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The differentiation of numerous populations of Porcellio lamellatus Budde-Lund, 1885 (Isopoda,Oniscidea) in Sicily, Sicily-surrounding islands, Tunisia, and Portugal was studied from a morphological point of view as well as by using two molecular approaches: Multi-Locus Enzyme Electrophoresis (MLEE) and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis, in order to assess the status of some taxa attributed to Porcellio lamellatus. The morphological study showed that the characters used to define the various taxa in the literature are often found within the same population, which also appeared to include intermediate forms. The analysis of both the DNA polymorphisms and the electrophoretic mobility of the proteins did not produce genetically significant distances between the various populations studied, not even among those that have extreme variations in morphological characters. E' stato studiato il differenziamento di numerose popolazioni di Porcellio lamellatus Budde-Lund, 1885 (Isopoda, Oniscidea) di Sicilia, isole circum-siciliane, Tunisia e Portogallo, dal punto di vista morfologico ed utilizzando due approcci molecolari: Multi-Locus Enzyme Electrophoresis (MLEE) e Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), per verificare il significato di alcuni taxa attribuiti a Porcellio lamellatus. Lo studio della morfologia ha mostrato che i caratteri utilizzati per definire i numerosi taxa sono spesso rinvenuti all'interno della medesima popolazione che inoltre sembra includere forme intermedie. L'analisi dei polimorfismi del DNA e della mobilità elettroforetica delle proteine non ha prodotto distanze geneticamente rilevanti tra le varie popolazioni studiate, neanche tra quelle che presentano variazioni estreme a livello dei caratteri morfologici. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specimens of Porcellio variabilis coming from Tunisian populations were genetically and morphologically examined. Ten loci were analysed by Multilocus Enzyme Electrophoresis (Mdh1, Mdh2, Idh1, Idh2, Got1, Got2, Pgm, Est1, Acph, Phi). The low values of genetic distance (average DN = 0.101) and the morphological differences found between the various populations do not allow a clear separation, even if the population of Ain Drahem shows the most significant differentiation with respect to all the others (about 0.150 for DN values). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]