Search

The study of behavioural ecology of rare and elusive species can be challenging, but it is an important issue for monitoring populations in planning conservation actions. This is especially true for arboreal insects inhabiting old-growth forests, whose habits are scarcely known and rely on many anecdotal data, such as the stag beetle Lucanus cervus (Linnaeus, 1758). In order to gather information on daily activity and behaviour of this species, a radio-telemetry study was conducted in a relict broadleaf forest surrounded by intensively cultivated land in northern Italy. During 2014 and 2015, from May to July, 55 stag beetles (34 males, 21 females) were radio-tagged. Most of them were caught with the aid of an entomological hand net, but nine of them were captured by emergence traps set up on deadwood. Visual contact analysis confirmed that stag beetle males were less elusive than females. Males were more frequently radio-tracked in flight, females mostly underground and in proximity of deadwood. Males were mostly observed flying at sunset, and resting or walking on standing trees during the day. The combination of air temperature and humidity determined the optimal weather conditions for male flights (temperature range: 20.7–26 °C, humidity range: 65.5–78.3%). Flying at sunset, mostly performed by males, significantly increased the detectability of the species and supported the selection of the ‘transect walk at dusk’ as the best monitoring method for the stag beetle.

Morimus asper is a morphologically variable longhorn beetle that occurs in large parts of southern and central Europe. Although this saproxylic beetle is widespread in old-growth forests or well-structured woodlands, its populations are currently threatened by forest practices, such as the removal of wood (branches and logs). Morimus funereus is considered a valid species by some authors and is included in Annex II of the Habitats Directive. However, a recent molecular study found that all European and Turkish populations should be referred to a single species, M. asper. In this paper, the monitoring methods proposed for M. asper (sensu lato) in the various European countries are reviewed and the research carried out in Italy, which was aimed at developing guidelines for its monitoring, is presented. The experiments conducted, mainly with log piles built from freshly cut wood, investigated, amongst other things, the importance of wood type, diameter of logs and age of wood for the number of individuals observed. Based on these results and on a literature review, a detailed monitoring method for M. asper is proposed here, together with a discussion on its constraints, spatial validity and possible interferences. In order to facilitate the assessment of the conservation status of populations of M. asper and to allow for comparisons between populations and over time, a method for the calculation of a reference value, based on the monitoring method, is also presented.

Assessing the conservation status of protected species needs quantitative population data, generally obtained using Capture-Mark-Recapture methods (CMR). The exploitation of natural marking (e.g. individual morphological traits) offers an interesting alternative, based on image analyses, which may result in a less manipulation of protected species compared to the typical artificial marking method. In our 2-year CMR study, we tested for the first time in the natural setting the feasibility and the application of the computer-aided photographic identification method of Rosalia alpina using the individual elytral spots as the natural marking. The I3SC software was used for the photographic analysis. Data were collected from populations of two National Parks of central Italy during July–August in 2014 and 2015. We developed a standard procedure in order to optimise the image acquisition in the field and to acquire clear and comparable images, facilitating the I3SC screening process. The results demonstrated that the computer-aided photographic identification of natural markings can be implemented in a CMR population study of R. alpina. Our image processing approach showed that using only the elytral central spot contours made the tracing contour process less time-consuming obtaining reliable results. Furthermore, I3SC output scores were used to identify a threshold value for the identification of new individuals or recaptures, facilitating the final identification proposed by operators. Finally, we assessed the possibility of performing the methodology using a Citizen Science approach.

Beetles (Coleoptera) are the most diverse and species-rich insect order in saproxylic communities, and play a key role in forest dynamics. To prioritize conservation measures, a clear understanding is needed of what habitat features are the most important for beetles that depend on deadwood. Here, we investigate (i) how the assemblages of saproxylic beetles emerging from small-diameter beech deadwood (Fagus sylvatica L.) are influenced by several environmental factors and type of forest management, and (ii) if geographical distance of the investigated sites influences the similarity of these saproxylic beetle assemblages. We visited 10 high beech forest stands along a latitudinal gradient from northern to southern Italy, and collected 200 logs of 50 cm length, 12 ± 2 cm diameter, and Hunter’s decay class 2, from deadwood lying on the forest floor. Logs were stored in ex-situ emergence traps, in common garden conditions, from April to September, and individuals emerging from the deadwood were collected weekly. A total of 2571 beetles were collected, including several species which were either threatened, firstly recorded or endemic. We found that, compared to even-aged stands, forests managed to increase structural heterogeneity (uneven-aged high forests, and former coppice stands converted to high forest), with closed canopy, were colonized by the richest and most abundant saproxylic beetle assemblages. Additionally, we observed distance decay of similarity between sites, indicating geographical structure in community composition. Our findings have important implications for biodiversity conservation in beech forests: (1) small-diameter deadwood hosts a rich biodiversity of Coleoptera and should therefore be left on the ground; (2) forest management practices should aim at preserving or restoring structural heterogeneity and closed canopies; (3) these conservation measures should be carried out along the entire area of occurrence of beech forests, due to turnover in species composition with geographical distance.

The cavities that develop in veteran trees represent a key microhabitat for forest biodiversity and especially for secondary cavity nesters that rely on this resource for shelter. Since the availability of deadwood, veteran and hollow trees is threatened by forest management, we explored the possibility of increasing the presence of these scarce resources. To increase the abundance of dead wood-microhabitats, 113 trees of the hybrid planes (Platanus x acerifolia) were converted into new living structures, the Habitat Trees (HT). To investigate the potential of this resource on the native avian fauna, six types of cavities were designed according to the size requirements of the target bird species. The temporal evolution of the cavities and their use by birds were then studied for eight years. The artificial cavities generally did not compromise growth and stability of the trees, and the majority remained alive. These hollows offered better thermal insulation compared to traditional nest-boxes and natural cavities. Their use increased during the first three years, reaching the 80%. In the following years, the use declined (probably because of the increase of rot and displacement of the lids).This highlights the need of management to maintain their suitability through time. Our results suggest a possible cost-effective alternative use of alien tree species, which should be included in management actions to compensate the shortage of hollow trees in managed forests.

