Abstract
Woodlice are key organisms for nutrient cycling in many terrestrial ecosystems; however, knowledge on this invertebrate group is limited as for other soil fauna taxa. Here, we present an annotated checklist of the woodlice of Belgium, a small but densely populated country in Western Europe. We reviewed all 142 publications on Belgian woodlice, the oldest dating back to 1831 and re-identified all doubtful specimens from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) collection. These data is complemented with observations from extensive field surveys dating from March 2014 until December 2017. We report 36 species of woodlice with free-living populations for Belgium. Nine species can be added compared to the latest checklist published in 2000 being Hyloniscusriparius (C. Koch, 1838), Miktoniscuspatiencei Vandel, 1946, Trichoniscoidessarsi Patience, 1908, Haplophthalmusmontivagus Verhoeff, 1941, Porcelliomonticola Lereboullet, 1853, Metatrichoniscoidesleydigii (Weber, 1880), Trichoniscusalemannicus Verhoeff, 1917, Elumacaelata (Miers, 1877) and Philosciaaffinis Verhoeff, 1908. Two species are deleted from the checklist (Ligidiumgermanicum Verhoeff, 1901 and Armadillidiumdepressum Brandt, 1833) because records are doubtful and no material has been preserved. Additionally the data of the field surveys is used to determine a species status of occurrence in Belgium. For each species, a short overview of their first records is provided and their confirmation as part of the Belgian fauna, their current status, as well as a complete bibliography of the species in Belgium.
Highlights
Woodlice (Isopoda: Oniscidea) are amongst the largest representatives of the soil invertebrate community in European terrestrial ecosystems (Jeffery et al 2010)
A complete overview of the history of woodlice research in Belgium is provided, by checking all existing literature on Belgian woodlice and re-identifying all doubtful or difficult to recognise species present in the collections from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS). These data are complemented with extensive field surveys carried out from March 2014 until December 2017 in order to produce a new checklist of Belgian woodlice
Since 1831, seven checklists have been published about Belgian woodlice (Plateau 1870, Preudhomme de Borre 1886b, Capart 1942, Polk 1959b, Tavernier and Wouters 1989, 1991, Wouters et al 2000)
Summary
Woodlice (Isopoda: Oniscidea) are amongst the largest representatives of the soil invertebrate community in European terrestrial ecosystems (Jeffery et al 2010). A complete overview of the history of woodlice research in Belgium is provided, by checking all existing literature on Belgian woodlice and re-identifying all doubtful or difficult to recognise species present in the collections from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS). These data are complemented with extensive field surveys carried out from March 2014 until December 2017 in order to produce a new checklist of Belgian woodlice. The data of the field surveys is used to determine a status of occurrence in Belgium for all species
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