Balestra, Valentina

Lana, Enrico

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11 February 2024POLITECNICO DI TORINORepository ISTITUZIONALERhagidiidae mites of the Western Italian Alps / Lana, Enrico; Balestra, Valentina. - ELETTRONICO. - (2023). (Interventopresentato al  convegno 3rd International Congress of Karst, Speleology and Valorization of Natural Heritage tenutosi aRabat (MA) nel 2-5 November 2023) [10.13140/RG.2.2.19557.17128].OriginalRhagidiidae mites of the Western Italian AlpsPublisher:PublishedDOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.19557.17128Terms of use:Publisher copyright(Article begins on next page)This article is made available under terms and conditions as specified in the  corresponding bibliographic description inthe repositoryAvailability:This version is available at: 11583/2983693 since: 2023-11-09T11:39:06ZFaculté des Sciences, RabatRhagidiidae mites of the Western Italian AlpsEnrico Lana ¹ ² & Valentina Balestra ¹ ² ³ *¹ Biologia Sotterranea Piemonte – Gruppo di Ricerca, Italy; ² S.O. Bossea C.A.I., Underground Karst Laboratory of Bossea cave, Italy; ³ Departmentof Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Italy; *Corresponding author: valentina.balestra@hotmail.com; valentina.balestra@polito.itCongrès International du Karst, Spéléologie et Valorisation du Patrimoine NaturelIn the pre-alpine areas of the Mediterraneanbasin, fragmented undergroundenvironments have differentiated, which haveprobably remained unchanged since theMiocene. These environments enabled longperiods of colonization and geographicalisolation organisms, allowing the Rhagidiidaemites an evolutionary process of millions ofyears.Quaternary glaciations in northern Italy (from http://www.pantalica.org/glaciazioni)In the Western Italian Alps, strongly affected by theQuaternary glaciations, underground arthropod researchneglected Rhagidiidae (Acari, Trombidiformes) for a long time,which do not appear in the faunal lists until recent times. Thisstudy was carried out since 1990s, investigating undergroundcavities of Piedmont and Aosta Valley regions to deepenknowledge on the Alps underground fauna and create thebasis for future and more in-depth research.Map of the Rhagidiidae recently detected in Western Alps (from Lana et al., 2021)Their evident morphological adaptations to the undergroundenvironment depended on the rigid climate conditions, theenvironmental parameters variations, the glaciations and thetime of stay in these peculiar environments. The lengtheningof the appendages and bristles, and the progressive sensoryorgans development, called “solenidia”, on the tarsi and tibiaeof the first two pairs of paws, provide an indication of theunderground environment adaptation degree.Solenidia in the Troglocheles lanai leg: A) first pair of legs; B)second pair; C) third pair (from Zacharda et al., 2011)In 1995, a species belonging to this systematic groupwas found at a depth of about 250 meters in AbissoBacardi cave (PI873, Frabosa Soprana, Piedmont);subsequently, different cave adapted mites werefound in 1998 in Bossea cave (PI108, FrabosaSoprana, Piedmont) and in 2003 in Barôn Litrôncave (PI1214, Valdieri, Piedmont).Troglocheles lanai Zacharda, 2011 (ph. E. Lana)In 2009, the mites were analyzed by the specialistMiloslav Zacharda of Prague, establishing all thecollected specimens were a species new to science,described in 2011 as Troglocheles lanai.Hundreds of Rhagidiidae specimens were found in over 90 underground stations and cavities since 2014, including other speciesnew to science belonging to the genus Troglocheles, Traegaardhia and Robustocheles.At the moment, dozens of other samples were collected in the Alps, waiting to be analyzed. The increasingly marked shortage ofspecialists has led to the slowdown of much field of research. However, underground environments still offer several researchpossibilities and many species are still unknown to science, needing in-depth studies and descriptions.We sincerely hope to stimulate researchers to deal in the near future with this very interesting group of arachnids, really significantfor the biogeography of the underground environment of the Alpine chains.Robustocheles n. sp. (ph. E. Lana)Traegaardhia n. sp. (ph. E. Lana)Troglocheles n. sp. (ph. E. Lana)Bibliografia:*Lana E., Giachino P.M., Casale A., 2021 - Fauna Hypogaea Pedemontana. Grotte e ambienti sotterranei del Piemonte e della Valle d’Aosta. WBAMonographs 6, WBA Project Ed., Verona, 1044 pp.*Zacharda M., 2010 - Troglomorphisms in Rhagidiidae (Acari: Prostigmata): are they all a morphological clock of adaptation? (Oral presentation). In:Aa. Vv., “Abstract book 20th International Conference on Subterranean Biology”. Postojna, Slovenia. 29 August - 3 September 2010: 127.*Zacharda M., Isaia M. & Piva E., 2011 - New troglobitic species of the genus Troglocheles (Acari: Prostigmata: Rhagidiidae) from caves in the northernItaly and Austria, with a key to adult species of the genus. Journal of Natural History, 45: 11, 641-666.

Rhagidiidae mites of the Western Italian Alps

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Rhagidiidae mites of the Western Italian Alps

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