Assistant Heliana Dundarova, PhD Student
Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Bulgarian Caving Society
www.iber.bas.bg, www.bgcave.org
During the first Bulgarian-Kosovo speleo expedition a cave-dwelling invertebrates were hand-collected from different kinds of terrestrial microhabitats (stones, guano, clay and sand). All collected samples were stored at 95% ethanol. Overall three caves were explored.
All the collected samples are grouped for identification by the specialists, which require a longer period of time. This report is not final and reflects only to the materials identified so far. The detailed report will be provided after the final determination of the collected biospeleological material.
Preliminary results:
1. Shpella e Bali Agës cave, Zatriqit village, N42.466694, E20.628326,
H. Dundarova leg.
Gastropoda (snails):
– Zebrina detrita (Müller, 1774), 3 add, adl
– Jaminia quadridens (O.F. Muller, 1774), 1add
family Clausiliidae, 1add
Coleoptera (beetles):
family Curculionidae, 2 ind
Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps and sawflies)
family Ichneumonidae
– Diphyus quadripunctorius (Müller, 1776), 2 f
Diplopoda (millipedes):
– Megaphyllum sp. Verhoeff, 1894, 1 f
2. Shpella e Banuar (Gërgavica), Zatriqit village, N42.452603, E20.641797,
H. Dundarova, V. Gyorev leg.
Araneae (spiders):
– Tegenaria animata Kratochvíl & Miller, 1940, 2 f, 1 j
New species for Kosovo cave fauna
Orthoptera (grasshoppers):
– Troglophilus neglectus Krauss, 1879, 1 f, 4 j
Chilopoda (centipedes):
– Lithobius sp. Leach, 1814, 4 ind
3. Shpella Dush cave, Dush village, N42.531793, E20.593597,
A. Zhalov V. Gyorev, leg.
Araneae (spiders):
Nesticus cellulanus (Clerck, 1757), 1 m, 3 f, 2 j
Metellina merianae (Scopoli, 1763), 4 m, 3 f
Porrhomma convexum (Westring, 1851), 1 m
Vertebrates:
Bats:
Within Shpella Dush cave a bat colony was found, probably the number of bat species is around three: Myotis blythii, Myotis capaccinii and Rhinolophus hipposideros. Further, investigations are needed to assign the number of bat species and the importance of this cave for the colony/s during the winter and summer.
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Lizards and salamanders:
On the way to Shpella e Plumbave and Shpella e Mbretëreshës, close to Zatriqit village two individuals of Lacerta viridis were identified. Further, within a spring close to the village juvenile individuals of Salamandra salamandra were also detected
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Legend of abbreviations:
add – adult shell
adl – adult live
f – female
ind – individuals
j – juvenile
leg – collector
m – male
Acknowledgement:
Boyan Vagalinski, Dragan Chobanov, Ivailo Dedov and Simeon Lukanov, scientists from the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and Christo Delchev from National Museum of Natural History Sofia.
