''Mesoniscus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

woodlice Woodlice are terrestrial isopods in the suborder Oniscidea. Their name is derived from being often found in old wood, and from louse, a parasitic insect, although woodlice are neither parasitic nor insects. Woodlice evolved from marine isopods ...

, placed in its own family, Mesoniscidae, and

section Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

, Microcheta. It contains two species – ''Mesoniscus alpicolus'' and ''Mesoniscus graniger'' – that live in Central and Eastern Europe, mostly in and around caves.

Distribution

''Mesoniscus'' is restricted to

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

and the

Balkan Peninsula The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

; the ranges of its two species do not overlap. ''Mesoniscus alpicolus'' is found in

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

and the

Northern Calcareous Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (), also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germany. The distinction from the l ...

. In

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, its range extends from the near

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

to the eastern edge of the , although it is also found in isolated pockets of Triassic and Silurian–Devonian limestone in

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

. ''Mesoniscus graniger'' has a wider distribution than its congener; it is found in much of the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains ...

, including the Bihor and

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

mountains, and in the

Dinaric Alps The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern Europe, Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia ...

and

Julian Alps The Julian Alps (, , , , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large part of the Julian Alps is inclu ...

. It is also found in the Caves of Aggtelek Karst in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Taxonomy

The first description of a woodlouse now in the genus ''Mesoniscus'' was in 1858, when

Camill Heller Camill Heller (26 September 1823 – 25 February 1917) was a zoologist and anatomist. Heller was born in Sobochleben ( Soběchleby) near Teplitz in Bohemia (now Teplice, part of the Czech Republic). He received a doctorate in medical studies in V ...

described "''Titanethes alpicolus''" in 1858. This was followed in 1865 by the description by János Frivaldszky (Ján Frivaldský) of the subspecies "''Titanethes alpicolus graniger''". ''Mesoniscus'' is the only genus in the family Mesoniscidae, and is considered so distinct from other woodlice that the family is placed in a separate

, named Microcheta.

Ecology

''Mesoniscus'' species lack the

pleopodal lungs Pleopodal lungs are an anatomical feature of terrestrial isopods and a component of their respiratory system. They are ancestrally derived from pleopodal gills, and they facilitate gas exchange on land. They perform a function similar to spirac ...

found in many other woodlice, and are restricted to damp environments.

References

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q4352652, from2=Q21226952, from3=Q21356440 Woodlice Isopod genera Cave crustaceans Woodlice of Europe