﻿New records for the Western Balkans cranefly fauna (Diptera, Tipuloidea) with the description of a new Baeoura Alexander (Diptera, Limoniidae)

﻿Abstract The cranefly (Tipuloidea) fauna of the Western Balkans is still poorly known. In this study, occurrence data of 77 species is reported, of which two species are newly recorded for Albania, eight species for Bosnia and Herzegovina, twelve for Croatia, and seven for Slovenia, respectively. A new species, Baeouraneretvaensis Kolcsár & d’Oliveira, sp. nov. is described from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Slovenia. Images of the habitus, wing, and male and female terminalia of the new species are provided. Furthermore, images of male terminalia and wings of thirteen additional species are presented.

Diagnosis. General coloration dark brown, with lateral parts of thorax striped. Scutellum posterior margin whitish. Wing without any markings, hyaline. Gonocoxite long and narrow, without prominent dorsal lobe. Gonostylus very long, narrow, and strongly curved, with a long seta at tip and a flat, blade-like lobe at base. Aedeagal sheath large, strongly curved dorsally, laterally flattened, with a forked process at 3/5 of its length from the base. Female terminalia with a pair of finger-like lobes on sternite 8, longer than cercus or hypogynial valve. Genital chamber complex and strongly sclerotized, sternite 9 with a pair of triangular lobes on the posterior edge, and a pair of finger-like anterior invaginations.
Egg. Dark, large, sub-equal in length of tergite 9, tergite 10 and cerci combined; shape oval, cross section roughly triangular. Etymology. The name of this small and unique species refers to the Neretva River (Fig. 4), one of the last pristine European rivers, from where it was collected in high numbers.
Distribution. The new species is known from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Slovenia (Fig. 5). Remarks. Baeoura neretvaensis sp. nov. is unique among the Western Palaearctic species. The closest related species is Baeoura malickyi Mendl & Tjeder, 1976, but B. neretvaensis can be differentiated from it by the long and slender gonostylus which terminates in a long seta (gonostylus more robust and flattened in B. malickyi, with only a short spine-like seta at tip), gonocoxite with a short, apical ventral lobe (long finger-like lobe in B. malickyi), a flat lobe at the base of the gonostylus present (no such lobe in B. malickyi) (Mendl and Tjeder 1976: figs 1-4). The female of the new species also differs from all described females by the presence of a pair of long finger-like lobes on sternite 8, which is longer than the hypogynial valve (a much shorter lobe is also present in female of B. malickyi; however, it is 1/2 as long as the hypogynial valve (Mendl and Tjeder 1976: figs 5-9). Comments. Much rarer species than Antocha vitripennis, adults usually found along small, fast-flowing mountain rivers, streams, and waterfalls (Starý 2009 Comments. A widely distributed species, known from the Palearctic and Oriental regions. It is relatively rare in Europe, and recently reported from Slovenia (Kolcsár et al. 2021).     Comments. A poorly known species, only recently reinstated as a valid species and probably a more widely distributed species than thought (Starý and Stubbs 2015).
Here we present the first records from Albania and Slovenia.  (Starý and Stubbs 2015). It is known from several countries from the Balkans, and we present the first records from Croatia.   Comments. Widely distributed species in the Palearctic, adults usually found around springs and smaller streams, larvae probably live on moss covered wet rocks. First records from Croatia.    Comments. A relatively common species in Central Europe; however, this is the first record from Croatia and from the Western Balkans.

Comments.
A poorly known species. It seems common in the Western Balkans, reported from all countries; however, it is relatively rare in other parts of Europe. The species seems to prefer small calcareous rivers and streams. Comments. A poorly known species associated with streams and rivers with sandy or gravelly banks (Starý 2009 Comments. A rare and poorly known species associated with mountain rivers and streams with sandy and gravelly banks (Starý 2009). We collected the species near similar habitats, with light traps. First records from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Fig. 15 Material examined.

Comments.
A common species, associated with rich organic muds (Podeniene 2009), and can be found around various water bodies. First record from Slovenia.

Comments.
A common Western Palaearctic species, larvae and pupae associated with partly submerged decaying larger wood in streams and rivers (Hancock et al. 2009 Comments. Another relatively common European species, which is recently reported from several countries from the Balkan (Kolcsár et al. 2015b(Kolcsár et al. , 2021. Here we report it for the first time from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Comments. A relatively rare species, associated with calcareous habitats (Stubbs 2021), but rarely it can also be found around non-calcareous streams (Kolcsár and Soltész 2018).         Comments. Another common and widely distributed Crunobia species, can be found throughout a wider range of habitats than P. littoralis, including springs and small, cold-water rivers. Comments. A relative common and easily recognizable species. Larvae are aquatic and the species can be found around springs and streams, from lowlands to high mountains. Appears to be a very rare species in southern part of Europe and found only in humid mountains in the Western Balkans. Here we present the first records from Croatia.

