Arrhopalites abchasicus

Arrhopalites abchasicus (lat.) Is a species of cave- bellied collembolas of the Arrhopalitidae family. Western Caucasus : Abkhazia , Psyrtsha cave (43 ° 5'46 "N; 40 ° 48'48" E; Novo-Afonsky speleological region , Gumishha-Psyrtskhinsky karst massif; 1.3 km from the Black Sea coast ). Body length 0.7–1 mm (females slightly larger than males). Pigmentation is absent, or dorsally there are separate spots of light brown pigment. Antenna twice as long as head (in females about 0.6 and 0.3 mm, respectively). Troglobionts : live in the aphotic (dark) zone of the cave, starting from 30 m from the entrance to the siphon lake at the end of the cave (200 m from the entrance, water temperature about 13 ° C). It is found together with other representatives of the Arrhopalitidae family (two species of the genus Pygmarrhopalites ). The species was described in 2013 by Ukrainian entomologist Robert Vargovich (Robert S. Vargovitsh, I. I. Shmalgauzen Institute of Zoology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine , Kiev ) ^[1] .