THE PRESENCE OF THE DINARIC GENUS MESOSTALITA DEELEMAN-REINHOLD, 1971 (ARACHNIDA: ARANEAE: DYSDERIDAE) IN THE JULIAN PREALPS (NE ITALY) PRISOTNOST PAJKA DINARSKE VRSTE RODU MESOSTALITA (DEELEMAN-REINHOLD, 1971) (ARACHNIDA: ARANEAE: DYSDERIDAE) V BENEŠKIH PREDALPAH (SV ITALIJA) Giacomo CANCIANI* 1,2 , Luca TUROLO 3 , Luca TRINGALI 1 , Martina COLAUTTI 2 & Andrea COLLA 4 Abstract UDC 595.44(24)(234.323.4) Giacomo Canciani, Luca Turolo, Luca Tringali, Martina Colautti & Andrea Colla: The presence of the Dinaric genus Mesostalita Deeleman-Reinhold, 1971 (Arachnida: Araneae: Dysderidae) in the Julian Prealps (NE Italy) Mesostalita is a genus of woodlouse hunter spiders (Arach- nida: Araneae: Dysderidae), currently including three species: M. nocturna, M. kratochvili, and M. comottii. These are cave- dwelling species, endemic to the Dinarides. The genus distri- bution range is examined, focusing on published localities. In particular, the presence of Mesostalita in the Julian Prealps (NE Italy) is investigated by researching previous reports from the area. A new record, Foran di Landri cave, is reported, repre- senting the fourth known occurrence of the genus in the area. A brief description and some photographs of the female speci- men found in the cave are provided. Following this finding, the genus distribution range must be extended northwards to include the Julian Prealps, on the other side of the Isonzo-Soča river (representing a biogeographical barrier for many cave- dwellers), opposite to the Dinarides. This makes Mesostalita one of the few troglobitic north-western Dinaric genera living on both sides of the river. Further sampling in caves in the area (to find at least a male individual) and molecular analyses are necessary to clarify the proper, specific status of specimens liv- ing in the Julian Prealps and their phylogenetic relationships within the genus. Keywords: Mesostalita, Dysderidae, cave-dwelling spiders, Ju- lian Prealps, Foran di Landri, new record Izvleček UDK 595.44(24)(234.323.4) Giacomo Canciani, Luca Turolo, Luca Tringali, Martina Co- lautti & Andrea Colla: Prisotnost pajka dinarske vrste rodu Mesostalita (Deeleman-Reinhold, 1971) (Arachnida: Arane- ae: Dysderidae) v Beneških Predalpah (SV Italija) Mesostalita je rod lovskih pajkov (Arachnida: Araneae: Dysde- ridae), trenutno so opisane tri vrste: M. nocturna, M. kratoch- vili in M. comottii. To so jamske vrste, endemične za Dinarsko gorovje. Proučeno je bilo območje razširjenosti pajkov tega rodu s poudarkom na objavljenih najdiščih. Natančneje, prisot- nost pajkov rodu Mesostalita v Beneških Predalpah (SV Italija) je bila raziskana s proučevanjem prejšnjih poročil z navedenega območja. Poročamo o novem najdišču v jami Foran di Landri, ki pomeni četrto znano najdišče pajkov tega rodu na naveden- em območju. Navedeni so kratek opis in nekaj fotografij samice, najdene v jami. Po tej ugotovitvi je treba območje razširjenosti pajkov tega rodu razširiti proti severu in vanj vključiti Beneške Predalpe na drugi strani Soče (to za mnoga jamska bitja po- meni biogeografsko oviro), nasproti Dinarskega gorovja. Tako so pajki rodu Mesostalita eni redkih troglobiontov med pa- jki severozahodnih dinarskih rodov, ki živijo na obeh straneh reke. Potrebni so še nadaljnje vzorčenje v jamah na navedenem območju (da bi našli vsaj še samca) in molekularne analize za razjasnitev pravilnega, specifičnega statusa osebkov, ki živijo v Beneških Predalpah, in njihovih filogenetskih odnosov znotraj rodu. Ključne besede: Mesostalita, Dysderidae, jamski pajki, Beneških Predalpah, Foran di Landri, novo najdišče. ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/1, 95-106, POSTOJNA 2025 1 Jamarski Klub Kraški Krti/G.S. Talpe del Carso. Località San Michele del Carso/Vrh, I-34070 Savogna d’Isonzo/Sovodnje ob Soči, Gorizia, Italy 2 Associazione Speleologica Forum Julii Speleo. Via Carraria 99, I-33043 Cividale del Friuli, Udine, Italy 3 Gruppo Entomologico Triestino “Giuseppe Muller” . Via Tominz 4, I-34139 Trieste, Italy 4 Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Trieste. Via Tominz 4, I-34139 Trieste, Italy * Corresponding author, giacomo.canciani90@gmail.com Received/Prejeto: 25. 8. 2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/ac.v54i1.13918 1. INTRODUCTION Mesostalita Deeleman-Reinhold, 1971 is a genus of woodlouse hunter spiders (Arachnida: Araneae: Dysde- ridae). It can be distinguished from other similar gen- era by the shape of chelicerae and prosoma and the legs spinulation (Deeleman-Reinhold, 1971). According to some authors, such as Gasparo (1996, 1999) and Le Peru (2011), these features should not be considered relevant for taxonomy. Mesostalita should hence be included in the genus Stalita (together with Stalita s.s., Parastalita, and Stalitella). However, phylogenetic analyses confirm Mesostalita as a monophyletic genus (Pavlek & Mammo- la, 2020). It is currently considered a full genus by Mam- mola et al. (2018) and in portals Araneae.it (Pantini & Isaia, 2019), Spiders of Europe (Nentwig et al., 2024), and World Spider Catalogue (2024). Three species are cur - rently considered to belong to the genus (World Spider Catalogue, 2024): M. nocturna (Roewer, 1931), M. krato- chvili Deeleman-Reinhold, 1971, and M. comottii (Gasp- aro, 1999). Three additional species, new to science, each known from a single site in Žumberak mountains, south- ern Velebit mountains, and Kornati islands (Croatia), re- spectively, are yet to be described (Pavlek, 2021). These spiders are cave-dwellers and are considered to be troglo- bitic species (Mammola et al., 2022). They live mainly in the network system of cracks and faults typical of subter- ranean environments (Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman, 1980). In caves they have low population densities (e.g., less than one M. nocturna individual per month has been observed during a survey in an Italian cave (Canciani, 2017)). They are wandering spiders and do not produce silk or webs (Gasparo & Thaler, 2000). All three species of the genus are endemic to the Dinarides (Mammola et al., 2022). M. nocturna lives in the Italian Karst (NE Italy) (Pantini & Isaia, 2019), SW Slovenia (Kostanjšek & Kuntner, 2015), and NW Croatia (Polak et al., 2012), M. kratochvili in NW Bosnia (Komnenov, 2010), and M. co- mottii in the Biokovo mountain (SW Croatia) (Gasparo, 1999). All currently published localities of the species are shown in Table 2. Another cave-dwelling Dysderi- dae species (i.e., Stalita teanaria) is present in the Italian Karst as well as M. nocturna. Nevertheless, the distribu- tion range of both species has the Isonzo-Soča river as the northern boundary (Gasparo & Thaler, 2000; Pantini & Isaia, 2019). The Julian Prealps are a mountain range in the eastern part of the Alps. They are located between Italy (Friuli Venezia Giulia region) and Slovenia (Goriška statisti- cal region). According to SOIUSA (International Stan- dardised Mountain Subdivision of the Alps) (Marazzi, 2005), they are a subsection of the Julian Alps and Pre- alps section in the Southern Limestone Alps. Their bor- ders are: the Resia valley to the north, the Isonzo-Soča river to the east and the south, and the Friuli plain to the west (Carulli, 2013). The Isonzo-Soča river (and its plain) separates the Julian Prealps from the Classical Karst, which is the north-western part of the Dinarides (Jurkovšek et al., 2016). The Julian Prealps can be di- vided into two parts. The northern one is mainly moun- tainous and includes two main ranges: Plauris-Musi and Chiampòn-Gran Monte. It is characterised by an alterna- tion of dolostones and limestones, which are also present in the other mountains in the area, such as Matajur and Bernadia. The southern part is hillier