Animal life in caves has fascinated researchers and the public alike because of the unusual and sometimes bizarre morphological adaptations observed in numerous troglobitic species. Despite their ...worldwide diversity, the adaptations of cave millipedes (Diplopoda) to a troglobitic lifestyle have rarely been examined. In this study, morphological characters were analyzed in species belonging to four different orders (Glomerida, Polydesmida, Chordeumatida, and Spirostreptida) and six different families (Glomeridae, Paradoxosomatidae, Polydesmidae, Haplodesmidae, Megalotylidae, and Cambalopsidae) that represent the taxonomic diversity of class Diplopoda. We focused on the recently discovered millipede fauna of caves in southern China. Thirty different characters were used to compare cave troglobites and epigean species within the same genera. A character matrix was created to analyze convergent evolution of cave adaptations. Males and females were analyzed independently to examine sex differences in cave adaptations. While 10 characters only occurred in a few phylogenetic groups, 20 characters were scored for in all families. Of these, four characters were discovered to have evolved convergently in all troglobitic millipedes. The characters that represented potential morphological cave adaptations in troglobitic species were: (1) a longer body; (2) a lighter body color; (3) elongation of the femora; and (4) elongation of the tarsi of walking legs. Surprisingly, female, but not male, antennae were more elongated in troglobites than in epigean species. Our study clearly shows that morphological adaptations have evolved convergently in different, unrelated millipede orders and families, most likely as a direct adaptation to cave life.
A remarkable aphaenopsian beetle, a sympatric species of
Uéno, 2000, was newly discovered in Cave Mahuang Dong of Shuanghe Dong cave system, the longest cave system of China in Suiyang County, ...northern Guizhou Province. To categorize this striking but still unknown species, a new genus and species are proposed:
,
Relationships of
and other highly modified aphaenopsian genera from southern China Karsts are discussed.
Two new genera and four new species of cave-adapted ground beetles are described from Sichuan Province, southwestern China.
is established to place the trechine species
Uéno, 2003 occurring in the ...limestone cave Hua'er Dong, southeastern Sichuan (Luzhou: Gulin).
, from the limestone cave Hanwang Dong, northeastern Sichuan (Guangyuan: Chaotian), is somewhat like the European cavernicolous trechine genus
Knirsch, 1923, from Bulgaria and Serbia, in particular in the configurations of head and pronotum.
, also from Hanwang Dong, is the second representative of the genus and the first record in Sichuan.
Deuve, 1999, a troglophile, is reported from Sichuan for the first time. The other two new species belong to the platynine genus
Uéno, 1952:
from the cave Banche Dong on the northern side of the Dadu River (Leshan: Shawan) and
from the cave Hua'er Dong, which is sympatric with
(Uéno, 2003)
A distribution map for the localities of all abovementioned caves and a key to
species known in Sichuan are provided.
A new genus and two new species of cavernicolous trechines are reported from central Guizhou Province, southwestern China.
is established to place a new species discovered in two limestone caves in ...northern Qingzhen Shi:
(Dawan Dong cave and Changtu Dong and Dawan Dong caves). This new genus is allied to
Uéno & Ran, 2002.
is described from Zhangkou Dong cave in northern Jiuzhuang Zhen of Xifeng County. In addition, two new localities of the species
Deuve & Tian, 2015, and two new localities of
Ma et al. 2020 are provided. A distribution map for all cavernicolous trechine beetles known in Guiyang is provided.
Two new genera and three new species of cave-adapted ground beetles belonging to the tribe Trechini are established and described: Wulongius qilinger gen. nov. and sp. nov. from limestone cave ...Qiankou Dong (Chongqing: Wulong), Qianotrechus congcongae sp. nov. from cave Shigao Dong (Chongqing: Nanchuan), and Qianlongius zhoui gen. nov. and sp. nov. from cave Qianlong Dong (Guizhou: Songtao). Wulongius qilinger sp. nov. is a small aphaenopsian beetle with a thin and elongated body, while Qianlongius zhoui sp. nov. is a semi-aphaenopsian with a stout body. Both new genera are not closely related to any genus of Trechini occurring in the South China Karst, and so their systematic positions remain unclear.
