{"title":"First biological data, associated fauna, and microclimate preferences of the enigmatic cave-dwelling beetle Dalyat mirabilis Mateu, 2002 (Coleoptera, Carabidae)","authors":"J. Mayoral, P. Barranco, Á. Fernández-Cortés","doi":"10.3897/subtbiol.44.87205","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Dalyat mirabilis is an extraordinary troglobite carabid described in 2002 from the cave Simarrón II in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain). A new subfamily Dalyatinae was erected to accommodate this species with remarkable morphological characters and adaptations to live underground. In addition to the former original descriptions, there is only one more study and it aimed to elucidate its evolutionary history. Its closest living relative belongs to the genus Promecognathus in North America and both groups seem to have diverged sometime in the late Jurassic to early Cretaceous. In this work, the phenology of D. mirabilis, its associated invertebrate fauna and the environmental conditions of the cave Simarrón II were studied for a full year cycle. This carabid is not evenly distributed in the cave, in time or space. It is most abundant during the winter months, wet season, and it disappears from the top layer of the substrate in the summer. A positive correlation was found between the number of carabids captured per trap and the distance to the entrance of the cave; most specimens were captured in traps farthest from the entrance and located in the chamber known as Vias Salas Negras. Furthermore, several spatially-resolved analyses integrating relative humidity, temperature, and the number of captures per trap showed that D. mirabilis prefers Vias Salas Negras for having a higher and more stable relative humidity than other chambers in the cave. Larvae were never captured, regardless of intense efforts to collect them for years. Finally, 30 other invertebrate species belonging to 12 different Orders were captured in the cave and are listed here, 25.8% are troglobites, 29.0% troglophiles and 45.2% troglexenes. The data from this study was used for an initiative to protect this cave and its remarkable fauna. Some of the measures taken by the Administration include the control of human visits to the cave, the installation of a perimetral fence surrounding the entrance, and the installation of an informative panel at the exterior of the cave describing the endemic entomological fauna it contains.","PeriodicalId":48493,"journal":{"name":"Subterranean Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Subterranean Biology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.44.87205","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ZOOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Dalyat mirabilis is an extraordinary troglobite carabid described in 2002 from the cave Simarrón II in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain). A new subfamily Dalyatinae was erected to accommodate this species with remarkable morphological characters and adaptations to live underground. In addition to the former original descriptions, there is only one more study and it aimed to elucidate its evolutionary history. Its closest living relative belongs to the genus Promecognathus in North America and both groups seem to have diverged sometime in the late Jurassic to early Cretaceous. In this work, the phenology of D. mirabilis, its associated invertebrate fauna and the environmental conditions of the cave Simarrón II were studied for a full year cycle. This carabid is not evenly distributed in the cave, in time or space. It is most abundant during the winter months, wet season, and it disappears from the top layer of the substrate in the summer. A positive correlation was found between the number of carabids captured per trap and the distance to the entrance of the cave; most specimens were captured in traps farthest from the entrance and located in the chamber known as Vias Salas Negras. Furthermore, several spatially-resolved analyses integrating relative humidity, temperature, and the number of captures per trap showed that D. mirabilis prefers Vias Salas Negras for having a higher and more stable relative humidity than other chambers in the cave. Larvae were never captured, regardless of intense efforts to collect them for years. Finally, 30 other invertebrate species belonging to 12 different Orders were captured in the cave and are listed here, 25.8% are troglobites, 29.0% troglophiles and 45.2% troglexenes. The data from this study was used for an initiative to protect this cave and its remarkable fauna. Some of the measures taken by the Administration include the control of human visits to the cave, the installation of a perimetral fence surrounding the entrance, and the installation of an informative panel at the exterior of the cave describing the endemic entomological fauna it contains.
2002年,在伊比利亚半岛(西班牙)东南部的Simarrón II洞穴中发现了一种非同寻常的穴居石。该物种具有显著的形态特征和对地下生活的适应性,因此建立了一个新的水杨亚科。除了先前的原始描述外,只有一项研究旨在阐明其进化史。它现存的近亲属于北美的Promecognathus属,这两个类群似乎在侏罗纪晚期到白垩纪早期的某个时候分化了。本研究以一年为周期,研究了d.m irabilis及其伴生无脊椎动物群的物候特征和Simarrón II洞的环境条件。这种甲虫在洞穴中,在时间和空间上都不是均匀分布的。它在冬季和雨季最为丰富,在夏季从基材的顶层消失。每个陷阱捕获的瓢虫数量与洞穴入口的距离呈正相关;大多数标本是在离入口最远的陷阱中捕获的,被放置在被称为Vias Salas Negras的房间里。此外,结合相对湿度、温度和每个捕集器捕获的数量进行的空间解析分析表明,相对于洞穴中的其他房间,mirabilis更喜欢Vias Salas Negras,因为它具有更高和更稳定的相对湿度。尽管多年来一直在努力收集,但从未捕获过幼虫。最后,在洞穴中捕获了30种属于12个不同目的无脊椎动物,其中25.8%为穴居动物,29.0%为穴居动物,45.2%为穴居动物。这项研究的数据被用于保护这个洞穴和它的非凡动物的倡议。行政当局采取的一些措施包括控制人类进入洞穴,在入口周围设置围栏,并在洞穴外部安装一个介绍洞穴特有昆虫动物群的信息板。
期刊介绍:
Subterranean Biology is an international journal published by Pensoft on behalf of the International Society for Subterranean Biology [SIBIOS-ISSB] for the publication of original and significant contributions on all aspects of subterranean life. The Journal will consider original scientific papers dealing with any aspect of subterranean ecosystems and their components focusing on biology, ecology, evolution and conservation. Reviews and Commentaries: The journal welcomes review articles on aspects of subterranean biology. They should be submitted in the same way as research articles but use a simple layout with no more than three levels of headings. Commentaries on previous matter published in the journal may be also considered. Both reviews and commentaries will be reviewed. Book Reviews: Reviews of books, symposia volumes and conferences pertinent to the journal are welcome. The journal publishes electronic versions of the articles when these are ready to publish, without delays that might be caused by completion of an issue. These electronic versions are not "pre-prints" but final and immutable (Version of Record), hence available for the purposes of biological nomenclature. The date indicated on the electronic version is to be considered the actual publication date.