Spilaio Diktaio Antro

Higher Geography
Region: Kriti,
Sub-Region: Lasithi,
Municipality: Oropedio Lasithiou,
Closest Settlement: Psychro
Cave Synonyms
Spilaio Psychrou, Diktean cave
Cave type
Natural
Protection status
  • Archaeological Site - Ministerial Decisions: 9597/12-9-1970 (OGG 666/Β/23-9-1970), 1834 PE/5-5-1976 (OGG 699/Β/26-5-1976)
  • GR4320002 - Dikti: Oropedio Lasithiou, Katharo, Selena, Krasi, Selakano, Chalasmeni Koryfi (Special Area of Conservation): Law 3937/2011 (OGG/Α 60/31.03.2011), Joint Ministerial Decision 50743/2017 (OGG 4432/B/15.12.17). Check site’s Standard Data Form
  • Landscape of Outstanding Natural Beauty - Ministerial Decision 83609/2737/28-12-1981 (OGG 50/Β/10-2-1982)
Fauna
  • Acanthopetalum furculigerum (Verhoeff, 1901), Strasser 1974, Strasser 1976, Stoev et al. 2008, Felesaki et al. 2010
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Diplopoda / Order: Callipodida / Family: Schizopetalidae
  • Anemadus creticus (Heyden, 1883), Giachino & Vailati 1993, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Coleoptera / Family: Leiodidae
  • Aporrectodea caliginosa (Savigny, 1826), Omodeo 1956a, Beron 2016, Szederjesi et al. 2017
    Phylum: Annelida / Class: Clitellata / Order: Crassiclitellata / Family: Lumbricidae
  • Callobius claustrarius (Hahn, 1833), Roewer 1959, Brignoli 1979a, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Amaurobiidae
  • Cataleptoneta sengleti (Brignoli, 1974), Déjean 2022
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Leptonetidae
  • Diacyclops crassicaudis (Sars G.O., 1863), Lindberg 1956, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Hexanauplia / Order: Cyclopoida / Family: Cyclopidae
  • Dolichopoda paraskevii Boudou-Saltet, 1973, Boudou-Saltet 1973a, Willemse 1984, Kollaros et al. 1991
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Orthoptera / Family: Rhaphidophoridae
  • Dolichopoda sp., Allegrucci et al. 2011, Taylan & Şirin 2016, Allegrucci et al. 2021
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Orthoptera / Family: Rhaphidophoridae
  • Drassodes lapidosus (Walckenaer, 1802), Roewer 1959, Brignoli 1979b, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Bosmans et al. 2013, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Gnaphosideae
  • Gryllomorpha dalmatina (Ocskay, 1832), Chopard 1957, Willemse 1984, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Orthoptera / Family: Gryllidae
  • Hoplopholcus labyrinthi (Kulczynski, 1903), Senglet 1971, Brignoli 1979a, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Bosmans et al. 2013, Beron 2016, Huber 2020
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Pholcidae
  • Lepthyphantes brignolianus Deltshev, 1979, Brignoli 1971a, Brignoli 1979a, Deltshev 1979, Gasparo 2003, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Bosmans et al. 2013, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Linyphiidae
  • Lindbergia pseudoillyrica A. Riedel, 1960, Riedel 1992, Riedel 1996, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Mollusca / Class: Gastropoda / Order: Stylommatophora / Family: Pristilomatidae
  • Lithobius nigripalpis L. Koch, 1867, Eason 1990, Zapparoli 1994, Zapparoli 2002, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Chilopoda / Order: Lithobiomorpha / Family: Lithobiidae
  • Maraenobiotus vejdovskyi Mrazek, 1893, Chappuis 1956, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Hexanauplia / Order: Harpacticoida / Family: Canthocamptidae
  • Mediterranea amaltheae (A. Riedel & Subai, 1982), Riedel & Subai 1982, Riedel 1992, Riedel 1996, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Mollusca / Class: Gastropoda / Order: Stylommatophora / Family: Oxychilidae
