Coleoptera

Parco Nazionale Dolomiti Bellunesi is considerably rich in invertebrates: among them there are insects that have adapted to the life on the ground, with a flat body and fast movements, Coleoptera. Some of them are very rare, like the Orotrechus pavionis, which lives at high altitudes. Others are endemic species, i.e. animals exclusively living in a certain area. This is the case of the Orotrechus theresiae, discovered for the first time in 1991 in a cave on Mt. Ramezza (Vette Feltrine); this insect is a cave-dweller, i.e. it has adapted to live its whole life underground, in caves and narrow tunnels. Up to now, 50 species of carabid beetles and 47 species of cerambicid beetles have been found in the area: they have long antennae and their larvae feed on wood. Of great importance is the identification, on Monti del Sole, of Rosalia alpina, one of the most interesting and endangered species. In many areas of the Alps, Rosalia alpina is considered extinct since the beginning of the 20th century.