Blind Cave Beetles

Exhibit of the Month 4 / 2018

Blind Cave Beetles

A remarkable group of beetles are the species that permanently live below the earth's surface. These are species living in soil or under deeply embedded stones, known as endogenic. Species that permanently inhabit caves or pits are called troglobionts. All these species have completely adapted during evolution to a permanent stay in an environment without light. They have long sensory hairs, lack pigment, and the vast majority of them do not have eyes. Due to their hidden lifestyle, they are among the rare to very rare species that are not easy to discover. Many of them inhabit extensive cave systems and other underground biotopes. In collections, they are among the most valuable. Another interesting fact is that due to their permanent stay underground, they have lost the ability to fly and thus occur only in certain isolated locations. A characteristic feature of these blind creatures is their slow and hesitant movement. Most of them are endemics, meaning species that live only in a single place in the world. For example, each cave has its specific fauna, so if we want to find a certain species, we must find out exactly which cave it lives in. In a cave a kilometer away, there will be a different species.

The area where the largest number of cave beetles, but of course also other invertebrates such as various blind crustaceans, spiders, etc., occur is the Balkan Peninsula. The reason is the extensive karst areas with hundreds of caves, often several kilometers long. In our country, we do not encounter true cave beetles, but there are several blind species living in soil or old wood.

Cave carabid of the genus Typhlotrechus from the Ozajlska Špijla cave in Croatia