A new genus and three new species of cave-adapted ground beetles are reported from the limestone cave Shenxian Dong in Huangshan Shi, southeastern Anhui Province, China.
is proposed to place the ...anophthalmic trechine species
. This genus is characterized by the tiny but stout body, sub-moniliform antennae, serrated elytral margins near the base, and a wide distance between the fifth and sixth pores of the marginal umbilicate series on the elytra. In addition, two new species,
. (an anophthalmic trechine) and
. (a microphthalmic platynine), are also described and illustrated from the same cave.
China is a country with abundant karst landscapes, but research on cave biodiversity is still limited. Currently, only Ganxiao Dong, located in Huanjiang, Guangxi, has been reported as a hotspot for ...cave biodiversity. Many of the world’s most troglomorphic species in the major groups of cave animals have been recently discovered in China, making the existence of many more hotspots in the country likely. Feihu Dong, one of these potential hotspot caves, has been systematically investigated to complement a preliminary species list of 1995, leading to the discovery of 62 species of animals from the cave. Among them, 27 are considered troglobionts or stygobionts, 26 are considered troglophiles or stygophiles, and nine are classified as trogloxenes or stygoxenes. Research on the cave biodiversity of Feihu Dong has demonstrated that it currently holds the highest number of known cave animal species in China. Among the most remarkable features of this fauna is the co-occurrence of five species of cave-obligate beetles, all modified for cave life. The biological survey was limited to a small part of the cave. Several habitats (like guano) have not been investigated so far, and several important cave groups have been insufficiently or not sampled (like Ostracoda). Meanwhile, the system increases in length with each new caving expedition. Further discoveries of cave organisms in Feihu Dong are therefore expected. As Feihu Dong and Ganxiao Dong are the only caves in China that have been extensively studied for a large range of organisms, and as they are located in karstic areas that are similar in richness to other regions of southern China, it can be confidently assumed that several other caves of high biodiversity will be discovered in the coming years.
Three new species of the genus Guiodytes Tian, 2013 are described from the limestone caves of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China: Guiodytes weii Huang & Faille sp. nov. and Guiodytes ...yueliangensis Huang & Tian sp. nov. from Dapo Dong and Huang Dong caves, respectively, in Huanjiang County, northernmost Guangxi; Guiodytes inexpectatus Tian & Zhou sp. nov. from the Zhuzhu Dong cave in Longzhou County, southwestern Guangxi. All of the six known species of Guiodytes are endemic to Guangxi, ranging from the southwest to the northernmost. A modified key to species and a distribution map for Guiodytes are provided.
Located in the core zone of Mulun National Nature Reserve in northern Guangxi, the limestone cave Ganxiao Dong harbours the richest cave fauna currently known in China. In total, 26 species of cave ...invertebrates have been recognized so far, in spite of limited sampling efforts. Of them, 20 are troglobionts or stygobionts, including one snail, four millipedes, three spiders, one harvestman, three isopods, two springtails, two crickets, one non-glowing sticky worm, and three trechine beetles. Six other species are troglophiles. The most remarkable characteristic of this fauna is its high number of troglomorphic species, especially among millipedes, crickets and beetles.
Cave-dwelling ground beetles in China represent the most impressive specific diversity and morphological adaptations of the cavernicolous ground beetles in the world, but they have not been ...systematically examined in quantitative terms. The present study focuses on the application of geometric morphological methods to address the morphological adaptations of the tribe Trechini, the most representative group in China. We have employed a geometric morphometry analysis of the head, pronotum, and elytra of 53 genera of Trechini, including 132 hypogean and 8 epigean species. Our results showed that the overall morphological variation of cave carabids has gradually specialized from an anophthalmic to semi-aphaenopsian to aphaenopsian type. There were extremely significant differences (p < 0.01) among four different adaptive types including aphaenopsian, semi-aphaenopsian, anophthalmic, and surface-dwelling Trechini when their adaptability to a cave environment was used as the basis for grouping. Furthermore, there were differences in the phenotypic tree of the head, pronotum, and elytra, and an integrated morphology. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the analysis of the head, pronotum, and elytra of four different adaptive types of ground beetles in order to clarify the morphological adaptations of cavernicolous carabids to the cave environment.
PDF