and includes lower reliefs. It is defined by interbedded shales and sandstones (flysch) with calcirudites and calcarenites, sometimes in thick carbonate beds (Carulli, 2006, 2013). The Julian Prealps are an important area from a speleological point of view, including more than 1,200 caves in their Italian part alone (Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, 2024). These caves have been the subject of many fau- nistic and biospeleological studies (e.g., Governatori & Chiappa, 1997; Stoch, 1997, 2008; Colla & Stoch, 2002). The area hosts an important subterranean fauna, consist- ing of dozens cave-dwelling species, both terrestrial and aquatic. In this paper, we report a new record of Mesostalita from Foran di Landri, a cave located in the Julian Prealps. We also provide a comprehensive review of all published localities of the genus, focusing on the Julian Prealps. By doing so, we aim to shed light on the distribution range of this Dinaric spider genus, and in particular of a poten- tial new taxon occurring in the Julian Prealps. This work would contribute to understanding its biogeographical significance. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS In the years 2018-2019, the A.S. Forum Julii Speleo cave group (Cividale del Friuli, Udine) carried out a speleo- logical exploration in Foran di Landri cave (cadastral nr. 11/46FR: Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, 2024), located in the southern Julian Prealps. The ex- ploration led to the discovery of new, unexplored parts GIACOMO CANCIANI, LUCA TUROLO, LUCA TRINGALI, MARTINA COLAUTTI & ANDREA COLLA 96 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/1 – 2025 THE PRESENCE OF THE DINARIC GENUS MESOSTALITA DEELEMAN-REINHOLD, 1971 (ARACHNIDA: ARANEAE: DYSDERIDAE) IN THE JULIAN PREALPS (NE ITALY) of the cave (A.S. Forum Julii Speleo, 2019). A faunistic survey was performed at the same time. Preliminary results of this survey are published in Canciani (2019). On August 10, 2019, a single specimen of a cave-dwell- ing spider, clearly dead yet well-preserved, was found in the cave, among boulders at the bottom of the chamber right beyond the first two syphons, about 40-50 metres far from the entrance. The specimen was hand collected by two authors (G.C. and M.C.) and preserved in 95% ethanol. Then, it was moved to the entomology labora- tory of Civic Museum of Natural History in Trieste for microscope observation and morphological analysis. The specimen was identified as a female Mesostalita. Pictures of the specimen habitus were taken using a Leica Flexa- cam C1 camera, mounted on a Leica MZ16 stereomicro- scope, with Leica Planapo 1.0x objective. Postproduction included the use of Helicon Focus 7 and Adobe Photo- shop software (Figures 1-2). Additionally, a comprehen- sive bibliographic research was conducted to identify all known localities of Mesostalita species and to define their distribution range. 3. RESULTS 3.1. THE FORAN DI LANDRI SPECIMEN The specimen collected in Foran di Landri (Figures 1-2) is a female with a total length of 3.1 mm. It exhibits typi- cal features of troglobitic species, being completely an- ophthalmic and depigmented. This individual is similar to the specimen reported by Gasparo (1996) from Grotta di Canebola, in the same area, and belongs to the same taxon, according to the same author (F. Gasparo, pers. comm., 2019). The prosoma is yellow-orange and polygo- nal, measuring 1.51 mm in length and 1.02 mm in width. The opisthosoma is white, more rounded, and densely covered with hairs, measuring 1.60 mm in length and 1.04 mm in width. The chelicerae are 0.64 mm long with fangs measuring 0.40 mm. The legs are yellow-orange, elongated, and show evident spination. The lengths of leg segments are indicated in Table 1. The specimen is currently preserved in 95% ethanol in the first author’s personal collection. Figure 1: Dorsal view of the habitus of the Foran di Landri specimen. ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/1 – 2025 97 Table 1. Leg segment lengths (in mm) of Mesostalita specimen found in Foran di Landri cave (abbreviations: Cx=coxa, Tr=trochanter, Fe=femur, Pt=patella, Tb=tibia, Mt=metatarsus, Ta=tarsus). Cx Tr Fe Pt Tb Mt Ta total I 0.62 0.17 1.46 0.77 1.52 1.61 0.51 6.67 II 0.57 0.21 1.89 0.82 1.73 1.65 0.53 7.40 III 0.42 0.18 1.38 0.58 1.09 1.44 0.46 5.55 IV 0.45 0.16 1.89 0.63 1.58 1.89 0.54 7.14 3.2. RECORDS OF MESOSTALITA Mesostalita is a Dinaric genus. Almost the entirety of the genus records refer to areas located on the left side of the Isonzo-Soča river (Figure 3), considered to be the northern border of the Dinarides (Zupan Hajna, 2019). M. nocturna has the most widespread range among species of the genus, being documented from a total of eighteen caves. Of these, five are located in SW Slove- nia (including Žegnana jama, its locus typicus) (Roewer, 1931; Di Caporiacco, 1937; Stepišnik & Ramšak, 2006; Polak & Pipan, 2021), twelve in the Italian Karst (NE Italy) (Gasparo & Thaler, 2000; Gasparo, 2002; Stoch, 2009; Canciani, 2023), and one in the northern Croa- tian Istria (Polak et al., 2012). M. kratochvili is known from two caves in NW Bosnia, including Hrustovača pećina, its locus typicus (Deeleman-Reinhold, 1971). M. comottii is currently reported only from Tučepska Vilenjača, its locus typicus, in Biokovo (SW Croatia) (Gasparo, 1999). However, individuals of the latter spe- cies have been collected in a few other (unpublished) caves in the area (Ozimec & Pavlek, 2011). Table 2 con- tains the list of all currently published localities of genus species to date. On the right side of the Isonzo-Soča river, the ge- nus has so far been reported only from three caves in the Julian Prealps (Gasparo, 1996; Bognolo, 2002). Only one individual has been documented for each cave. Foran di Landri is the fourth known locality for the genus in the Julian Prealps, with only one individual collected from each site (Figure 4). All collected specimens from the area are females. These individuals belong to a potential new taxon, mentioned by Gasparo (1996) as Stalita sp. prope nocturna due to its similarity to the Karst species. Here is the list of currently known localities and speci- mens of the genus Mesostalita in the Julian Prealps to date (cadastral numbers of caves are drawn from Friuli Venezia Giulia cave cadastre: Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, 2024): − Grotta di Canebola (nr. 2370/1080FR) (Faedis, Udine): 1 , F. Gasparo leg., 10.VI.1979 (Gasparo, 1996); − Voragine a S di Prepotischis (nr. 2240/1025FR) (Pre- potto, Udine) (Bognolo, 2002): 1 , M. Bognolo leg., 12.XII.1999 (M. Bognolo, pers. comm., 2019); − Pozzo 1° di Miscecco (nr. 2780/1342FR) (Prepot- to, Udine) (Bognolo, 2002): 1 , M. Bognolo leg., 12.XII.1999 (M. Bognolo, pers. comm., 2019); − Foran di Landri (nr. 11/46FR) (Prestento di Tor- reano, Udine): 1 , G. Canciani & M. Colautti leg., 10.VIII.2019 (new record). Figure 2: Ventral view of the habi- tus of the Foran di Landri speci- men. GIACOMO CANCIANI, LUCA TUROLO, LUCA TRINGALI, MARTINA COLAUTTI & ANDREA COLLA 98 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/1 – 2025 Table 2: List of published localities of Mesostalita species and new record from Foran di Landri. Locus typicus of each species is indicated with “*”. Abbreviation: cad. nr. = cadastral number, IT = Italy, SL = Slovenia, HR = Croatia, BiH = Bosnia & Herzegovina. Cadastral numbers of the caves are drawn from Slovenia cave cadastre (Jamarska Zveza Slovenije, 2024), Friuli Venezia Giulia cave cadastre (Re- gione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, 2024), Croatia cave cadastre (Ministarstvo zaštite okoliša i zelene tranzicije, 2024), and Bosnia & Herzegovina cave cadastre (Mulaomerović et al., 