Research Article |
Corresponding author: Eleonora Kiria ( eleonora.kiria.1@iliauni.edu.ge ) Academic editor: Dragan Antić
© 2024 Eleonora Kiria, Levan Mumladze, Shalva Barjadze, Ivan H. Tuf.
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:
Kiria E, Mumladze L, Barjadze S, Tuf IH (2024) New records of centipedes (Myriapoda: Chilopoda) in the fauna of Georgia, South Caucasus. Caucasiana 3: 151-162. https://doi.org/10.3897/caucasiana.3.e130238
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Georgia's rich biodiversity, as a key part of the Caucasus hotspot, makes it an ideal destination for scientific research. Nevertheless, knowledge about the species diversity of different animal groups in this area remains limited. In this article we provide information on the nine centipede species (Henia brevis (Silvestri, 1896), H. hirsuta Verhoeff, 1928, H. taurica (Sseliwanoff, 1884), Strigamia caucasia (Verhoeff, 1938), S. pusilla (Sseliwanoff, 1884), Harpolithobius spinipes Folkmanová, 1958, Lithobius antipai Matic, 1969, L. foviceps Muralevitch, 1926, and L. micropodus (Matic, 1980)) newly recorded in Georgia. Three of these species (H. brevis, H. hirsuta, and L. micropodus) are also new records for the Caucasus region. Data on their distribution, maps of the localities, and photos of the specimens studied are also given.
Georgia, Caucasus, new records, Geophilomorpha, Lithobiomorpha
The biological diversity of Georgia is remarkable and fascinating. The country, like the entire Caucasus, has attracted the interest of many zoologists who have studied the fauna of this area over the last two centuries. However, a large part of Georgia’s biodiversity still remains unexplored (
The centipede specimens were collected between 2010–2023 in different regions of Georgia (Figures
The coordinates were recorded with Garmin GPSMAP 64s. The maps showing species distribution were created with QGIS (3.22.3).
Family Dignathodontidae Cook, 1896
Genus Henia C. L. Koch, 1847
Italy: Oriolo, Voghera, originally described as Chaetechelyne brevis Silvestri, 1896.
GEORGIA • 1♂; eastern Georgia, Mtskheta municipality, Saskhori limestone quarry, sifting site N6; N41.84655°, E44.50885°; 640 m a.s.l.; 6 Mar. 2022; leg. M. Gogshelidze, E. Maghradze, L. Shavadze; • 1♂; sifting site N4; N41.84402°, E44.52403°; 655 m a.s.l.; 19 Apr. 2022; leg. M. Gogshelidze, E. Maghradze, L. Shavadze, N. Modebadze.
Europe: British Is., France, Germany, Italy, Moldova (
Henia brevis was described by Silvestri (1896) from Italy. This is the first record of this species in Georgia and the Caucasus as well.
Greece: Mesolongi.
GEORGIA • 3♂; eastern Georgia, Lagodekhi municipality, Lagodekhi National Park, subalpine meadow; N41.87408°, E46.37877°; 2347 m a.s.l.; 3 Jun. 2013; leg. L. Mumladze; • 2♂, 1♀; Lagodekhi National Park; N41.85232°, E46.28744°; 652 m a.s.l.; 26 May 2023; leg. E. Kiria, M. Gogshelidze, L. Shavadze, A. Margalitadze; • 2♂; eastern Georgia, Tianeti municipality, village Bochorma; N41.92391°, E45.10189°; 965 m a.s.l.; 24 May 2017; leg. L. Mumladze.
Greece (
This species was described from a specimen found near Mesolongi, central Greece (
Ukraine: Crimea, originally described as Scotophilus tauricus Sseliwanoff, 1884.
GEORGIA • 1♂; western Georgia, Mestia municipality, village Dizi; N43.00778°, E42.29167°; 834 m a.s.l.; 27 Jun. 2015; leg. L. Mumladze.
Ukraine: Crimea (
This species was described by Seliwanoff (1884) on the basis of 19 specimens (10♂ and 9♀) from the Crimea and was initially known as an endemic species of the Crimea. It was later recorded in Krasnodar, Russia, mainly under the stones of deciduous forests (
Genus Strigamia Gray, 1843
Near Gora Abago, Krasnodar, Russia, originally described as Scolipolanes (Protoplanes) caucasius Verhoeff, 1938.
GEORGIA • 1♀; western Georgia, Kobuleti municipality, Khino; N41.72792°, E42.08298°; 1022 m a.s.l.; 23 Aug. 2010; leg. L. Mumladze.
Russia: Krasnodar (
Originally, this species was described as Scolipolanes caucasius, and its taxonomic status was never questioned (
Russia: Zarajsk, originally described as Scolioplanes pusillus Sseliwanoff, 1884.
GEORGIA • 1♂, 1♀; eastern Georgia, Lagodekhi municipality, Lagodekhi National Park, mixed broadleaf forest; N41.84830°, E46.33423°; 1428 m a.s.l.; 3 Jun. 2013; leg. L. Mumladze.
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Mongolia (
Strigamia pusilla
was described by
Family Lithobiidae Pocock, 1895
Genus Harpolithobius Verhoeff, 1904
Russia: Krasnaya Polyana.
