Discovery of Pithanus hrabei after Disappearance of 63 Years

Lacina A.

There are not many subalpine and alpine meadows in the Czech Republic. These biotopes are just limited to the highest mountains here: Krkonoše, Králický Sněžník and Hrubý Jeseník. Despite their small area and thanks to their long and isolated historical development they host unique flora and fauna species. Pithanus hrabei, which went missing for over sixty years, is such an example of glacial relict species from the Hrubý Jeseník mountains. It is undoubtedly bound to alpine meadows and is endangered by the expansion of allochtonous Mountain Pine forest in the Hrubý Jeseník Mts.

p. 270