Ecology and distribution of the genus Troglohyphantes Joseph, 1881 in the Western Italian Alps

In Italy, the Linyphiid spider genus Troglohyphantes is represented by 35 species distributed all over the Italian Alpine range. The known distribution is often confined to very restricted areas and several species are recorded from just one or a few localities. Knowledge of the genus has grown considerably in the last 20 years, especially in the Eastern Italian Alps. For several years we have been collecting data to study the distribution, the ecology and the biogeography of Troglohyphantes in the Western Alpine range. In this paper we present the first preliminary contribution to the knowledge of this genus in Piedmont and Aosta Valley, including data on taxonomy, current known distribution, ecology, habitat preferences, average altitude and average temperature of finding localities gathered from direct observations or G.I.S. processing. A few final considerations on the ecology and the biogeography are drawn.