Savaria - A Vas Megyei Múzeumok értesítője 22/2. (1995) (Szombathely, 1995)

Csuzdi, Csaba: The earthworm fauna of Őrség Landscape Conservation Area (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae)

SAVARIA A VAS MEGYEI MÚZEUMOK ÉRTESÍTŐJE (1992-1995) Szombathely 22/2 (Pars historico-naturalis) 1995 Natural History of Őrség Landscape Conservation Area, 1995 THE EARTHWORM FAUNA OF ŐRSÉG LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION AREA (OLIGOCHAETA: LUMBRICIDAE) Csaba CsuzDi

1 The earthworm fauna of Őrség Landscape Conservation Area (Oligochaeta, Lumbricidae) — Six hundred and fifty earthworm specimens were collected from 30 localities in őrség Landscape Conservation Area. Twenty-two species and subspecies were identified from the 60 earthworm species that were known to occure in Hungary. Additionally to the previously known 15 species, the presence of further 7 species were presented. Of these 22 species (or subspecies) 10 belong to the oligoporeute (Wilke, 1955) group. Four of them; Dendrobaena cognettii (Michaelsen, 1903); Dendrobaena vejdovskyi (Cemosvitov, 1935); Dendrobaena ganglbaueri (Rosa, 1894) and Eisenia spelaea (Rosa, 1901) occur only in the western part of the country. INTRODUCTION The earthworm fauna of Hungary has been intensively investigated since the late fifties (ZICSI, 1958, 1959, 1963, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1991). Considering from the fact, that the area of őrség belongs to the most humid part of Hungary, and one of the most important limiting factors of earthworm distribution is humidity (ZICSI, 1968), relatively few investigations have been carried out in this region (ZICSI, 1968, 1991). From the 60 earthworm species distributed in Hungary, formerly, 10 megaporeute, and 5 oligoporeute species has been shown to occur in this region (ZICSI, 1968, 1991). Field investigations carried out in the autumn of 1994 and the spring of 1995 demonstrated the presence of 7 additional species. Therfore, 22 species or subspecies of earthworms are known to occur in őrség area. Nearly half the species (10 spp.) belong to the oligoporeute group, that are widely distributed throughout Holarctis and most of them are introduced into several other zoogeographical realms (e.g. Neotropis, Aethiopis, etc.): Allolobophora caliginosa (Sav., 1826); Allolobophora chlorotica (Sav., 1826); Allolobophora roEötvös Loránd University, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology H-1445 Budapest, Pf. 330., Hungary Vig, K. (ed.): Natural History of Őrség Landscape Conservation Areal. 1995 Savaria Múzeum, Szombathely — ISSN 0230-1954