New records of arthropods from the priority Natura 2000 habitats in Estonian coastal areas

Abstract

The ground-dwelling arthropod fauna of Estonia has been unevenly studied, and there are significant gaps of knowledge regarding microarthropods. Our study focused on alvars and both coastal and wooded grasslands within the Natura 2000 network in Estonia. Forty-four previously unrecorded species were found, and the presence of two species in Estonia is confirmed. Seven species of Araneae, Talavera thorelli (Kulczyński, 1891), Micaria micans (Blackwall, 1858), Drassodes cupreus (Blackwall, 1834),  Pardosa maisa Hippa & Mannila, 1982, Rugathodes instabilis (Pickard-Cambridge, 1871), Donacochara speciosa (Thorell, 1875), and Pocadicnemis juncea (Locket & Millidge, 1953), three species of Prostigmata, Cunaxa capreolus (Berlese, 1890), Scirula impressa Berlese, 1887, and Storchia robusta (Berlese, 1885), and two species of Mesostigmata, Alloparasitus pratensis (Huhta & Karg, 2010) and Urotrachytes formicaria (Lubbock, 1881), are recorded for the first time from the Baltic states. The records of Diachromus germanus (Linnaeus, 1758) and the invasive Mermessus trilobatus (Emerton, 1882) represent the northernmost occurrences in Europe.