Distribution of Cryptops parisi Brolemann , 1920 ( Chilopoda , Scolopendromorpha ) in Poland

A bstrac t: A species hitherto regarded as very rare in Poland, found in only three sites in Lower Silesia and the Western Sudeten Mts as well as the Lower Beskid Mts, has been confirmed in the Central Sudeten Mts, the Pieniny Mts, Tatra Mts, Gorce Mts, Bieszczady Mts, Central Beskid Foothills and the Sandomierz Valley. Cryptops parisi Brolemann is a far more frequent inhabitant o f the south o f the country than was previously thought.

A s indicated by analysis o f the literature, C. parisi occurs in varying frequency and inhabits a range o f environm ents depending on geographical location.South-W estern E urope is regarded as the species' hom eland (K aczm arek 1979, 1980).At its northernm ost lim its, it displays the features o f an introduced species, as it is found m ostly in gardens, greenhouses and their surroundings.Palm en (1948) reported that in Eastern Fennoscandia C. p a risi is a typical representative o f the synanthropic elem ent, having very little chance o f becom ing established there.C. p a risi occurs also in S w eden under sim ilar conditions but also out-of-doors close to hum an settlem ents (Palm en 1948).
D etailed analysis o f the preferred environm ents o f C. parisi in G reat Britain w as conducted by B arber & K eay (1988).T he species in question occurs in the South-W est o f the country.A long with this, the m ajority o f reports are coastal (less than 10 km from the sea).In B ritain the species m ostly occurs in synanthropic sites.These authors indicate that only 4,1% o f their standardized records w ere from 'rural sites '.In Italy C. p a r is i o ccu rs at altitu d es o f 20 to 2500 m, m ost frequently at 4 0 0 -2 0 0 0 m.It is very com m on in m eso p h ilo u s w oodlands.It is som etim es found in m an-m ade en v iro n m en ts or in mole b u rro w s and in caves (M inelli & Iovane 1987).A ccording to Z ap p aro li (1992 a) the species seem s to be rarely fou n d in the urban area o f Rom e.In B ulgaria C. p a risi is ex trem ely com m on.It occurs at altitudes o f 100 to 1850 m.A m o n g h ab itats o ccu p ied Stoev (2 0 0 2 ) lists co niferous and deciduous forests, subalpine h ab itats, urban h ab itats, caves.In S lo v ak ia the species prefers w arm er sites, occurring in forests, esp ecially m o u n tain ones, it is also reported in caves (O rszagh 2000).In R om ania C. p a risi is com m on, o ften found in d ecid u o u s forest litter, though it has also been rep o rted in caves (M atic 1972).U n fo rtu nately, the m ajority o f authors do not give further d etails on the au teco lo g y o f the species.
In Poland it has been reported from three sites: Low er Silesia, the Ślęża M a ssif as well as from tw o towns: Jelenia G óra and Szklarska Poręba in the W est Sudeten M ts (K aczm arek 1980).Finally, it has been collected in the Low er Beskid Mts (L eśniew ska & T aborska 2003).Since then a num ber o f sites in Southern Poland have been recorded.
T he present w ork aim s to provide current data on the occurrence o f the species in Poland and to sum m arize the recent know ledge on this subject.T he species was found by direct searching under stones, bark, dead logs, branches and o th er m icrohabitats as well as in soil-litter sam ples and sifted litter.

C o n c l u s i o n s a n d d i s c u s s i o n
Cryptops p a risi has been confirm ed in several regions in Southern Poland.It occurs in L ow er Silesia, the W estern Sudeten M ts, the L ow er Beskid Mts, the Central Sudeten M ts, the P ieniny M ts, T atra M ts, G orce M ts, B ieszczady Mts, Central Beskid Foothills and the S andom ierz V alley (Fig. 1).
In Poland C. pa risi occurs both in natural environm ents as well as in synanthropic ones (Fig. 2).The broad range of habitats occupied is typical.The species is found equally in deciduous, coniferous or m ixed forests but the greatest num ber o f records com es from beech forests.It is no stranger to open spaces either.It occurs in gardens, urban parks and cem eteries, in environm ents w ith varying soil structures, litter and hum idity.In the light o f the data gathered, it seem s reasonable to assum e that the species is com m on in the south o f Poland.Due to the lack o f quantitative research we cannot draw conclusions as to the frequency levels in individual environm ents.T he com paratively larger num ber o f records from beech forests may be associated w ith the greater frequency o f research conducted in forest environm ents.In Poland the species concerned reaches a northern lim it o f its occurrence in natural sites, though the course o f this lim it is still not know n and requires further research.
T hough only a few authors provide m ore exhaustive analysis concerning the environm ents and m icro-habitats occupied by C. parisi, it can be stated that in the majority o f cases given, the species in question occurs, as in Poland, in both natural and m an-m ade environm ents.This is the case in Italy (M inelli & Iovane 1987), B ulgaria (Stoev 2002) and R om ania (M atic 1972).
In N orthern E urope it occurs m ainly in synanthropic environm ents (Palm en 1948(Palm en , B arber & K eay 1988)).T he lack o f earlier data concerning the occurrence o f this, as it turns out, frequently occurring species, in the south o f Poland, may be related to its erroneous identification and its being confused w ith the com m on low land species C. hortensis Leach, 1814.A third species of the genus Cryptops -C.anom alous N ew port, 1844, can be expected in Poland, the m ore so, since it has been confirm ed in countries adjoining Poland (Eason 1964(Eason , V oigtliinder 1988)).
A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s M y sincere thanks go to D r J. W ytw er for providing access to the inform ation concerning the occurrence o f the species in the Przem yśl Foothills.
I w ould also like to thank anonym ous review ers for their very constructive criticism .
R e f e r e n c e s M a t e r i a l s a n d m e t h o d sThe m aterial covers the years 1953-2002.It includes specim ens o f C ryptops parisi in the collection o f the D epartm ent o f G eneral Z oology o f A dam M ickiew icz U niversity in P oznań (sam ples collected by Jadw iga K aczm arek (JK ), M aria N iew iaro w sk a-O lszan o w sk a (M N ), M irosław a K latt-W ięckow ska (M K ), R óża K rysztoFiak (R K ), M a łg o rzata T aborska (M T ), M ałgorzata L eśn iew ska (M L), P iotr L eśniew ski (PL).In addition, som e sam ples were borrow ed from the M useum and Institute o f Z oology o f the Polish A cadem y o f Sciences in W arsaw (the m aterial collected by W ojciech S taręga (W S), C ezary D ziadosz (C D ), the Team from the Institute o f Z oology o f the P olish A cadem y o f S cien ces, W arsaw (M IZ ).All sp ecim ens w ere identified by the author.D ata from literature w ere also co n sid ered in the site listin g and signed by the star (*).
o f C ryptops p a risi in 53 sam ples from 44 sites h ave been reco rd ed .Below are cited all current con firm ations o f the species.T he d istrib u tio n o f sites is show n at Fig.1.