Discussion
As many other publications have previously demonstrated, the biodiversity of the Balkans remains insufficiently investigated, and the local fauna consists of far more species than what is currently reported (e.g., Ivković et al. 2013;Kvifte et al. 2013;Pont and Ivković 2013;Ivković and Plant 2015;Ivković and Pont 2015;Kvifte and Ivković 2018;Keresztes et al. 2018b). Despite historical and more recent publications (Bilalli et al. 2021;de Jong et al. 2021;Kolcsár et al. 2015aKolcsár et al. , b, 2017aKolcsár et al. , b, 2018aKolcsár et al. , b, 2023Keresztes et al. 2018a, b;Starý 2012) the cranefly fauna of the Western Balkans is still poorly known. In this study we report two species for the first time from Albania, eight from Bosnia and Herzegovina, twelve from Croatia, and seven from Slovenia. Most of the newly reported species are common and widely distributed in Europe, highlighting how understudied the local fauna is. However, some rare and poorly known species such as Antocha alpigena, Ellipteroides limbatus, Idiocera jucunda, I. lackschewitzi, and Orimarga juvenilis etc. were also collected, primarily around natural streams and rivers. Furthermore, a new species, Baeoura neretvaensis sp. nov. is described. Baeoura is considered as a rare group in the Western Palaearctic, with a distribution mainly restricted to the Mediterranean region (Fig. 5). Besides the original species descriptions (Kuntze 1914;Tjeder 1974, 1976;Starý 1981;Krzemiński and Starý 1984;Mendl 1985Mendl , 1986Driauach and Belqat 2015;Hancock 2020) only few additional faunistic records are known from the Western Palearctic (Erhan-Dincă 1984;Simova-Tosic 1992;Starý and Oosterbroek 1996;Koç 2004;Ujvárosi 2005;Starý 2014;Oosterbroek et al. 2020;Kolcsár et al. 2021).
The biology and ecology of Baeoura species are poorly known or even unknown. Larvae and pupae of the South African species B. claripennis (Alexander, 1921) were found on the surface of smaller boulders, ~ 30 cm deep in a swiftly flowing stream and the imago was collected from vegetation along the stream (Wood 1952). Adults of B. malickyi, B. schachti Mendl, 1986, andB. armata Mendl, 1985 were collected around small streams with clear water (Mendl and Tjeder 1976;Mendl 1985Mendl , 1986Kolcsár et al. 2021). Baeoura rotherayi and B. szadziewskii Krzemiński & Starý, 1984 were also collected along streams (Krzemiński and Starý 1984;Hancock 2020). Driauach and Belqat (2015) collected B. ebenina Starý, 1981 and B. staryi along partly dried out rivers, with minimal water flow in Morocco. Adults of B. alexanderi Tjeder, 1974 in Crete andB. longefiligera Mendl, 1986 in Spain were found in dry valleys of very small streams (Mendl and Tjeder 1974;Mendl 1986). It is assumed that larvae of Western Palaearctic species are also aquatic or semi-aquatic (Mendl and Tjeder 1976;Erhan-Dincă 1984). Adults of B. neretvaensis sp. nov. were collected around fast flowing gravelly/rocky streams and rivers (Fig. 4). Baeoura malickyi and B. neretvaensis sp. nov. were collected from the same habitat at the same time along Sava River in Slovenia (Fig. 5, see also Kolcsár et al. 2021). Based on the above-mentioned observations, the European Baeoura species are rheobiont, larvae most probably occurring in fast flowing streams and rivers. Some species seem to be adapted to fluctuating water conditions, tolerating the partly or fully drying up of streams and rivers during the dry periods in the Mediterranean area. The adults migrate farther from the larval habitats along valleys. Based on literature data and our observations, Baeoura species are attracted by light sources and surveillance traps could be effective methods to collect these smallsized and poorly known species.

Conclusions
At this time of intensified climate change, that causes streams and rivers to dry up, and the general increasing anthropogenic influences on freshwater habitats, we stipulate that it is of utmost importance to protect the streams and rivers as much as we possibly can. The Western Balkans is a part of Europe with still relatively little human impact and therefore our efforts on exploring and studying this area need to be much more than they are at present. Only by increasing our knowledge of the diversity of this area can we help to protect it more thoroughly. It truly deserves to be protected, so it can remain the Blue Heart of Europe.