Antrolana lira
| Antrolana lira | ||||||||||||
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Antrolana lira |
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
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| Bowman , 1964 | ||||||||||||
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| Antrolana lira | ||||||||||||
| Bowman, 1964 |
Antrolana lira is a rare, cave-dwelling species of woodlouse that is endemic to the Great Valley of the North American Appalachians in the western United States . It is the only species in the genus Antrolana . The genus name is derived from the Greek antron (cave) and the name of the related genus Cirolana . The Artepitethon lira (Latin: furrow) indicates wrinkles on the endopodites of the third to fifth limbs of the abdomen .
features
Antrolana lira is a flattened, stocky woodlice with a body about three times as long as it is wide. The females are about 21 millimeters larger than the males with a maximum of 16 millimeters in length. Like many other cave-dwelling animals, woodlice are colorless and have no eyes. Her head is rounded at the front and has two pairs of antennas, the first relatively short and the second significantly longer. Of the seven pairs of legs on the peraeon , the first is stockier and is designed as a tactile and grasping organ through spines and a higher number of bristles.
Occurrence
The range of the species lies in an approximately 25 km wide and 320 km long area of the Great Valley of the Appalachians , which extends from Lexington (Virginia) to Charles Town ( West Virginia ). It colonizes flooded limestone caves with calcium carbonate saturated water. It was first described after finds in Madison's Cave in Shenandoah Valley .
Way of life
Very little is known about the way of life of Antrolana lira . The animals live on the bottom of deep cave lakes, where they rest in shallow areas on the ground, but unlike most other cave-dwelling woodlice, they often swim freely in the water. They likely feed on carrion. Mainly body parts of insects were found in their digestive tract. The population consists mostly of adult animals, so the rate of reproduction is likely to be relatively low and the animals are long-lived. Young animals occur all year round, so a specific breeding season seems unlikely. The females have no breeding plates on the abdomen under which eggs could be carried, so the species may be viviparous .
Danger
The species is considered to be sensitive to disturbances due to its limited distribution and probably slow reproduction. Possible threats are the tourist use of the caves, which lead to habitat damage and the entry of nutrients and garbage, as well as the pollution of the South River , which could also affect the cave lakes via the groundwater. Antrolana lira is therefore listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and is protected as an endangered species in the United States.
literature
- Thomas E. Bowman: Antrolana lira, a new genus and species of troglobitic cirolanid isopod from Madison cave, Virginia . In: International Journal of Speleology . tape 1 , no. 1/2 , 1964, pp. 229-236 , doi : 10.5038 / 1827-806X.1.1.18 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Susan M. Wells, Robert M. Pyle, N. Mark Collins (Eds.): The IUCN Invertebrate Red Data Book . IUCN, Gland 1984, ISBN 2-88032-602-8 , pp. 281-282 .
- ↑ Thomas E. Bowman: Antrolana lira, a new genus and species of troglobitic cirolanid isopod from Madison cave, Virginia . In: International Journal of Speleology . tape 1 , no. 1/2 , 1964, pp. 229-236 .
- ↑ a b Data sheet for the Madison Cave Isopod (PDF) at the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
- ↑ Antrolana lira in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2011. Posted by: Inland Water Crustacean Specialist Group, 1996 ..
Web links
- Antrolana lira in the Encyclopedia of Life (with pictures)