GEORGIA • 1♂; eastern Georgia, Lagodekhi municipality, Lagodekhi protected areas, mixed broadleaf forest; N41.87438°, E46.36163°; 1970 m a.s.l.; 3 Jun. 2013; leg. L. Mumladze; • 1♂; western Georgia; Baghdati municipality, near Zekari Pass, subalpine forest; N41.84686°, E42.80745°; 2210 m a.s.l.; 11 Oct. 2013; leg. L. Mumladze; • 1♀; western Georgia; Baghdati municipality, near Zekari Pass, subalpine forest; N41.84609°, E42.80933°; 2204 m a.s.l.; 11 Oct. 2013; leg. L. Mumladze; • 1 ♂; western Georgia; Baghdati municipality, Sairme Gorge; mixed forest; N41.87473°, E42.78721°; 1615 m a.s.l.; 11 Oct. 2013; leg. L. Mumladze; • 1♀; western Georgia; Baghdati municipality, Sairme Gorge; mixed forest; N41.88185°, E42.76146°; 1439 m a.s.l.; 11 Oct. 2013; leg. L. Mumladze; • 1♂; western Georgia, Kobuleti municipality, Mtirala mountain, Colchic humid forest; N41.67383°, E41.85428°; 450 m a.s.l.; 25 Mar. 2014; leg. L. Mumladze; • 1♀; western Georgia, Tsalenjikha municipality, village Potskho Etseri; Zugdidi-Mestia roadside, under the rocks; N42.77657°, E42.05402°; 716 m a.s.l.; 27 Jun. 2015; leg. L. Mumladze; • 1♂; eastern Georgia, Stepantsminda municipality, village Kobi, Subalpine meadow, steep slope with boulders; N42.53774°, E44.49272°; 2280 m a.s.l.; 19 Aug. 2017; leg. L. Mumladze; • 1♂; eastern Georgia, Kvareli municipality, forest floor with large stones; N41.98228°, E45.85405°; 835 m a.s.l.; 5 Oct. 2021; leg. L. Mumladze.
Russia (
This species is only known from the Caucasus. For a long time, only two localities were known from Russia until the study by
Iran: Mountain Demavend.
GEORGIA • 2♀; western Georgia; Lagodekhi municipality, Lagodekhi protected areas, broadleaf forest; N41.88541°, E46.24866°; 740 m a.s.l.; 27 May 2023; leg. E. Kiria, M. Gogshelidze, L. Shavadze, A. Margalitadze; • 1♂; western Georgia; Lagodekhi municipality, Lagodekhi protected areas, broadleaf forest; N41.88695°, E46.25825°; 1058 m a.s.l.; 27 May 2023; leg. E. Kiria, M. Gogshelidze, L. Shavadze, A. Margalitadze; • 3♂; western Georgia; Lagodekhi municipality, Lagodekhi protected areas, broadleaf forest, location N2; N41.88386°, E46.25681°; 995 m a.s.l.; 27 May 2023; leg. E. Kiria, M.Gogshelidze, L. Shavadze, A. Margalitadze.
Azerbaijan (Zalesskaja 1978), Russia, Iran (
The original description of this species by
Azerbaijan: Kemervan.
GEORGIA • 1♀; Lagodekhi municipality, Lagodekhi protected areas, mixed broadleaf forest; N41.87438° E46.36163°; 1970 m a.s.l.; 3 Jun. 2013; leg. L.Mumladze.
Azerbaijan: Kemervan (
Until now, this species was known only from its type locality, which is only ca 150 km from Lagodekhi. We have recorded this species for the first time in Georgia.
Type locality is unknown.
GEORGIA • 2♂; Lagodekhi municipality, Lagodekhi protected areas, subalpine meadow; N41.87408°, E46.37877°; 2347 m a.s.l.; 3 June 2013; leg. L. Mumladze.
Mainland and insular Greece, Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, Russian Plain, Sardinia, Serbia, Sicily, Slovenia, Turkey (
This species is widely known in Europe but has never been recorded from the Caucasus. This is the first record for Georgia and also for the entire Caucasus.
A recently published checklist of Georgian centipedes lists 59 (sub)species based on a thorough review of all literature sources. However, this list contains minor inaccuracies (
Thus, if the previous checklist documented 56 valid species and two subspecies from Georgia, the presented study extends the list of recorded species to 65 species and two subspecies. However, even though this number is probably not definitive, it can be assumed that even more species occur in this biodiversity-rich country.
We are grateful to Mariam Gogshelidze, Lado Shavadze, Eter Maghradze, Ana Margalitadze, and Naia Modebadze for their help in the material collection. The manuscript was improved by the helpful feedback and corrections from two reviewers, Dalibor Stojanović (Serbia) and an anonymous reviewer, as well as the suggestions from the editor, Dragan Antić (Serbia)
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
No ethical statement was reported.
The investigation was supported by the projects: “Modern state of fauna of Georgia, status, conservation problems” funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia and “Investigation of soil biodiversity in Saskhori Quarry with the participation of local school pupils” funded by the Quarry Life Award, Heidelberg Cement, Georgia.
LM and EK collected material; EK and IHT identified species; EK drafted the original version of the manuscript. SB and LM provided logistical support. All authors contributed to the final version of the manuscript.
Eleonora Kiria https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1711-2163
Levan Mumladze https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2172-6973
Shalva Barjadze https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8992-4987
Ivan H Tuf https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0250-0482
All of the data that support the findings of this study are available in the main text or Supplementary Information.