Faunistic diversity of spiders (Araneae) in Galichitsa mountain (FYR Macedonia)

Abstract

A total of 294 species from 31 families have been found in Galichitsa Mt. Of them, 85 species are new to the mountain, while 20 are also new to the fauna of FYR of Macedonia. According to their current distribution the established species can be assigned to 17 zoogeographical categories, grouped into 5 complexes (Cosmopolitan, Holarctic, European, Mediterranean, Endemics of Balkans). Dominant are Holarctic species (66.0%) followed by European (16.5%) and Mediterranean (9.3%). The endemics (6.2%) and Southeast European species (1.7%) emphasize the local character of this fauna, but its low percentage suggests an important process of colonization.

Keywords

• Spiders
• taxonomy
• faunistic
• zoogeography
• Galichitsa Mt.