ARPHA Conference Abstracts : Conference Abstract
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Corresponding author: Boyan Lyudmilov Vagalinski (boyan_vagalinski@excite.com)
Received: 11 Sep 2019 | Published: 12 Sep 2019
© 2019 Boyan Vagalinski
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Vagalinski BL (2019) On the ecology and biology of two endogean millipedes (Diplopoda: Julida: Julidae) endemic to the Western Rhodope Mtn., Bulgaria. ARPHA Conference Abstracts 2: e46507. https://doi.org/10.3897/aca.2.e46507
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Mountain slopes covered with stone debris have been of special interest for zoologists since the pioneer work of
The present study focuses on two julid millipedes — Typhloiulus orpheus Vagalinski, Stoev & Enghoff, 2015 and a yet undescribed genus and species of the tribe Typhloiulini — occurring in the transitional layer of fine rubble between the soil stratum and the MSS in limestone taluses in the Western Rhodope Mtn. It was revealed that the spatial distributions of the two species in the studied sites were remarkably confined and follow the same pattern, which is suggested to reflect narrow microhabitat specialization. This assumption is further supported by certain traits in the morphology and biology of the two diplopods. It can be concluded that both T. orpheus and the new genus and species are essentially stenotopic endogean elements with strict requirements for an aphotic, mesophilous, limestone environment. Given the specific ecological conditions, which differ from both the overlying soil layer and the underlying colluvial MSS, together with the existence of certain narrowly adapted species, it is worth considering the recognition of the intermediate “microvoid” breakstone layer as a separate shallow subterranean habitat.
Boyan Vagalinski
Vth International Congress on Biodiversity: „Taxonomy, Speciation and Euro-Mediterranean Biodiversity“