  • Moraria sp., Chappuis 1956, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Hexanauplia / Order: Harpacticoida / Family: Canthocamptidae
  • Ocydromus signatipennis (Jacquelin du Val, 1852), Coiffait 1955, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Coleoptera / Family: Carabidae
  • Ovaliptila lindbergi (Chopard 1957), Chopard 1957, Willemse 1984, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Orthoptera / Family: Gryllidae
  • Paracyclops fimbriatus (Fischer, 1853), Lindberg 1956, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Hexanauplia / Order: Cyclopoida / Family: Cyclopidae
  • Platyderus graecus (Reiche & Saulcy, 1855), Coiffait 1955, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Coleoptera / Family: Carabidae
  • Rhinolophus blasii Peters, 1866, Georgiakakis et al. 2023
    Phylum: Chordata / Class: Mammalia / Order: Chiroptera / Family: Rhinolophidae
  • Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Schreber, 1774), Paragamian 1994, Beron 2016, Georgiakakis et al. 2023
    Phylum: Chordata / Class: Mammalia / Order: Chiroptera / Family: Rhinolophidae
  • Rhinolophus hipposideros (André, 1797), Paragamian 1994, Beron 2016, Georgiakakis et al. 2023
    Phylum: Chordata / Class: Mammalia / Order: Chiroptera / Family: Rhinolophidae
  • Schistophallus minoicus (A. Riedel, 1968), Riedel 1968, Riedel 1996, Beron 2016, Karakasi et al. 2024
    Phylum: Mollusca / Class: Gastropoda / Order: Stylommatophora / Family: Oxychilidae
  • Schizidium perplexum (Vandel, 1958), Paragamian et al. 1987, Schmalfuss et al. 2004, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Malacostraca / Order: Isopoda / Family: Armadillidiidae
  • Tegenaria parietina (Fourcroy, 1785), Brignoli 1984, Bosmans & Chatzaki 2005, Bosmans et al. 2013, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Arachnida / Order: Araneae / Family: Agelenidae
  • Trichoniscus cavernicola Vandel, 1958, Paragamian 1994, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Malacostraca / Order: Isopoda / Family: Trichoniscidae
  • Troglophilus spinulosus Chopard, 1921, Chopard 1957, Boudou-Saltet 1973a, Boudou-Saltet 1978, Willemse 1984, Boudou-Saltet 1985, Kollaros et al. 1991, Di Russo et al. 2014, Beron 2016
    Phylum: Arthropoda / Class: Insecta / Order: Orthoptera / Family: Rhaphidophoridae
  • Vitrea contracta (Westerlund, 1871), Riedel 1992, Karakasi et al. 2024
    Phylum: Mollusca / Class: Gastropoda / Order: Stylommatophora / Family: Pristilomatidae
Cave references
  • Lindberg, K. 1955. Notes sur le grottes de l΄ île de Crète. Fragm. balc. Skopje 1(19):165-174.
  • Paragamian, K. 1994. Extremities in touristic exploitation of caves: the case of “Psychron cave” (Psychron, Crete, Greece). Bull. Soc. Speleol. Grèce 21:232-242.
  • Petrocheilou, A. 1984. The Greek Caves. Ekdotiki Athinon 160pp.
  • Petrocheilou, A. 1963. The cave Diktaion Antron of Lasithi, Kriti (CRNr 43). Bull. Soc. Speleol. Grèce 7:110–117.
  • Platakis, E. 1973. The cave “Diktaion Antron". Amaltheia 274–280.
  • Platakis, E. 1976. The caves of Lasithi. Prefecture of Lasithi Agios Nikolaos.
Species references
  • Allegrucci, G., Trucchi, E. & Sbordoni, V. 2011. Tempo and mode of species diversification in Dolichopoda cave crickets (Orthoptera, Rhaphidophoridae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 60 (1): 108-121.
  • Allegrucci G, Rampini M, Chimenti C, Alexiou S & Di Russo C. 2021. Dolichopoda cave crickets from Peloponnese (Orthoptera, Rhaphidophoridae): molecular and morphological investigations reveal four new species for Greece. The European Zoological Journal, 88(1): 505-524, DOI: 10.1080/24750263.2021.1902005
  • Beron, P. 2016. Faune cavernicole de la Grèce. Maison d'édition Est-West., Sofia. pp. 229.
