Spilaio Lera

Higher Geography
Region: Kriti,
Sub-Region: Chania,
Municipality: Chania,
Closest Settlement: Stavros
Cave type
Natural
Protection status
  • Archaeological Site - Ministerial Decisions: 2258/4-2-1966 (OGG 175/Β/26-3-1966), 3888/21-2-1967 (OGG 168/Β/9-3-1967)
  • K898 - Stavros Chordaki Dimou Akrotiriou [Wildlife Refuge]: OGG 813/Β/2001
Fauna
  • Acanthopetalum minotauri (Attems, 1902), Strasser 1974, Felesaki et al. 2010, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Diplopoda / Order: Callipodida / Family: Schizopetalidae
  • Harpactea catholica (Brignoli, 1984), Bosmans et al. 2013
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Dysderidae
  • Loxosceles rufescens (Dufour, 1820), Bosmans et al. 2013
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Sicariidae
  • Myotis blythii (Tomes, 1857), Hanak et al. 2001, Benda et al. 2009, Georgiakakis et al. 2023
    Phylum: Chordata / Class: Mammalia / Order: Chiroptera / Family: Vespertilionidae
  • Myotis davidii Peters, 1869, Benda & Tsytsulina 2000, Hanak et al. 2001, Benda & Karatas 2005, Benda et al. 2006, Benda et al. 2009, Benda et al. 2019, Georgiakakis et al. 2023
    Phylum: Chordata / Class: Mammalia / Order: Chiroptera / Family: Vespertilionidae
  • Myotis emarginatus (Geoffroy, 1806), Georgiakakis et al. 2023
    Phylum: Chordata / Class: Mammalia / Order: Chiroptera / Family: Vespertilionidae
  • Plecotus kolombatovici Dulic, 1980, Hanak et al. 2001, Benda et al. 2009, Georgiakakis et al. 2023
    Phylum: Chordata / Class: Mammalia / Order: Chiroptera / Family: Vespertilionidae
  • Plusiocampa sp., Sendra et al. 2020a
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Entognatha / Order: Diplura / Family: Campodeidae
  • Rhinolophus blasii Peters, 1866, Benda et al. 2009, Georgiakakis et al. 2023
    Phylum: Chordata / Class: Mammalia / Order: Chiroptera / Family: Rhinolophidae
  • Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Schreber, 1774), Benda et al. 2009, Georgiakakis et al. 2023
    Phylum: Chordata / Class: Mammalia / Order: Chiroptera / Family: Rhinolophidae
  • Sulcia cretica Fage, 1945, Bosmans et al. 2013
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Leptonetidae
  • Tadarida teniotis (Rafinesque, 1814), Benda et al. 2009, Georgiakakis et al. 2023
    Phylum: Chordata / Class: Mammalia / Order: Chiroptera / Family: Molossidae
  • Troglophilus spinulosus Chopard, 1921, Allegrucci et al. 2017
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Orthoptera / Family: Rhaphidophoridae
Cave references
  • Faure, P. 1961. Grottes explorees en 1959 et 1960 en Crete et qui ne figuiraient pas encore dans le bulletin de la societe speleologique de Grece. Bull. Soc. Speleol. Grèce 6:12–16.
  • Vasilopoulos, S. 1959. Speleological researches in the region of Chania. To Vouno Greek Mountaineering Club. 4:116–117.
Species references
  • Allegrucci, G., Ketmaier, V., Di Russo, C., Rampini, M., Sbordoni, V. & Cobolli, M. 2017. Molecular phylogeography of Troglophilus cave crickets (Orthoptera, Rhaphidophoridae): A combination of vicariance and dispersal drove diversification in the East Mediterranean region. J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res.: 1-16.
  • Benda, P. & Karatas, A. 2005. On some Mediterranean populations of bats of the Myotis mystacinus morpho-group (Chiroptera : Vespertilionidae). Lynx (Prague), 36: 9-38.
  • Benda, P. & Tsytsulina, K. A. 2000. Taxonomic revision of Myotis mystacinus group (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in the western Palearctic. Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae, 64: 331-398.
  • Benda, P., Andreas, M., Kock, D., Lučan, R. K., Munclinger, P., Nová, P., Obuch, J., Ochman, K., Reiter, A., Uhrin, M. & Weinfurtová, D. 2006. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the Eastern Mediterranean. Part 4. Bat fauna of Syria: distribution, systematics, ecology. Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae, 70: 1-329.
  • Benda, P., Georgiakakis, P., Dietz, C., Hanak, V., Galanaki, K., Markantonatou, V., Chudarkova, A., Hulva, P. & Horacek, I. 2009. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. Part 7. The bat fauna of Crete, Greece. Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae, 72 (3-4): 105-190.
  • Benda, P., Ševčík, M., Bego, F., Sachanowicz, K., Spitzenberger, F., Tájek, P., Tájková, P., Uhrin, M. 2019. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. Part 15. The fauna of bats and bat ectoparasites of Albania with a catalogue of bats from the western Balkans in the collection of the National Museum, Prague. Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem. 83: 1–238
  • Beron, P. 2016. Faune cavernicole de la Grèce. Maison d'édition Est-West., Sofia. pp. 229.
  • Bosmans, R., Van Keer, J., Russell-Smith, A., Kronestedt, T., Alderweireldt, M., Bosselaers, J. & De Koninck, H. 2013. Spiders of Crete (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from the Greek Island of Crete. Newsletter Belg. Arachn. Soc., 28 (1): 1-147.
  • Felesaki, I., Stoev, P., Simaiakis, S. & Mylonas, M. 2010. A catalogue of the millipedes of Crete (Myriapoda: Diplopoda). Natura Montenegrina, 9 (3): 357-368.
  • Georgiakakis P, Kafkaletou Diez A, Salvarina I, Benda P, Billington G, Dietz C, Billington J, Cove D, Davison S, Cooke M, Papadatou E. 2023. The Bats of Greece: An Updated Review of Their Distribution, Ecology and Conservation. Animals. 2023; 13(15):2529. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13152529
  • Hanak, V., Benda, P., Ruedi, M., Homcek, I. & Sofianidou, T. 2001. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the Eastern Mediterranean. Part 2. New records and review of distribution of bats in Greece. Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae, 65: 279-346.
  • Sendra A., Antić D., Barranco P., Borko Š., Christian E., Delić T., Fadrique F., Faille A., Galli L., Gasparo F., Georgiev D., Giachino P.M., Kováč L., Lukić M., Marcia P., Miculinić K., Nicolosi G., Palero F., Paragamian K., Pérez T., Polak S., Prieto C. 2020. Flourishing in subterranean ecosystems: Euro-Mediterranean Plusiocampinae and tachycampoids (Diplura, Campodeidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 591: 1–138. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.591
  • Strasser, K. 1974. Über Diplopoda-Chilognatha Griechenlands. Rev. suisse Zool., 81 (1): 219-300.
Citation
Paragamian, K. 2026. Fauna of the cave Spilaio Lera, Stavros, Chania, Kriti. In Paragamian, K., M. Poulinakis, S. Paragamian and I. Nikoloudakis. Cave fauna of Greece database - Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research. Cave data updated 15.12.2023, Accessed 08.02.2026