Biospeleology of the Piemonte
(North-western Italy)

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Arthropoda, Insecta, Coleoptera, Cholevidae, Leptodirinae

Insecta, Coleoptera, Cholevidae, Leptodirinae, Parabathyscia dematteisi dematteisi Ronchetti e Pavan, 1953 - It is a little Leptodirinae (size of the body: about 3 mm) living in the endogean environment that was reported, when it has been dicovered, only for the Furnaces Cave of Rossana (altitude 554 m), that was threated by a overhanging limestone mine. Because of this fact some improvised biospeleologists transported this species in other caves of the Cuneese and prepared more or less well organized breedings. In fact, they thought in that time that a troglobite species lives exclusively in one or a little number of caves.

The result of these manoeuvres was that the Rossana Cave, also if a little damaged, hasn't been destroyed and instead, because of the awkward breedings, both the Bossea Cave and the Higher Dossi Cave have been invaded by this species and its distribution area has been artificially enlarged of about 50 km. The author discovered the presence of Parabathyscia dematteisi into Bossea in 1992 and into the Dossi Cave in 1995. Besides, the same species has been abundantly found also in the Partisans Cave (altitude 615 m), less than 500 m far from the Furnaces Cave, on the mountain above the mine and in the Valmala's beechwoods (by Achille Casale). More recently, in 1998, the author found this Leptodirinae also in a beechwood (altitude about 1250 m), near the Santa Margherita village, about 15 km towards south-west from the Rossana Cave.

Copulation of Parabathyscia dematteisi.

The photo by the side belong to a series that the author performed in 1995 and it is one of the first images of the Leptodirinae copulation; this photo has been already published in the "Encyclopaedia Biospeologica" (Société de Biospéologie - Moulis-Bucarest, 1998, pag. 1089, photo 4).

Larva of Parabathyscia dematteisi.

Also this photo, performed by the author in 1994, has been published on the "Encyclopaedia Biospeologica" dedicated to the cave fauna of the world (Société de Biospéologie - Moulis-Bucarest, 1998, pag. 1089, photo 5).


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