Soil centipedes (Chilopoda, Geophilomorpha) in the Val Camonica forests (Southern Alps): species composition and richness

Soil centipedes (Chilopoda, Geophilomorpha) are a widespread group of predators in the forest soils of the European Alps. While in the Eastern and Western Prealps important efforts were devoted to better understand geophilomorph fauna, little is known about species composition of the central part of Southern Prealps. In this work, 5 sites located in the Val Camonica were surveyed by hand searching between November 2021 and July 2022. Species richness was estimated applying non-parametrical statistical methods (Chao-1 and Abundance-based Coverage Estimator) to account for incomplete detection. A total of 18 species were found. A maximum of 12 species were recorded in a single site, while estimates suggest that other 1-3 species were likely undetected. By comparing the communities, species composition were found variable also between sites with similar species richness.