Flourishing in subterranean ecosystems: Euro-Mediterranean Plusiocampinae and tachycampoids (Diplura, Campodeidae)

Este artículo contiene 138 páginas, 213 figuras, 14 tablas.Diplura is a group of entognathous hexapods, often considered a sister group to insects. They play an important role in recycling organic matter in soil and subterranean terrestrial ecosystems. The Campodeidae is the most diverse family, divided into four subfamilies. The subfamily Plusiocampinae has a subterranean life-style with many species distributed in the Euro-Mediterranean area. The incertae sedis tachycampoids (“lignée Tachycampoïde”) is a group within the family Campodeidae that share with the Plusiocampinae a strong preference for subterranean habitats and several morphological characters, such as slender body shape, elongated appendages, considerable increment in the number of antennomeres and cercal articles, and complexity of sensorial structures. The present monograph provides a taxonomic revision of the subfamily Plusiocampinae and the genera belonging to the tachycampoid lineage from Europe and the Mediterranean region. It comprises detailed morphological descriptions and illustrations together with data on the habitats and distributions of 87 species, 10 subspecies and 11 affinis forms. Seven new species are described among those, namely: Plusiocampa (Plusiocampa) apollo Sendra, Giachino & Vailati sp. nov., P. (P.) chiosensis Sendra & Gasparo sp. nov., P. (P.) dublanskii Sendra & Turbanov sp. nov., P. (P.) hoffmanni Sendra & Paragamian sp. nov., P. (P.) rhea Sendra sp. nov., P. (P.) ternovensis Sendra & Borko sp. nov. and P. (Venetocampa) ferrani Sendra & Delić sp. nov.DS’s field trips were funded by the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (Grant 173038); KP was partially funded by the HISR project “Conservation of the Cave Fauna of Greece” funded by the MAVA Foundation and WWF Greece; PMG and DV carried out sampling in Greece using permits from the Ministry of Environment no. 124085/1362/2015, 135366/373/2016 and 166238/248/2018; IT was funded within the framework of the state assignment of FASO Russia (themes no. АААА-А18-118012690106-7 and АААА-А18-118012690105), supported in part by RFBR (project no. 17-54-40017Абх_а); sampling efforts by AF and colleagues resulted from various projects on the evolution of cave fauna diversity, some of them funded by the German Research Foundation, DFG (DFG FA 1042/1-1 and DFG BA 2152/14-1); PMG and DV were partly supported by the program “Research Missions in the Mediterranean Basin” sponsored by the World Biodiversity Association onlus XLI contribution; ASPSR was supported by a research grant (15471) from Villum Fonden.Peer reviewe

Diversity and conservation of the cave fauna of Crete (Greece)

Located in the southernmost of the Aegean Sea, Crete is the largest of the Greek islands covering an area of 8,261 km2. The first records on the cave fauna of Crete were published in 1869 and since then a total of 175 publications have been gradually increased our knowledge on the cave-dwelling species of the island. Crete is currently the best-studied Region of Greece regarding biospeleology. Although it covers only 6.3% of the national area, the faunistically investigated caves represent 35% of the investigated caves of Greece while the recorded cave fauna includes 30% of the cavernicolous species of Greece. In total, 250 species belonging to 166 genera, 83 families, 36 orders, 13 classes, and 5 phyla, have been recorded from 158 caves.  The most diverse groups are Araneae (64 species), Isopoda (29 species), Gastropoda, Copepoda, and Coleoptera (21 species each), Pseudoscorpiones (17 species) and Chiroptera (15 species). Among the invertebrate species, 102 are endemic to Greece of which 92 are Cretan endemics. The obligate cavernicolous fauna includes 42 species, most of them in Isopoda (13), Araneae (11) and Pseudoscorpiones (11). Only 3 species are distributed outside Greece, the isopods Libanonethes probosciferus Vandel, 1955 and Trichonethes kosswigi Strouhal, 1953. The cave habitats and the cave fauna of Greece are quite neglected in Greece’s environmental legislation and policy. Furthermore, there is an implementation gap in the environmental law. In Crete, 62 out of the previously mentioned 158 caves happened to be situated within protected areas (wildlife refuges and/or Natura 2000 sites). With the exception of the bat species, no other cave associated species is protected by specific law. Further efforts are also needed to assess the conservation status of most of the species. Out of 250 species only 35 have been assessed for IUCN Red List and 51 for Greece’s Red Data Book. Most of them are bats, gastropods and isopods

