A surprising new genus and species of cave-adapted Plusiocampinae Cycladiacampa irakleiae (Diplura, Campodeidae) from Irakleia Island, Cyclades Islands in the Aegean Archipelago (Greece)

Abstract

The surprising discovery of Cycladiacampa irakleiae, a new genus and species, a cave-adapted campodeid dipluran highlights the paleobiogeographical importance of the insular Aegean cave-ecosystems. This new dipluran genus inhabits with other noticeable endemic cave-adapted invertebrate species in the isolated Spilaio Agiou Ioanni cave in Irakleia, a small island in the centre of the Cyclades Archipelago. C. irakleiaegen. nov. et sp. nov. is related with Stygiocampa species, a subgenus of Plusiocampa genus, with hereto six cave-adapted species inhabiting karst areas in Dinaric and the Rhopode Mountains. These species share similarities such as the absence of mesonotal and metanotal macrosetae, the abundance and shape of urosternal macrosetae, as well as the lack of medial posterior macrosetae on mesonotum and metanotum. This can be explained by a common ancestor that probably originated from Asia and expanded its distribution to the fragmented Europe since the Eocene-Oligocene, colonizing cave habitats in recent periods. Cycladiacampa irakleiae is a remarkable addition to the fauna of the cave of Irakleia and should raise awareness on the need to enhance the study and conservation of the cave’s natural heritage.

Cave-adapted campodeids (Hexapoda, Diplura, Campodeidae) from the Dinarides and adjacent karst regions

“…The presence or absence of medial posterior macrosetae on the mesonotum and metanotum splits Plusiocampa s. str. into two biogeographically distinct subgroups (Condé, 1956;Sendra et al, 2019;Sendra et al, 2020c 5, Fig. 104).…”

“…of Cestocampa, Didymocampa and Plusiocampa s. str. These fi rst newcomers are currently located in the Dinaric karst, Gargano Promontory, and the rest of the Protoliguric massif: Catalanides Range, Sardinia, Kabylias and Internal Baetic Zone, in addition to the small Irakelia Island in the Cyclades Islands where Cycladicampa Sendra, 2020 has been recently discovered (Sendra et al, 2020c). A second wave of Plusiocampinae could have colonized the land emerging during the Messinian, at the end of the Miocene.…”

“…These second newcomers are represented by Plusiocampinae with medial macrosetae on the mesonotum and metanotum, as in many species of Plusiocampa s. str., including also Vandelicampa, Hystrichocampa, some Didymocampa and Cestocampa species (Sendra et al, 2019 The diplurans from regions to the north of the Dinarides were wiped out during the Pleistocene glaciations (Sendra et al, 2020c).…”