukraine: Granaria frumentum, Pupilla bigranata and Mediterranea inopinata. These species are relics related to dry open habitats and require conservation in Ukraine on the national level, G. frumentum is already listed in the Red Book of Ukraine, and the other two should be listed in its next edition. It is proposed to create the new protected areas in the most important newly revealed locations of these species. These rocky areas also retain the high diversity of land molluscs in the region. The invasive snail Xeropicta derbentina was found for the first time on the DNIPRO Upland, on the edge of natural dry grassland. The rare native snail Morlina glabra was recorded for the first time in Kyiv Region, it is proposed to be included into the regional red list.

Sciarids (Diptera, Sciaridae) or black fungus gnats are small, mainly dark coloured insects whose larvae usually develop in rotting plant remains permeated by fungal hyphae. Typical habitats for sciarids are shaded forests and wet meadows, but some species can migrate from natural biotopes to anthropogenic ecosystems and live as synanthropes. We have investigated ecological and chorological features of sciarids in Ukraine since 2012. Within this work, we collected imagoes during expeditions and excursions in different biotopes using the Malaise trap, by the method of sweeping and with exhauster directly from substrate. Collected imagoes were placed into 5 mL vials with 70% ethanol. In the lab fixed material was dehydrated in absolute ethanol and mounted on the slides in Euparal. Previous registrations are based on 6 field collections, two of them were carried out in the XIX century, 4 observations of “army worms” and two pest records. From published material of these collections 78 sciarid species were known from 17 genera in 8 more or less specified localities of Ukraine. Our sciarid study in the country expanded the data on registered sciarids by adding 18 new species and enriched information about the distribution of sciarids by 86 new findings of previously known species in 12 regions (Volyn, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytsk, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne and Ternopil) of Ukraine. The current checklist of Sciaridae of Ukraine contains 96 species from 17 genera in 168 localities. Through comparison with Germany, whose sciarid fauna is studied much better, for Ukraine we can predict the presence approximately 400 sciarid species, so the species diversity of Sciaridae in Ukraine still poorly known for the known species does not exceed 25 percent of presumed existing species here. The majority of sciarid findings are registered in different types of broadleaf forest biotopes, only a few species have been found also in grassland habitats. Some sciarid species show synanthropic attraction and have been registered in anthropogenic habitats, for example Bradysia fenestralis (pest of cultivated plants in greenhouses), Corynoptera dentiforceps, Scatopsciara atomaria and Corynoptera tridentata. Larvae of Bradysia placida develop in rotten wood, also development of Corynoptera membranigera preimaginal phases possibly takes place in the fruit bodies of fungi (Neoboletus luridiformis, Russula sp.) and Mycetozoa (Fuligo septica).