  • Bosmans, R. & Chatzaki, M. 2005. A catalogue of the spiders of Greece. A critical review of all spider species cited from Greece with their localities. Newsletter Belg. Arachn. Soc., 20 (2): 1-124.
  • 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.
  • Boudou-Saltet, P. 1973. Les Dolichopodes (Orth. Rhaph.) de Grèce VIII. Nouvelles espèces de Crète. Biol. gallo-hellen., 5 (1): 57-63.
  • Boudou-Saltet, P. 1978. Sur les Troglophiles (Orthopteres cavernicoles) de Crète. Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Toulouse, 114 (1-2): 115-121.
  • Boudou-Saltet, P. 1985. Etat actuel de nos connaissances sur les orthoptères cavernicoles de Grèce. Biol. gallo-hellen., 10: 259-263.
  • Brignoli, P. M. 1971. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der mediterranen Pholcidae (Arachnida, Araneae). Mitt. zool. Mus. Berlin, 47 (2): 255-267.
  • Brignoli, P. M. 1979. Ragni di Grecia XI. Specie nuove o interessanti, cavernicole ed epigee. Rev. suisse Zool., 86 (1): 181-202.
  • Brignoli, P. M. 1979. Considérations zoogéographiques sur les Araignées cavernicoles de Grèce. Biol. gallo-hellen., 8: 223-236.
  • Brignoli, P. M. 1984. Ragni di Grecia XII. Nuovi dati su varie famiglie (Araneae). Rev. suisse Zool., 91 (2): 281-321.
  • Chappuis, P. A. 1956. Harpacticoides récoltes en Crète par M. K. Lindberg. Folia Balcanica, 1 (3): 15-18.
  • Chopard, L. 1957. Notes sur les Orthoptères cavernicoles de Crète. Bull. Soc. entomol. Fr., 62 (1-2): 26-28.
  • Coiffait, H. 1955. Sur quelques Coléoptères cavernicoles de Grèce. Notes Biospeol., 10 (2): 205-209.
  • Déjean S. 2022 2022. Sur quelques araignées récoltées entre 1956 et 1969 par Henry Coiffait, retrouvées dans les collections Denis et Dresco (Araneae). Bulletin de l’Association Française d’Arachnologie, 7, 4–41
  • Deltshev, C. 1979. A contribution to the study of Cave Spiders (Araneae) in Greece. Four new species (Aaraneae, Nesticidae, Linyphiidae) from the Islands of Crete and Thera. Acta Zool. Bulg., 13: 53-63.
  • Di Russo, C., Rampini, M. & Cobolli, M. 2014. The cave crickets of Greece: a contribution to the study of Southern Balkan Rhaphidophoridae diversity (Orthoptera), with the description of a new species of Troglophilus Krauss , 1879. Biodiversity Journal, 5 (3): 397-420.
  • Eason, E. H. 1990. On Lithobius sitianus Chamberlin, a cavernicolus centipede from Crete (Chilopoda, Lithobiomorpha). Fragm. Entomol., 22 (2): 257-264.
  • Felesaki, I., Stoev, P., Simaiakis, S. & Mylonas, M. 2010. A catalogue of the millipedes of Crete (Myriapoda: Diplopoda). Natura Montenegrina, 9 (3): 357-368.
  • Gasparo, F. 2003. Tre campagne biospeleologiche a Creta. Progressione, 48 (1): 59-62.
  • 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
  • Giachino, P. M. & Vailati, D. 1993. Revisione degli Anemadinae Hatch, 1928 (Coleoptera Cholevidae). Mus. Civ. di Storia naturale di Brescia, Mon. di «Natura Bresciana», 18: 1-313.
  • Huber B.A. 2020. Revision of the spider genus Hoplopholcus Kulczyński (Araneae, Pholcidae). Zootaxa 4726:1–94.
  • Karakasi D, Paragamian K, Mylonas M, Vardinoyannis K 2024. What`s crawling in the dark? An annotated list of gastropods in Greek caves.. Subterranean Biology 48: 73-116. https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.48.113383
  • Kollaros, D., Paragamian, K. & Legakis, A. 1991. Revision of the genus Troglophilus (Orthoptera, Raphidophoridae) in Crete, Greece. Int. J. Speleol., 20: 37-45.
