engleski

Croatian mayflies (Insecta, Ephemeroptera): species diversity and distribution patterns

Our knowledge about the mayfly biodiversity in the Balkan Peninsula is still far from complete. Compared to the neighboring countries, mayfly fauna in Croatia is poorly known. Croatia is a relatively small country situated on the crossroads of Central and Mediterranean Europe and Balkan Peninsula and is divided into two Ecoregions: Dinaric western Balkan (ER5) and Pannonian lowland (ER11) which is why its mayfly fauna showed transitive characteristics. Mayflies were sampled in period between 2004 and 2013 at 180 sites. During the study, a total of 66 species was recorded. Combined with literature data, the Croatian mayfly fauna reached the number of 78 taxa. Additionally, 29 species were recorded for the first time for Croatia while 15 species were not previously recorded in Dinaric western Balkan Ecoregion. Some interesting taxa as Baetis cf. nubecularis and Rhithrogena diaphana group were recorded. As they showed transitive morphological features between more species, their accurate identification will be confirmed with DNA analyzes. We also recorded Ephemera cf. parnassiana, whose presence was for now registered only in Greece.

Ephemeroptera / species list / biodiversity / Croatia

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