2006). Species Cave Cad. nr. State/region Bibliography Mesostalita nocturna (Roewer, 1931) Žegnana jama* S.960/986VG SL, Inner Carniola Roewer, 1931 Predjamski system S.734/107VG Di Caporiacco, 1937 Postojnska Jama S.747/108VG Tikina jama S.8837 Stepišnik & Ramšak, 2006 Križna jama S.65 Polak & Pipan, 2021 Grotta Natale 551/2743VG IT, Venezia Giulia Gasparo & Thaler, 2000 Grotta della Fornace 731/3913VG Grotta Arnaldo Germoni 1525/4429VG Abisso di Colle San Primo 126/160VG Gasparo & Thaler, 2000; Gasparo, 2002 Grotta Nemec 75/89VG Gasparo, 2002 Grotta Cosmini 424/561VG Grotta Gualtiero Savi 5080/5730VG Grotta di Boriano 125/135VG Stoch, 2009 Abisso Bonetti 393/765VG Grotta Antonio Federico Lindner 829/3988VG Grotta Francesco Stradi 1745/4558VG Grotta Regina del Carso 2328/4760VG Canciani, 2023 Radota Jama S.649/298VG HR, northern Istria Polak et al., 2012 Mesostalita kratochvili Deeleman- Reinhold, 1971 Hrustovača pećina* BiH 1815 BiH, Bosanska Krajina Deeleman-Reinhold, 1971 Donja pećina kod Jasenovih potoka BiH 5525 Mesostalita c omottii (Gasparo, 1999) Tučepska Vilenjača* HR 03896 HR, Biokovo Gasparo, 1999 Mesostalita sp. Grotta di Canebola 2370/1080FR IT, Julian Prealps Gasparo, 1996 Voragine a S di Prepotischis 2240/1025FR Bognolo, 2002 Pozzo 1° di Miscecco 2780/1342FR Foran di Landri 11/46FR this study THE PRESENCE OF THE DINARIC GENUS MESOSTALITA DEELEMAN-REINHOLD, 1971 (ARACHNIDA: ARANEAE: DYSDERIDAE) IN THE JULIAN PREALPS (NE ITALY) ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/1 – 2025 99 3.3. SPELEOLOGICAL AND FAUNAL NOTES ABOUT THE FOUR CAVES IN THE JULIAN PREALPS The four caves in the Julian Prealps are located in the southern part of the area. Voragine a S di Prepotischis and Pozzo 1° di Miscecco open in the Judrio/Idrija river valley, near the Italy-Slovenia border (Figure 4). They are vertical caves, about 50 metres deep. In the former, an entrance pit leads to a large cavern measuring 36, 23, and 42 metres in length, width, and height, respectively (Figure 5). The latter is made up of two consecutive nar - row pits (Figure 6) (Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, 2024). Grotta di Canebola and Foran di Landri are located about 15 km north-west of the previous ones and are about 4 km apart (Figure 4). They are hori- zontal, wider caves, measuring 1,400 and 314 metres in length, respectively (A.S. Forum Julii Speleo, 2019; Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, 2024). Grotta di Canebola consists mainly of a system of large sub- horizontal galleries developing within a layer of lime- stone breccia. The cave contains a single larger cham- ber, where the Mesostalita specimen was found (Figure 7) (Gasparo, 1996). Foran di Landri opens into a large cavern, measuring about 16 metres in diameter, partly occupied by a pond, beyond which two permanently flooded syphons are present. The cave continues with a series of chambers, galleries and syphons. A secondary branch made up of a few subsequent chimneys opens up next to the cave entrance (Figure 8) (A.S. Forum Julii Speleo, 2019). Three of these caves contain watercourses inside. Foran di Landri and Grotta di Canebola are ac- tive caves, having inner syphons and ponds, and are springs of streams flowing outside from their entrances. The stream, syphons and ponds are permanent in Fo- ran di Landri, whereas they are temporary in Grotta di Canebola. In Voragine a S di Prepotischis a small stream flows through the bottom part of the cave, reach- ing considerable energy in case of heavy rains. Pozzo 1° di Miscecco is a fossil cave (Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, 2024). Faunistic surveys have been carried out in all four caves. Cave-dwelling species, as well as Mesostalita, are reported from all of them. Bognolo (2002) reported the ground beetles Anophthalmus gridellii and Laemostenus Figure 3: Position of published