Biogeography, Substrate Preference, and Feeding Types of North Adriatic Intertidal Collembola

Abstract. A survey of North Adriatic intertidal Collembola is given, including the first records of Friesea acuminata, Archisotoma interstitialis, Entomobrya dollfusi , and Pseudosinella hauseri. Granulometric and biococnological analyses of culittoral loose sediments allowed determination of the animals' substrate preference. The limitation to cuhaline habitats is tested by comparison with mixohaline shores nearby. Life-form typology is applied to elucidate the largely unknown relations of intertidal Collembola to the sediment surface or superficial strata. The different modes of nutrition are distinguished by mouthparts and by gut content analyses.