Muelleriella taygetana Casale, 1983

Higher Taxonomy

Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Leiodidae
Genus: Muelleriella

Characterisation

Troglobiont

Distribution

Endemic to Greece

Locus Typicus

Spilaio Varvaras
Region: Peloponnisos / Regional unit: Lakonia / Municipality: Sparti / Closest settlement: Kryoneri

Distribution in caves of Greece

• Anonymous small cave (pit) near Taygetos mt summit, Casale & Lebenbauer 2010, Fresneda et al. 2024
  Region: Peloponnisos / Regional unit: Lakonia / Municipality: Sparti / Closest settlement: Kryoneri
• Spilaio Varvaras, Casale 1983, Casale & Lebenbauer 2010, Beron 2016, Fresneda et al. 2024, Giachino et al. 2024
  Region: Peloponnisos / Regional unit: Lakonia / Municipality: Sparti / Closest settlement: Kryoneri

Comments

Only known from the type locality and a nearby cave. In this species the genus (Muelleriella) is uncertain according to Fresneda et al. (2024).

IUCN Red List

NE - Not Evaluated

Greece's Red Data Book

NE - Not Evaluated

Protection status

• There is no species-specific legal framework for protection.

Check Databases

Fauna Europea

GBIF

PESI

Species references

• Beron, P. 2016. Faune cavernicole de la Grèce. Maison d'édition Est-West., Sofia. pp. 229.
• Casale, A. & Lebenbauer, T. 2010. Notes on the Duvalius species of the Taygetos massif (Peloponnese, Southern Greece), with description of the male features of Duvalius (Duvalius) mirei Deuve, 2001 (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Fragm. Entomol., 42 (2): 395-404.
• Casale, A. 1983. Nuovi Carabidae e Catopidae endogei e cavernicoli dei Balcani meridionali e dell΄ Asia Minore (Coleoptera). Boll. Mus. reg. Sci. nat. Torino, 1 (2): 243-278.
• Fresneda J, Giachino P M, Salgado J M, Faille A, Bourdeau C, Cieslak A e Ribera I. 2024. A phylogenetic classification of Leptodirini (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae). Memorie della Società Entomologica Italiana, 101(1): 3–936. doi: 10.4081/memoriesei.2024.3.
• Giachino PM, Allegro G & Vailati D 2024. The blind Pterostichini of south-eastern Europe and Anatolia. Synopsis of the Speluncarius+Tapinopterus complex with emphasis on Greek taxa (Coleoptera Carabidae Pterostichini).. World Biodiversity Association, Verona. Vol. 6: 400

Citation

Paragamian, K. 2026. Muelleriella taygetana Casale, 1983. In Paragamian, K., M. Poulinakis, S. Paragamian and I. Nikoloudakis. Cave fauna of Greece database - Hellenic Institute of Speleological Research. Species data updated 31.01.2025, Accessed 18.04.2026