MAIISG

Assessment Rationale:

This species is endemic to the Azores where it is found on the islands of São Miguel, Terceira, São Jorge, Pico and Faial. The species is common on all of these islands and faces no specific threats therefore it is considered to be Least Concern (LC).

Geographic Range:

This species is found on São Miguel, Terceira, São Jorge, Pico and Faial islands, Azores (Portugal).

Population:

This species was described from São Miguel; by synonymising V. mollis, its range was extended to Terceira, but Mordan and Martins (2001) reported it also from São Jorge, Pico and Faial. The species is common in each of those islands.

Habitat and Ecology

This species lives in mountain forested habitats, endemic and secondary, under dead leaves and rotting branches, and among the rhizomes of Hedychium gardneranum. It is carnivorous, and has been seen with the neck greatly extended into a burrow of an earthworm (A.Martins pers. obs. 2010). It was found from about 100 m (Mordan and Martins 2001) to above 1000 m (Martins et al. 2006).

Major Threat(s):

This species is common on each of the islands it lives; no specific threats are foreseen.

Conservation Actions

There are no conservation measures needed.