Eukoenenia spelaea spelaea Peyerimhoff, 1902
Endemic
Mainland Italy
Locus typicus: Grotte de Saint-Vincent-de-Mélan (France)
REMARKS: E. spelaea was described, as the first subterranean palpigrade species, from two caves north of Digne-les-Bains in the Provence Alps (Peyerimhoff 1902). Condé (1956) supposed the "Grotte de Saint-Vincent-de-Mélan" to be the type locality.
The total range of E. spelaea, comprising the four nominal subspecies (E. spelaea spelaea, E. s. hauseri , E. s. strouhali, E. s. vagvoelgyii), extends from France west of the river Rhone across the entire Alpine arc, the western Carpathians and the northern Dinarides (Condé 1996).
The record of E. spelaea in Partigiano cave -Val Maira (Province of Cuneo) (Christian et al., 2014) confirms the occurrence of the species in the Italian part of the SW Alps, since the older record of “E. cf. spelaea”mentioned by Brignoli (1976)—pertaining to a juvenile female from the Grotta occidentale del Bandito—is probably referring to E. bonadonai.