ABSTRACT
Over recent years, intense field work in caves of Portugal has provided new data on the distribution of subterranean Iberian leiodid beetles. Speonemadus algarvensis sp. nov. is described from caves of southern Portugal. The new species is included in the Speonemadus Jeannel, 1922 escalerai-group (Cholevinae; Anemadini). All species of the S. escalerai-group are revised and S. breuili (Jeannel, 1922) is resurrected as a valid species. A key to identify the species of the S. escalerai-group is provided and the distinctive characters are illustrated. The distribution of all species of the group is mapped with new data together with biogeographic considerations.

Keywords
beetles; subterranean; troglobiont; karst; caves; Speonemadus


Reference: Reboleira A.S.P.S., Fresneda J. & Salgado J.M. (2017). A new species of Speonemadus from Portugal with the revision of the escalerai-group (Coleoptera: Leiodidae). European Journal of Taxonomy, 261: 1-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2017.261

Abstract 
The study of subterranean Oniscidea in Portugal has been neglected for nearly 70 years, but recent investigations have revealed high diversity. All the terrestrial isopods known from caves of mainland Portugal, including data from the literature and new material, are listed, revealing new biodiversity patterns. Twenty-seven species, belonging to 15 genera and six families, are known, of which 16 species are considered to be exclusively from subterranean ecosystems, i.e., troglobionts. Trichoniscidae is the most diverse family. Seven species in the family Trichoniscidae and one species in the family Styloniscidae are described as new (all with Reboleira & Taiti as authors): Trichoniscoides bellesi sp. nov. from the Montejunto Massif; T. sicoensis sp. nov. from the Sicó Massif; Metatrichoniscoides salirensis sp. nov. from the typhonic valley of Caldas da Rainha; Troglonethes olissipoensis sp. nov. from the Lisbon Peninsula; T. arrabidaensis sp. nov. from the Arrábida Massif; Miktoniscus longispina sp. nov. from the Sicó Massif and Cesaredas Plateau; Moserius inexpectatus sp. nov. from the Estremenho Massif; and Cordioniscus lusitanicus sp. nov. from Alentejo and Algarve, the southernmost provinces of Portugal. The subgenus Trogleluma Vandel, 1946 (Armadillidiidae) is raised to genus level. In this geographic region terrestrial isopods are the richest group of cave-adapted animals. 

​Key words. Isopoda, new species, troglobiont, subterranean ecosystems, Iberian Peninsula.

Monograph reference:
Reboleira A.S.P.S., Gonçalves F., Oromí P. & Taiti S. 2015. The cavernicolous Oniscidea (Crustacea: Isopoda) of Portugal. European Journal of Taxonomy 161: 1–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.58552/ejt. 2015.161

ABSTRACT
Two new blind, cave-dwelling species of the genus Acipes Attems, 1937, are described from the Algarve, southern Portugal: A. machadoi n. sp. and A. bifilum n. sp. Acipes andalusius Enghoff & Mauriès, 1999, is reported from the mesovoid shallow substratum in Alicante (Spain), 250 km from the type locality in Andalusia. 

Reference: 
Enghoff H. & Reboleira A.S.P.S. (2013). Subterranean species of Acipes Attems, 1937 (Diplopoda, Julida, Blaniulidae). Zootaxa, 3652(4): 485-491. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3652.4.6    

The species Acipes machadoi is the biggest of its genus, in analogy to its great size is dedicated to the memory of Dr. António de Barros Machado.

António de Barros Machado, Doctor honoris causa by the University of Porto, was the pioneer of cave biology in Portugal, aside of an extraordinary cave explorer. 

For biographic  information, please consult the dossier at Mário Soares Foundation.

ABSTRACT
The genus Boreviulisoma Brolemann, 1928, is revised. The synonymy of Liliputia Attems, 1952, under Boreviulisoma is confirmed, but L. badia Attems, 1951, from Spain, is resurrected, as Boreviulisoma badium, from synonymy under B. liouvilleiBrolemann, 1928 (the type species of Boreviulisoma) from Morocco. Boreviulisoma barrocalense n. sp. is described from the subterranean environment of the Algarve, the southernmost province of Portugal. The distribution of the three known species of Boreviulisoma is mapped, main characters of the genus and its species are reviewed and a key to species of the genus is included. The isolated occurrence of Boreviulisoma badium and B. barrocalense n. sp. in the southern Iberian Peninsula, together with B. liouvillei and Eviulisoma abadi Mauriès, 1985, in Morocco, as northern outposts of the chiefly Afrotropical-Neotropical tribe Eviulisomatini, is discussed.


Reference:
Reboleira A.S.P.S. & Enghoff H. (2013). The genus Boreviulisoma Brolemann, 1928—an Iberian-N African outlier of a mainly tropical tribe of millipedes (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae). Zootaxa, 3646(5), 516–528. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3646.5.2

Litocampa mendesi Sendra & Reboleira, 2010

ABSTRACT
A new species of subterranean campodeid dipluran of the genus Litocampa mendesi n. sp. is described. Despite the presence of this genus in Spain, this is the first record in Portugal, and it is also the first Portuguese species of hypogean Diplura. The new species combines unique characters absent in the European and American species of the genus. Litocampa mendesi n. sp. was collected only in one part of a cave of the Jurassic karstic massif of Algarve, the southwesternmost part of the Iberian Peninsula. The morphological features of this species show some adaptations to hypogean life but not a progressive troglobiomorphy, typical to the Campodeidae that live only in deep subterranean environments.

Reference:
Reboleira A.S.P.S., Sendra A., Gonçalves F. & Oromí P. (2010). The first hypogean dipluran from Portugal: description of a new species of the genus Litocampa (Diplura: Campodeidae). Zootaxa, 2728, 50-56.

Read about it:
Bióloga descobre espécie de insecto com milhões de anos em gruta algarvia - Público

The new species Litocampa mendesi is dedicated to the portuguese entomologist Dr. Luís Mendes, outstanding authority in thysanuran insects.

At left, Dr. Luís Mendes during the II Iberian Meeting of Subterranean Biology, organized in the University of Aveiro, 2011.

Titanobochica magna Zaragoza & Reboleira, 2010

ABSTRACT
The new genus Titanobochica is described for Titanobochica magna sp. nov. from caves of the Algarve karstic massif, in Portugal. The new genus is assigned to the family Bochicidae and its particular characteristics and geographical isolation suggest a relictual condition. A key to the genera of Bochicidae is provided. The composition of the cave-dwelling fauna of the Algarve province is also discussed.

Reference:
Reboleira A.S.P.S., Gonçalves F., Oromí P. & Zaragoza J. (2010). Titanobochica, surprising discovery of a new cave-dwelling genus from southern Portugal (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones: Bochicidae). Zootaxa, 2681, 1-19.