localities of Mesostalita species (M. nocturna: orange circles; M. kratochvili: black rhombuses; M. comottii: red square; Mesostalita sp. from the Julian Prealps: blue triangles). National borders are shown in blue. The map background is based on OpenStreetMap contributors (2024). GIACOMO CANCIANI, LUCA TUROLO, LUCA TRINGALI, MARTINA COLAUTTI & ANDREA COLLA 100 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/1 – 2025 Figure 4: Position of localities of Mesostalita nocturna in the northern part of its distribution range (orange circles) and Mesostalita sp. in the Julian Prealps (blue triangles). The Isonzo-Soča river (blue line) flows between these two groups of localities, separating the Classical Karst (south) from the Julian Prealps (north). National borders are shown in red. The map background is based on OpenStreetMap con- tributors (2024). Figure 5: Survey of Voragine a S di Prepotischis (Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, 2024). THE PRESENCE OF THE DINARIC GENUS MESOSTALITA DEELEMAN-REINHOLD, 1971 (ARACHNIDA: ARANEAE: DYSDERIDAE) IN THE JULIAN PREALPS (NE ITALY) ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/1 – 2025 101 Figure 6: Survey of Pozzo 1° di Mis- cecco (Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, 2024). Figure 7: Survey of Grotta di Canebola (Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, 2024). GIACOMO CANCIANI, LUCA TUROLO, LUCA TRINGALI, MARTINA COLAUTTI & ANDREA COLLA 102 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/1 – 2025 schreibersi from Voragine a S di Prepotischis and Pozzo 1° di Miscecco, as well as other non-cave-dwelling spe- cies. In Voragine a S di Prepotischis the pseudoscorpion Chthonius spelaeophilus is also present (Gardini, 2010). The pill millipede Trachysphaera fabbrii (Strasser, 1981), the harvestmen Ischyropsalis muellneri (Gruber, 1984), and the amphipod Niphargus julius (Stoch, 2008) are re- ported from Grotta di Canebola. Foran di Landri is most likely one of the best-known caves in the area from a fau- nistic point of view. Several articles about its fauna have been recently published, including a preliminary list of species living in the cave (Canciani, 2019) and some fau- nal reports (Vagalinski et al., 2022; Canciani & Cechini, 2023; Canciani et al., 2023). Almost 40 species, half of which are closely related to subterranean environments, are present in the cave (unpublished data). 4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The finding of a new Mesostalita specimen in the Julian Prealps may give a renewed impulse to research on the genus in this area, as well as on cave-dwelling fauna of the region. First of all, the distribution range of the ge- nus Mesostalita must be extended northwards to include the Julian Prealps (on the other side of the Isonzo-Soča river, opposite to the Dinarides), as already suggested by Gasparo (1996, 1999), but not confirmed in subsequent publications. It should be noted that the Isonzo-Soča riv- er represents a biogeographical barrier for many north- western Dinaric cave-dwellers. These have the Isonzo- Soča river as the north-western boundary of their dis- tribution range (Latella & Stoch, 2001). The presence in the Julian Prealps thus makes Mesostalita one of the few troglobitic north-western Dinaric genera living on both sides of the river, such as the cholevine beetles Aphaobius (Bognolo & Vailati, 2010) and Pretneria (Bognolo, 2016). Nevertheless, only four individuals of the genus have been sampled and reported from the Julian Prealps since the first finding in Grotta di Canebola in 1979 (Gaspa- ro, 1996). Sampling these spiders is quite difficult, even in caves where they have already been reported. This is due first of all to their low population densities in caves. Moreover, they are wandering hunters, living mainly in the network system of cracks and faults, inaccessible