Subterranean-dwelling spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from the Western Italian Alps

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 945 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Nicolosi G, Martínez A, Piano E, Isaia M, Mammola S (2025). Subterranean-dwelling spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from the Western Italian Alps. Version 1.1. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque. Occurrence dataset. https://cloud.gbif.org/eca/resource?r=subterranean_dwelling_spiders&v=1.1

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 72eef995-01bd-44f2-937a-23dbfe66283d.  Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Participant Node Managers Committee.

Keywords

Occurrence; Specimen; checklist; subterranean spiders; checklist; Western Alps; Italy

Contacts

Geographic Coverage

Western Italian Alps, Italy (provinces of Piemonte, Liguria, and Val d'Aosta)

Taxonomic Coverage

spiders (Arachnida: Araneae)

Temporal Coverage

Project Data

We present here a database on cave-dwelling spider communities (Arachnida: Araneae) collected within the P.R.I.N. 2022 project “DEEPCHANGE” (2022MJSYF8), funded by the Ministry of Universities and Research (Italy). The dataset was created by systematically reviewing existing literature and data documenting the presence of subterranean spiders in the Western Italian Alps. Relevant articles were identified, downloaded, and thoroughly reviewed to extract all available records. Collectively, these communities account for 31 unique species and 370 unique geo-referenced occurrence records.

The personnel involved in the project:

Sampling Methods

We gathered information on subterranean habitats in which the presence of subterranean spiders is recorded based on 12 publications (Isaia et al., 2011 and references therein; Isaia et al. 2023; Mammola, 2012; Mammola et al., 2015, 2016a, 2016b, 2017a, 2017b, 2020a; Mammola & Isaia, 2018; Lana et al., 2021; Milano et al., 2022). We also included a few records derived from recent field activities.

Method step description:

1. Each sample was collected and stored in plastic tubes containing 70–80% ethanol. Spider identification was performed by examining the genitalia and other minute morphological structures. For this purpose, a stereoscopic dissecting microscope with a magnification of 20X to 80X was used.

Bibliographic Citations

1. Isaia M. Paschetta M. Lana E. Pantini P. Schönhofer A. L. Christian E. Badino G. 2011. Subterranean Arachnids of the Western Italian Alps (Arachnida Araneae Opiliones Palpigradi Pseudoscorpiones). Monografie XLVII. Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali: Torino Italy Isaia M. Mammola S. Mazzuca P. Arnedo M. A. Pantini P. 2017. Advances in the systematics of the spider genus Troglohyphantes (Araneae Linyphiidae). Systematics and Biodiversity 15(4):307-326. Isaia M. Arnedo M. A. Mammola S. 2022. A multi-layered approach uncovers overlooked taxonomic and physiological diversity in Alpine subterranean spiders (Araneae Linyphiidae Troglohyphantes). Invertebrate Systematics 36(4):354-371. Isaia M. Nicolosi G. Infuso A. Ribera C. 2023. Two new subterranean Typhlonesticus (Araneae Nesticidae) from the Alps with notes on their ecology distribution and conservation. Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny 81:801-818. Lana E. Giachino P. M. Casale A. 2021. Fauna Hypogaea Pedemontana. Grotte e ambienti sotterranei del Piemonte e della Valle d’Aosta. WBA Monographs 6. Mammola S. 2012. Ecologia e life history di Meta menardi (Latreille 1804) e M. bourneti Simon 1922 (Araneae Tetragnathidae). Tesi Magistrale Università degli Studi di Torino Mammola S. Isaia M. Arnedo M. A. 2015. Alpine endemic spiders shed light on the origin and evolution of subterranean species. PeerJ 3:e1384 Mammola S. Hormiga G. Arnedo M. A. Isaia M. 2016. Unexpected diversity in the relictual European spiders of the genus Pimoa (Araneae Pimoidae). Invertebrate Systematics 30(6):566-587. Mammola S. Piano E. Isaia M. 2016. Step back! Niche dynamics in cave-dwelling predators. Acta Oecologica 75:35–42. Mammola S. Isaia M. 2017. Spiders in caves. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 284:20170193. Mammola S. Piano E. Giachino P. M. Isaia M. 2017. An ecological survey of the invertebrate community at the epigean/hypogean interface. Subterranean Biology 24:27-52, 2018. Mammola S. Isaia M. 2017. Rapid poleward distributional shifts in the European cave‐dwelling Meta spiders under the influence of competition dynamics. Journal of Biogeography 44(12):2789–2797. Mammola S. Isaia M. 2018. Day–night and seasonal variations of a subterranean invertebrate community in the twilight zone. Subterranean Biology 27:31-51. Mammola S. Chiappetta N. Giachino P. M. Antić D. Ž. Zapparoli M. Isaia M. 2020. Exploring the homogeneity of terrestrial subterranean communities at a local spatial scale. Ecological Entomology 45(5):1053-1062. of a subterranean invertebrate community in the twilight zone. Subterranean Biology 27:31-51. Milano F. Borio L. Komposch C. Mammola S. Pantini P. Pavlek M. Isaia M. 2022. Species conservation profiles of the endemic spiders Troglohyphantes (Araneae Linyphiidae) from the Alps and the north-western Dinarides. Biodiversity Data Journal 10.

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