An annotated checklist of the millipedes (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) from the Stavropol Territory, Northern Caucasus, Russia

Abstract

The present review aims at systematizing the data on the fauna of Diplopoda of the Stavropol Territory, as well as their distributions in the study area. This paper is based on the previous studies dating back from 1897 to 2021, as well as on the unpublished records of millipedes from the Stavropol Territory and North Ossetia-Alania. As a result, 27 species of millipedes belonging to 20 genera, eight families, and five orders, and have been identified from the study area. One species is new to the fauna of the Caucasus: Polydesmus stuxbergi Attems, 1907. As many as 14 species are endemic to the Caucasus, including two that are presently known from the Stavropol Territory alone: Vegrandosoma tabacarui Antic et Makarov, 2016 and Omobrachyiulus zuevi Vagalinski, 2021. The southwestern parts of the region appear to support most of the diplopod species: the Shpakovskiy District (including the city of Stavropol) is the richest with 24 species it supports, followed by the Kochubeevskiy, Predgornyi, Georgievskiy, and Aleksandrovskiy districts with 12, 11, 10 and 7 species, respectively. This markedly corresponds to the distribution of forest habitats in the region. Since woodlands cover only 1.6% of the region's area, many diplopods are likely to be vulnerable and require protection, especially those few that are endemic to the Stavropol Upland.