  • Lindberg, K. 1956. Cyclopides (Crustacés copépodes) de Crète avec un liste de Crustacés divers recueillis dans de lac de Kourna. Acta Mus. Macedonici Sci. Nat., 4 (5): 97-120.
  • Omodeo, P. 1956. Oligocheti dell΄ Indochina e del Mediterraneo Orientale. Mem. Mus. Civ. St. Nat. Verona, 5: 321-336.
  • Paragamian, K. 1994. Extremities in touristic exploitation of caves: the case of “Psychron cave” (Psychron, Crete, Greece). Bull. Soc. Speleol. Grèce, 21: 232-242.
  • Paragamian, K., Galanopoulos, V., Legakis, A. & Spanakis, M. 1987. Ecological, electrophoretic and electron microscope investigations on Schizidium perplexum (Isopoda) of Crete. Biol. gallo-hellen., 13: 165-168.
  • Riedel, A. & Subai, P. 1982. Beschreibung einer neuen Oxychilus - Art aus Kreta nebst neuen Angaben über Oxychilus ionicus (Gastropoda, Zonitidae). Arch. Molluskenk., 112 (1/6): 21-26.
  • Riedel, A. 1968. Zonitidae (Gastropoda) Kretas. Ann. Zool. (Wars.), 25: 473-537.
  • Riedel, A. 1992. The Zonitidae (sensu lato) (Gastropoda, Pulmonata) of Greece. Fauna Graeciae V. Hellenic Zoological Society. pp. 194.
  • Riedel, A. 1996. Die in West-Paläarktis unterirdisch lebenden Zonitidae sensu lato (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora). Fragm. faun., 39 (24): 363-390.
  • Roewer, C. F. 1959. Die Araneae, Solifuga und Opiliones der Sammlungen des Herrn Dr. K. Lindberg aus Griechenland, Creta, Anatolien, Iran und Indien. Göteborgs kungl. vet. vitterh. Samh. Handl., 8 (4): 3-47.
  • Schmalfuss, H., Paragamian, K. & Sfenthourakis, S. 2004. The terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea) of Crete and the surrounding islands. Stuttgart. Beitr. Naturk. Ser. A. (Biol.), 662: 1-74.
  • Senglet, A. 1971. Note sur les Pholcidae de Grèce. Mitt. schweiz. ent. Ges., 44: 345-359.
  • Stoev, P., Sierwald, P. & Billey, A. 2008. An annotated world catalogue of the millipede order Callipodida (Arthropoda: Diplopoda).. Zootaxa, 1706:1–50.
  • Strasser, K. 1974. Über Diplopoda-Chilognatha Griechenlands. Rev. suisse Zool., 81 (1): 219-300.
  • Strasser, K. 1976. Über Diplopoda-Chilognatha Griechenlands II. Rev. suisse Zool., 83 (3): 579-645.
  • Szederjesi, T., Vavoulidou, E., Chalkia, C., Dányi, L. & Csuzdi, C. 2017. An annotated checklist of earthworms of Greece (Clitellata: Megadrili). Zootaxa, 4272 (1): 57-82.
  • Taylan M.S., Şirin D. 2016. Speciation of the genus Dolicophoda in Anatolia with reference to the role of ancient central lake system. Insect Systematics and Evolution, 47(3): 267-283
  • Willemse, F. 1984. Catalogue of the Orthoptera of Greece. Fauna Graeciae I. Hellenic Zoological Society. pp. 275.
  • Zapparoli, M. 1994. Note tassonomiche e faunistiche su Chilopodi della Grecia (Chilopoda). Fragm. Entomol., 26 (1): 11-66.
  • Zapparoli, M. 2002. A catalogue of the centipedes from Greece (Chilopoda). Fragm. Entomol., 34 (1): 1-146.
Citation
Paragamian, K. 2026. Fauna of the cave Spilaio Diktaio Antro, Psychro, Oropedio Lasithiou, Kriti. In Paragamian, K., M. Poulinakis, S. Paragamian and I. Nikoloudakis. Cave fauna of Greece database - Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research. Cave data updated 10.05.2023, Accessed 09.03.2026