Arachnologische Mitteilungen 57

Gnaphosa badia in the Ukrainian Carpathians 57 rian Forest) and in the Fichtel Mountains (Germany) (Fig. 3; Buchar 1962, Kůrka 1995, Růžička 1997, Buchar & Růžička 2002, Blick et al. 2004,Thaler & Knoflach 2003, Cardoso & Morano 2010, Kostanjšek & Kuntner 2015, Arachnologi- sche Gesellschaft 2018, Czech Arachnological Society 2018, WSC 2018). Part of these data was summarized by Grimm (1985). The possible occurrence of G. badia in the Carpathian Mountains was proposed by Kolosváry (1939). In his work, Kolosváry used known publications relating to the altitudi- nal distribution of spider species in the European mountains. Based on the faunal list of Lessert (1909) it was indicated that G. badia should occur in the alpine zone of the Carpathians at altitudes of 2300–2700 m a.s.l. Information on records of G. badia from the Ukrainian (Eastern) Carpathians (the Chorna Hora Mt. , Vynohradiv rayon, Zakarpats'ka Oblast') was presented in a PhD work by Legotay (1974; the data are given above in ‘Material and methods’; Figs 1, 3). In a later paper based on the material of this PhD thesis it was not specified where the specimens had been collected (Legotay 1989). Since 1971, the species has also been known to occur in the Ukrainian Carpathians (without localities being specified) from another published work (Tyschchenko 1971), and later from the catalogues by Mikhailov (1997, 1998, 2013) as well as from other papers (Ovtsharenko 1982, Ovtsharenko et al. 1992). In 2005–2006, the species was recorded within the East­ ern Carpathians in northern Romania: the Pietrosul Mare Scientific Reserve (subalpine zone: 1650–1800 m; the Rodna Mountains; Nitzu et al. 2008; Fig. 3). Recently, it was found in the Chornohora (Ukraine) and added to the checklist of the spiders of this massif (Hirna et al. 2016). According to the literature, G. badia occurs also in Euro- pe within the East European Plain (Mikhailov 1997, 1998, 2013), in particular in the Caspian Depression (Minoransky 1988: the Chechen Republic, Russia, Budary Lake region, and Terek-Kuma Lowland of Ciscaucasia; Fig. 3). In several places the Caspian Depression is below sea level (0 to -28 m), and in the Budary Lake region between 4 and 15 m.The lake region, located in the steppe zone, includes agricultural land, vineyards and floodplain forests of the Terek River.Therefore, it is most likely the specimens from this locality were mis­ identified. Gnaphosa badia has also been recorded within the Burgas Plain territory of Bulgaria (Burgas (Deltshev 1976: “1 ( /15. Jun. 1948/”), Deltshev et al. 1998, Fig. 3), and in- cluded in the checklist of spiders of this country (Blagoev et al. 2018).The data from these lowland areas are also doubtful and in need of confirmation. The notifications attributed to G. badia within the East European Plain from the forest-steppe zone of Ukrai- ne (Kharkiv oblast’; Kirilenko & Legotay 1981), the Volga Upland (Ehorov 2012: cit. by Sidorenko & Dunin, 1997, Si- dorenko 1998: the Chuvash Republic, Russia, NNP “Chavash Varmane”), and also from Fenno-Scandinavia (Mikhailov 1998, 2013, Oliger 2003: Russia, Ladoga Lake region, on the verge of Leningrad Oblast’ and Karelian) were all based on erroneous identifications (Tsvietkov 2007, Polchaninova & Prokopenko 2013, M. V. Sidorenko and T. I. Oliger pers. comm.: based on the revision of collected material). Gnaphosa badia is mentioned as part of the spider fauna of the mountain systems of Asia by Mikhailov (1997, 1998, 2013) and Otto (2017). In particular, the species is known from the Caucasus Mountains (Dunin 1989: Azerbaijan, Transcaucasia, Greater Caucasus; Fig. 3) and the mountain systems of the Cis-Baikal (Izmailova 1977, 1989: Russia; Irkuts’k Oblast’, Primos’k mountain range, on the outskirts of vil. Nizhnii Kocherhat; Fig. 3). However, the data by M. Izmailova are based on the identification of adult females; the published figure of a vulva (Izmailova 1977, 1989) does not give an unambiguous answer about the correctness of the identification. Records of several specimens (up to three) at an altitude up to 1200 m on both the Caucasus and the Cis- Baikal are quite old: there have been no confirmations for more than 30–40 years. Ovtsharenko et al. (1992) omitted them in the summarizing work about North Asian ground spiders of the genus Gnaphosa , where the authors point­ ed out: “We have seen no material of this species from the USSR, but the species has been recorded from the Carpa- thian Mountains (Tyschchenko, 1971, Kirilenko & Legotai, 1981)” . In 2010, the discovery of G. badia was reported from the Altai Mountains (Volkovskij & Romanenko 2010: on the outskirts of vil. Chemal; Fig. 3). However, in 2013, these data were not included the list of spiders of the Russian Altai (Azarkina & Trilikauskas 2013) due to their doubtful nature (G. Azarkina pers. comm.). The specimens from the Sikhote-Alin mountain range in the reserve “Lazovsky” (2004, Russia, Primorsky Krai, Sun- dukov & Shokhrin 2004, leg. and det. T. I. Oliger) were mis­ identified (Oliger pers. comm.). Apparently, not only data from lowland areas of Europe, but also from mountain systems of Asia appear question­ able. Until there are verified records of specimens from these territories, the range of G. badia should be delimited to the mountain systems of Europe: in the south-west in the Cen- tral System of the Iberian Peninsula, the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Bohemian Forest, the Fichtel Mountains and the most easternmost ones in Carpathians. Comparison of the chorological and ecological peculiari- ties of G. badia within different mountain systems is difficult due to the differences of altitudinal zones. The habitats of this species in the Carpathians are similar to those descri- bed in the researches for the Alps, in particular subalpine- alpine grasslands, heaths and scrubs, and screes; but in the Carpathians the species does not occur in coniferous forests (Grimm 1985, Kropf & Horak 1996, Zingerle 2000, Stein- berger 2013). The spider fauna of the two mountain systems is different, however in both of them G. badia have a high relative abundance in some epigeic spider communities, for example a sub-dominant position in a high altitude (2100 m) in the Zillertal Alps (Paulus & Paulus 1997). It should be noted that in the Bohemian Forest (Šumava: Czech Republic and Bavarian Forest: Germany) and in the Fichtel Mountains (Germany), the species occurs at the lower hypsometric levels. Nevertheless, most of the records are at an altitude more than 1000 m (from 830 to 1350 m in the Bavarian Forest (unpu- blished data of T. Blick), Buchar 1962, Kůrka 1995, Růžička 1997, Buchar & Růžička 2002). In the Ukrainian Carpathians G. badia only occasionally occurs in the subalpine zone and mainly belongs to the spider communities of the alpine zone, which are relatively species- poor, have a specific composition and are adapted to a number