New record and additional data of terrestrial isopods in Kaunas region, Lithuania

Abstract

Among the edaphic organisms, terrestrial isopods are fundamental representatives of the soil fauna, playing an important role in decomposition of leaf litter and in mineralizing organic matter (Sutton, 1980). Despite the fact that terrestrial isopods are quite common in Lithuania; their research began only in 2012. Five species were reported for Vilnius city by Kuznetsova and Gongalsky (2012). In the same year,seven isopod species were presented from the west part of Lithuania: along the Curonian Spit and in various woodlands (Vilisics et al., 2012). More recently four new species were reported for Lithuania by I. Tuf and co-author’s (Tuf et al., 2014). Till now, 12 species of woodlice were recorded in fauna of Lithuania, but we could suppose that this list is incomplete. As the neighbouring country of Lithuania, Latvia, has 20 terrestrial isopod species (Spungis, 2008) known, it is likely that diversity of isopods is greater in Lithuania as well. The aim of this study is to provide data on the species composition of terrestrial isopods in a mixed deciduous forest in the central part of Lithuania - Kaunas district.