A new cave insect species, named “Remyella spanovicae” in honor of Ivana Španović, the best Serbian athlete of all time and one of the best long jumpers, has been found and described for science. The species was found in the Đerekarska River Spring Cave, located in the village of Đerekare, near Tutin, on the Pešter Plateau, close to the border with Montenegro.
A scientific paper with the aforementioned discovery and description of the new species was published today in the renowned international biological scientific journal European Journal of Taxonomy.
The mentioned paper is a joint endeavor of a team of zoologists from the Institute of Zoology, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Biology, led by Prof. Dr. Srećko Ćurčić, and the author team included Dr. Maja Vrbica, Dr. Korana Kocić, Vukašin Gojšina, M.Sc., Sofija Vranić, M.Sc., and Dr. Nikola Vesović. The new species for science was described by Prof. Ćurčić, Dr. Vrbica, and Dr. Vesović. Type specimens of this species were collected by Srećko Ćurčić, Vukašin Gojšina, and Nikola Vesović in June and July 2023, with significant field assistance from Petar Ćurčić.
“Španović’s Remyella” is a rare and endemic insect species, specifically a beetle belonging to the family Leiodidae. This unique beetle belongs to troglobionts – true terrestrial underground inhabitants. It inhabits the Đerekarska River Spring Cave and is found nowhere else in the world.
It is a small (between 4 and 5 mm long), completely blind, and depigmented insect species with a shiny body surface. It is characterized by an elongated body and exceptionally long legs and antennae, which in males exceed the length of the body itself. Individuals were collected in the back part of the upper level of the cave, in complete darkness. This species prefers moist limestone walls in the cave. It feeds by filtering organic matter that accumulates in the water film on surfaces within the cave, which is indicated by the structure of its mouthparts.
This is the sixth known species of the genus Remyella. All species of this sensational genus inhabit exclusively the Pešter Plateau and are narrowly localized to the border area of Serbia and Montenegro. The species is considered to be of Pliocene age and originated two to five million years ago. Its closest relatives inhabit southwestern Serbia and northeastern Montenegro (the vicinity of Sjenica, Tutin, Novi Pazar, and Bijelo Polje) and are exclusively tied to speleological objects (caves and pits).
Incidentally, two other species of the genus Remyella were also described by biospeleologists from the Institute of Zoology, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Biology, Prof. Dr. Srećko Ćurčić and Prof. Dr. Božidar Ćurčić in 2008. These are R. raskae and R. javorensis (Javor remyella) from Baždarska Cave on Mount Javor near Sjenica, which also inhabits the nearby Ušački cave system.
The authors observed that the new beetle species for science and Ivana Španović share several common characteristics, which decided its naming in honor of the trophy-winning Serbian athlete. In addition to having Serbian origin, Ivana and her “bug” are characterized by strength, endurance, and perseverance. Furthermore, the new insect species moves with ease on the ceiling and vertical walls in the cave thanks to its strong limbs, while Ivana effortlessly jumps over seven meters in the long jump, so it can be said that both defy gravity, each in their own way.
The authors of the new species are fully aware of how rare and demanding it is to be a successful athlete globally, especially in individual sports like athletics, and this fact additionally influenced the choice of the scientific name for the species and represents an additional reason why the honor of naming a new species for science went to Ivana Španović.
Incidentally, the new insect species is not the first animal species named in honor of a great figure of Serbian sports. Two species have been named after the best tennis player of all time, Novak Đoković – first the freshwater snail Travunijana djokovici (Đoković’s Travunijana) from Montenegro, from a spring near Podgorica, described in 2021, and then the ground beetle insect Duvalius djokovici (Đoković’s Duvalius) from Simina Pit on Mount Povlen near Ljubovija in western Serbia, described in 2022.
Interestingly, the species D. djokovici was described precisely by the authors of the description of Ivana’s “bug,” entomologists from the University of Belgrade – Faculty of Biology, Srećko Ćurčić and Nikola Vesović.
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Source: RTS; Photo: Printscreen Instagram @ivanaspanovic