Faunistic survey of Collembola in Babol town (Mazandaran province) with introduction of new records for Iran fauna

The fauna of Collembola as abundant soil-living Arthropoda were relatively investigated in Mazandaran province, but still some species were ignored in these surveys. For this reason, present study was conducted to investigate more precisely the Collembola fauna in Babol city (Mazandaran) as a selected region. Several samplings were performed from soil and leaf litter of different regions of Babol during 2012-2014. The specimens from soil and leaf litter were extracted by Berlise funnel and preserved in Ethanol (75-85%). The microscopic slides were prepared with Hoyer medium or mixture of lactic acid and glycerin (5:1). The species were identified by available keys. In results of the study, in sum 22 species from 15 genera belonging to five families were collected and identified. Among the collected species, Isotoma cf riparia (Nicolet, 1842) and Isotomurus antennalis (Bagnall, 1940) report for the first time for Iran. The species Sinella cf tenebricosa (Folsom, 1902), Orthonychiurus stachianus and Heteraphorura japonica (Yossi, 1967) are new for Mazandaran fauna. All species were new for Babol city in Mazadaran province.