Research Article |
Corresponding author: Jolanta Wytwer ( jolawyt@miiz.waw.pl ) Academic editor: Marzio Zapparoli
© 2019 Jolanta Wytwer, Karel Tajovský.
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:
Wytwer J, Tajovský K (2019) The Siberian centipede species Lithobius proximus Sseliwanoff, 1878 (Chilopoda, Lithobiomorpha): a new member of the Polish fauna. ZooKeys 821: 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.821.32250
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The centipede Lithobius proximus Sseliwanoff, 1878 is presented for the first time as a new member of the Polish fauna. This species, originally characterized as a widespread Siberian boreal species, seems to possess high plasticity with regards to environmental requirements. Its actual distribution range covers several geographical zones where local conditions have allowed it to survive. The present research in the Wigry National Park, northeast Poland, shows that its distribution extends to the ends of the East European Plain embracing the East Suwałki Lake District, where it occurs almost exclusively in the oak-hornbeam forests: in summer it is one of the three dominant lithobiomorph centipedes inhabiting litter layers.
Lithobiomorph centipede, new records, western limit of the range, East European Plain
According to data from the catalogue of the Polish centipede fauna (
Previously, the chilopod fauna of Poland contained 56 species (
The centipede material was collected in forest habitats near the Sobolewo and Krzywe villages in the Wigry National Park, Poland. According to the physicogeographical regionalisation of
During 2015–2016, surveys were focused on bog-pine forest (Vaccinio uliginosi-Pinetum), bog-birch forest (Thelypteridi-Betuletum pubescentis), bog-spruce forest (Sphagno girgensohni-Piceetum) and alder stands (Ribeso nigri-Alnetum). Since June 2016, it continued in oak-hornbeam forest stands with the Tilio-Carpinetum typicum and Tilio-Carpinetum calamagrostietosum typicum plant associations within a running project aimed at assessing the impact of the invasive small balsam Impatiens parviflora on forest communities. All stands were located in the Czarna Hańcza River basin.
Centipedes were collected by soil sampling and pitfall trapping. Soil samples (5 samples per plot, sampling area of each 625 cm2 and depth 10 cm) were taken twice a year, in bog pine, bog-birch, bog-spruce and alder forests in October 2015 and June 2016, and subsequently in oak-hornbeam forests stands in October 2016 and May and September 2017. Soil samples were transported to the laboratory and invertebrates were subsequently heat extracted using the modified Kempson extraction apparatus (
Within the entire centipede material, Lithobius proximus was recorded only in oak-hornbeam forest stands by pitfall trapping. Therefore, the additional data for the following stands relates only to positive records as follows:
Stand 1 Tilio-Carpinetum calamagrostietosum typicum, 54°01'57"N, 22°59'34"E, 167 m a.s.l, forest district 92d, trapping period Oct 2015 – Sept 2017;
Stand 2 Tilio-Carpinetum calamagrostietosum typicum, 54°01'46"N, 23°00'20"E, 158 m a.s.l. forest district 106h, trapping period Oct 2015 – Oct 2016;
Stand 3 Tilio-Carpinetum calamagrostietosum typicum, 54°02'14"N, 23°00'33"E, 169 m a.s.l. forest district 104b, trapping period Oct 2015 – Oct 2016;
Stand 4a Tilio-Carpinetum calamagrostietosum typicum, 54°01'51"N, 23°01'27"E, 154 m a.s.l., forest district 127c, trapping period Oct 2015 – Sept 2017;
Stand 4b Tilio-Carpinetum typicum, 54°01'56"N, 23°00'55"E, 154 m a.s.l. forest district 116f, trapping period Oct 2016 – Oct 2017;
Stand 4c Tilio-Carpinetum calamagrostietosum typicum, 54°01'53"N, 23°01'06"E, 153 m a.s.l., forest district 116g, trapping period Oct 2016 – Oct 2017;
Stand 5 Tilio-Carpinetum typicum, 54°04'23"N, 23°00'55"E, 149 m a.s.l., forest district 52c, trapping period Oct 2016 – Oct 2017;
Stand 6 Tilio-Carpinetum typicum, 54°04'30"N, 23°00'59"E, 161 m a.s.l., forest district 51c, trapping period Oct 2016 – Oct 2017.
