Golovatch S.I.1, Makarova O.L.1, Osipov D.V.2 2025. Millipedes (Diplopoda) of the Samur Forest National Park, Dagestan, Caucasus, Russia // Arthropoda Selecta. Vol.34. No.4: 461–472 [in English].
1 A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospekt 33, Moscow 119071 Russia.
2 Moscow Zoo, Bolshaya Gruzinskaya 1, Moscow 123242 Russia.
Sergei Golovatch: sgolovatch@yandex.ru https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7159-5484
Olga L. Makarova: ol_makarova@mail.ru https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1820-2511
Daniel V. Osipov: araneus2000@yandex.ru https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6083-7652
doi: 10.15298/arthsel.34.4.01
ABSTRACT. The millipede fauna of the Samur Forest National Park, southeastern Dagestan, Caucasus, presently contains some 10 species and genera, altogether representing seven families and six orders. Pitfall trapping performed in various habitats from early April to late June demonstrates that two julid species are the most widespread and abundant there: the dominant Omobrachyiulus caucasicus (Karsch, 1881) and the subdominant Rossiulus kessleri (Lohmander, 1927). The relative poverty of the diplopod fauna of the Samur Forest in comparison with the lists of the western and central Caucasus could be accounted for by the low precipitation rate typical of the semi-desert belt, periodically resulting in litter drought. This humidity deficit fails to be compensated for even by the intense sub-surface ground water drain characteristic of the Samur Forest. Zoogeographically, its fauna is totally devoid of narrowly endemic diplopod species, being generally characterized instead as an impoverished variant of the Caucasian realm fauna and barely tied to the geographically nearest Hyrcanian biogeographic province with its rich and highly endemic diplopod fauna.
KEY WORDS: fauna, ecology, zoogeography.