to humans, which are typical of subterranean environments (Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman, 1980). The acciden- tal finding of a dead Mesostalita specimen in Foran di Landri should be seen in this perspective as exceptional. However, a more systematic sampling in caves in the Ju- lian Prealps, also involving the use of propylene-glycol pitfall traps (Höfer et al., 2015; Weigand et al., 2021), is needed to seek and collect new specimens in other locali- ties, in order to better understand the genus distribution in the area. Mesostalita individuals from the Julian Prealps belong to a potential new taxon, mentioned by Gasparo (1996) as Stalita sp. prope nocturna (to currently indicate it as Me- Figure 8: Survey of Foran di Landri, including the recently discovered parts of the cave (Colautti, 2019). THE PRESENCE OF THE DINARIC GENUS MESOSTALITA DEELEMAN-REINHOLD, 1971 (ARACHNIDA: ARANEAE: DYSDERIDAE) IN THE JULIAN PREALPS (NE ITALY) ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/1 – 2025 103 sostalita sp. prope nocturna) due to its similarity to M. nocturna. Gasparo (1996) provides a morphological de- scription of this taxon (based on the Grotta di Canebola specimen), including differences in female genitalia com- pared to M. nocturna, but he does not formally establish a new taxon. The presence of more female individuals from the Julian Prealps currently available should al- low to conduct a more comprehensive analysis to bet- ter understand the genitalia variability between these specimens and M. nocturna. However, due to the lack of knowledge about female genitalia variability in the ge- nus (Gasparo, 1996), finding at least a male individual is essential to clarify their proper specific status. Genetic and molecular analyses may be another option. DNA se- quences of M. nocturna (as well as of M. kratochvili) are available on GenBank (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ genbank/) (Pavlek & Mammola, 2020). DNA from the Foran di Landri specimen (dead yet well-preserved when collected, and now preserved in 95% ethanol) or from more individuals sampled alive in the area can be used to assess genetic differences with M. nocturna. These analy- ses may help clarify the phylogenetic position of the Ju- lian Prealps specimens within the genus Mesostalita. Lastly, finding Mesostalita in Foran di Landri also contributes to improving the knowledge about cave- dwelling fauna from the Julian Prealps. Despite several studies (e.g., Governatori & Chiappa, 1997; Stoch, 1997, 2008; Colla & Stoch, 2002), new discoveries in the area are still possible, as recently shown by the finding of the second ever known locality of the cave-dwelling julid millipede Stygiiulus fimbriatus (Vagalinski et al., 2022; Canciani et al., 2023). The Julian Prealps represent a very interesting area from this perspective. Therefore, further biospeleological and faunistic studies in the area are cur- rently underway. AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS G.C.: field research in Foran di Landri, bibliographic re- search, article conception and writing. L.Tu.: morpho- logical analysis, article revision. L.Tr.: map figures prepa- ration. M.C.: field research in Foran di Landri. A.C.: general support, photos of the habitus of the Foran di Landri specimen, article revision. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to thank the A.S. Forum Julii Speleo cave group (Cividale del Friuli, Udine), in particular Simone Del Ben, for support in exploration and survey in Foran di Landri, Dr. Fulvio Gasparo (Trieste) for information on the nature of the Foran di Landri specimen, Dr. Marco Bognolo (Trieste) for information about previous Meso- stalita findings in the Julian Prealps, and Dr. Jasminko Mulaomerović (Sarajevo) for information about Bosnian caves. 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