The studied material was obtained from the following trapping periods and stands:
15 Jun–26 Sep 2016 – 11 ♀♀, 1 ♂, stand 1; 8 ♀♀, 2 ♂♂, stand 2; 16 ♀♀, 3 ♂♂, stand 3; 3 ♀♀, 3 ♂♂, stand 4a;
26 Sep–19 Oct 2016 – 1 ♀, 1 ♂, stand 2; 1♀, stand 3;
19 Oct 2016–23 May 2017 – 1 ♂, stand 3;
23 May–12 Sep 2017 – 4 ♂♂, stand 4a; 4 ♀♀, 2 ♂♂, stand 4b; 1 ♀, 2 ♂♂, stand 4c; 6 ♀♀, 6 ♂♂, stand 1; 20 ♀♀, 8 ♂♂, stand 5; 8 ♀♀, 8 ♂♂, stand 6.
Lithobius proximus is formally treated as belonging to the subgenus Ezembius Chamberlin, 1919 (
Lithobius proximus Sseliwanoff, 1878, male (23 May–12 Sep 2017, Stand 4a): 1 total habitus, lateral view 2 anterior part of the body with a darker brownish to brown colour of the head and antennal articles, dorsolateral view 3 posterior part of the body, ultimate male legs with dorsal groove on femur and tibia (arrows), dorsal view 4 head in ventrolateral view 5 distal end of ultimate leg with apical claw and accessory apical claw. Photos by P. Ślipiński (1–4) and M. Romański (5).
Female specimens with 2 + 3 or 3 + 3 spurs on gonopods were treated as very rare (
Lithobius proximus is the only representative of the subgenus Ezembius in Poland. Ezembius was regarded as a subgenus of the genus Lithobius by
Distribution map of Lithobius proximus Sseliwanoff, 1878 based on a summarisation of the published data (yellow dots;
The present data indicate that Lithobius proximus is neither an accessory nor an accidental species in the litter centipede community of the horn-beam forests in the Wigry National Park; rather, it is well anchored as a co-dominant species. Quantitative data on the epigeic fauna based on the extensive pitfall trapping proved that Lithobius proximus co-dominates with two other lithobiomorph centipedes. The first is the common, eurytopic species Lithobius (Lithobius) forficatus Linnaeus, 1758, with a Holarctic range of distribution, and the second is the common forest species Lithobius (Monotarsobius) curtipes (C. Koch, 1847), with a Palearctic range. Our data appear to agree with phenological observations made by
Geographically, the northeastern most edge of Poland is the most western part of the East European Plain (Russian Plain), the megaregion that is characterised by a classic latitudinal nature zonation combined with an increasing longitudinal continental character. Climate shifts result in the East European Plain to be covered by belts of biomes arranged from the tundra to the taiga, mixed coniferous-deciduous forests, broadleaved forests, steppe and semideserts to deserts in the south. Previous research has demonstrated that climate is the main factor that influences distribution of some soil fauna in the East European Plain (
Based on the known published data, Lithobius proximus seems to be a species with high plasticity with regards to environmental requirements.
This research was co-financed by the forest fund under an agreement concluded between the State Forests National Forest Holding and the Wigry National Park (EZ.0290.1.6.2016 and EZ.0290.1.39.2017). The authors thank Anna and Lech Krzysztofiak for logistic support and help with the field research. We wish to thank our colleagues, Piotr Ślipiński (Museum and Institute of Zoology, PAS) and Maciej Romański (Wigry National Park), for taking photographs.