Revision of the genus Troglophilus (Orthoptera, Rhaphidophoridae) in Crete, Greece

The genus Troglophilus (Orthoptera, Rhaphidophoridae) from Crete is revised using new data from specimens collected recently. The three previously reported species are considered to be only one, T. spinulosus, on the basis of morphological, ecological and distributional similarities. The species is more fully described and notes are given on its ecology

A comprehensive database for the cave fauna of Greece

Within the framework of the project “Conservation of the Cave Fauna of Greece”, the Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research developed the Cave Fauna of Greece (CFG) Database (https://database.inspee.gr/, Fig. 1), a free online data infrastructure that provides reliable information on the taxonomy, distribution, conservation status and referenced literature for all cavernicolous animal species in Greece. Furthermore, it provides information on geography, protection status and the fauna of each cave, as well as the referenced literature. The database was compiled after gathering, critically evaluating and integrating all taxonomic and faunistic information for species recorded in the caves of Greece. It includes all species recorded up to date and currently regarded as valid. The taxonomic reference system is harmonized with the Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure (PESI, EU-nomen). Considerable effort was also made to find the locations of the caves and to solve problems of synonymies, misspellings, etc. CFG database is a comprehensive, dynamic and digitally-available reference for several user-groups: research scientists, policy and decision-makers, nature conservation community, the education community, and citizen scientists. It was developed and launched to serve as a basic tool for research and conservation policies of cave species and caves in Greece. Currently, it hosts 2,567 records of 843 valid species in 465 caves, 763 literature references for species and more than 440 cave descriptions references. The user can navigate through 3 themes: fauna, caves, and references. A species can be found either by searching the name (or part of it) or by browsing through the taxonomic hierarchy to look for names of organisms within a group. A cave can be found either by searching the name/synonym (or part of it) or by browsing through the administrative hierarchy. Navigation from species to caves and vice versa can be performed through the names of species and caves

A comprehensive database for the cave fauna of Greece

Within the framework of the project “Conservation of the Cave Fauna of Greece”, the Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research developed the Cave Fauna of Greece (CFG) Database (https://database.inspee.gr/, Fig. 1), a free online data infrastructure that provides reliable information on the taxonomy, distribution, conservation status and referenced literature for all cavernicolous animal species in Greece. Furthermore, it provides information on geography, protection status and the fauna of each cave, as well as the referenced literature. The database was compiled after gathering, critically evaluating and integrating all taxonomic and faunistic information for species recorded in the caves of Greece. It includes all species recorded up to date and currently regarded as valid. The taxonomic reference system is harmonized with the Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure (PESI, EU-nomen). Considerable effort was also made to find the locations of the caves and to solve problems of synonymies, misspellings, etc. CFG database is a comprehensive, dynamic and digitally-available reference for several user-groups: research scientists, policy and decision-makers, nature conservation community, the education community, and citizen scientists. It was developed and launched to serve as a basic tool for research and conservation policies of cave species and caves in Greece. Currently, it hosts 2,567 records of 843 valid species in 465 caves, 763 literature references for species and more than 440 cave descriptions references. The user can navigate through 3 themes: fauna, caves, and references. A species can be found either by searching the name (or part of it) or by browsing through the taxonomic hierarchy to look for names of organisms within a group. A cave can be found either by searching the name/synonym (or part of it) or by browsing through the administrative hierarchy. Navigation from species to caves and vice versa can be performed through the names of species and caves

What`s crawling in the dark? An annotated list of gastropods in Greek caves

Greece is covered by a high percentage of carbonate rocks, resulting in a significant number of over 10,000 caves within its territory. Their fauna is not well known. Concerning gastropods, 68 terrestrial species have been reported from 70 caves. In this study, we contribute to the knowledge of the snails inhabiting Greek caves. We analyzed the literature and studied all the material deposited in the Natural History Museum of Crete, to create a first comprehensive list of gastropods of Greek caves. The number of caves from which gastropod species were reported increased to 182, while the number of known terrestrial species increased to 113. Fourteen of these species live only in caves, twelve of which are endemic of Greece. However, the fauna of Greek caves is still understudied. With the increasing exploration of Greek caves, the number of the known cave-dwelling gastropod species will increase and new species will be discovered