Leptoiulus bertkaui (Verhoeff, 1896)

Kime, Richard Desmond & Enghoff, Henrik, 2017, Atlas of European millipedes 2: Order Julida (Class Diplopoda), European Journal of Taxonomy 346, pp. 1-299 : 99-100

296. Leptoiulus bertkaui (Verhoeff, 1896)

Iulus bertkaui Verhoeff, 1896 .

Distribution

CH, DE, FR-FRA, LU. Meuse, Rhine and Weser river basins.

Habitat

Humid areas, usually in close proximity to rivers; these may be open (meadows and marshes) or more frequently closed (wooded river margins, inundation forest). It prefers natural or semi-natural biotopes. In the Meuse Basin associated with woodland ( Salix , Alnus , Betula , Quercus , Fagus ) on greensand or in valleys in Jurassic limestone. Most active in springtime. Found as high as 1000 m above sea level in the south of its range.

Remarks

For almost a century it was known only from the Rhine Basin. Then it was reported from the Rhône Basin, but only near Geneva in Switzerland, not very far from the headwaters of the Rhine (Pedroli-

Christen 1993). More recent finds in Alnus and Quercus woods in the Meuse Basin in France and the upper Weser Basin near Kassel in Germany ( Voigtländer & Hauser 1998) add extensively to its range.