The external morphology of Isomerocera Enderlein, an Afrotropical genus of Stratiomyidae, is discussed and illustrated with special regard to specific structures on the antenna, surface cover, and male and female terminalia. The species of Isomerocera are re-examined, based on 524 specimens (including four types) from 15 institutions, and two species were distinguished. The rare species I. heteraspis James, 1949 is characterised by some unusual autapomorphic characters. The common I. quadrilineata varies remarkably in colour characters, and the extent and density of hair patches. Isomerocera maculiventris (Macquart, 1850) is considered to be a junior synonym of I. quadrilineata (Fabricius, 1787) as is I. natalensis (Gerstaecker, 1857). Isomerocera quadrilineata var. melecta, as originally described by Speiser (1908), is identical with the nominal form. Generic characters are compared with the related genus Ptilocera from the Oriental and Australasian regions. Distribution data are summarised on the basis of the reliable published records and/or extensive material that we examined and collected in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe. I. heteraspis is known only from two localities in Burundi and Uganda. The known distribution of I. quadrilineata essentially covers the vast area of savannahs and the zone of lowland tropical moist broadleaf forests in Africa.

International audience; No abstract available

The Rosalia longicorn (Rosalia alpina) is a strictly protected saproxylic beetle, widely distributed in Central and Southern Europe and mainly associated with ancient beech forests. To improve knowledge about the conservation status of R. alpina in Italy, available molecular markers (microsatellites and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I(COI)) were tested for the first time on Italian populations. The study was performed in four sampling sites distributed in two areas placed in Northern (“Foreste Casentinesi” National Park) and Central Apennines (“Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise” National Park) where populational data about Rosalia longicorn were collected in the framework of the European LIFE MIPP Project. The genetic relationship among Apennine and Central/South-eastern European populations was explored by a comparison with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data from literature. Microsatellite markers were only partially informative when applied to R. alpina Italian individuals, although providing some preliminary indication on an extensive gene flow among populations from the Apennines and local ongoing processes of genetic erosion. Genetic data are consistent with previous ecological data suggesting that the maintenance of variability in this species could be related to both habitat continuity and preservation of large senescent or standing dead trees in forests. Finally, a peculiar origin of the Apennine populations of R. alpina from a putative “Glacial Refugium” in Italy was inferred through COI data. The high genetic distance scored among the analysed populations and those from Central and South-eastern Europe indicates that the R. alpina deme from Apennine Mountains might represent a relevant conservation unit in Europe. Further genetic analyses will allow assessing other possible conservation units of R. alpina and, thus, defining large-scale conservation strategies to protect this endangered longhorn beetle in Europe.

Although Italy hosts a very important part of Europe’s biodiversity, at the same time however many species are threatened. The Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), one of the pillars of European nature conservation, safeguards biodiversity through the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. It imposes to maintain or restore a favourable conservation status of habitats and populations. A further important obligation deriving from this Directive is the set-up of a European ecological network of special areas of conservation, entitled Natura 2000. Additionally, the Habitats Directive requires the Member States to carry out monitoring to determine the conservation status of the protected habitats and species. The Directive lists a total of 117 species of insects; of these 49 species are present in Italy. However, there is still no nationally accepted and widely applied monitoring system for these insects. In addition, for many insect species listed in the Habitats Directive, the current knowledge of their distribution in Italy is fragmentary and many records are outdated.

The European stag beetle, Lucanus cervus, is a flagship species for biodiversity conservation of old-growth forests and is protected under the Habitats Directive. Although it has been the focus of active research in the last two decades, many aspects of its ecology and habitat requirements for the larvae remain poorly known, particularly to what extent certain factors limit larval development. The objectives of this preliminary work were: (1) to explore the feasibility of a non-invasive method for detecting oviposition sites; (2) to attempt the characterisation of above-ground ecological factors recorded in the oviposition sites and (3) to quantify the number of traps and operators needed for obtaining a number of beetles suitable for statistical analysis. In 2014, twelve females were followed by means of radio-telemetry to detect potential oviposition sites in a relict broadleaf forest of northern Italy. In 2015, emergence traps were set in nine sites selected from the 21 sites where females were recorded digging deeply in the soil near to dead wood during the previous year. Traps were checked during the 2015 and 2016 flight seasons. Overall, 15 stag beetles were detected (8 males and 7 females) from five emergence trap sites which were therefore regarded as real oviposition sites. All oviposition sites were characterised in terms of typology of dead wood, tree species, canopy openness, trunk diameter, dead wood volume, decomposition stage (five classes) and wood hardness (four classes). All the detected emergence sites belonged to the genus Quercus, two being from the allochthonous Q. rubra, but no preferences for a dead wood species nor for a typology were shown and a broad variation was apparent for all the considered variables. The mean values of canopy openness, diameter, dead wood volume, decay status and wood hardness were 2.54%, 51cm, 4.92m3, 3 and 3.4 respectively. These data suggested an important heterogeneity in the oviposition sites selection. Although this method (telemetry + emergence traps) provided substantial aid to finding newly emerged beetles, it required a large amount of fieldwork effort, both in terms of time and man-hours. The advantage of the method is its low degree of invasion while its drawback is the amount of effort needed. Calculations were made to assess the minimum number of operators and traps needed to gather a number of data suitable for statistical analysis. It was found that two full time operators should be able to detect about 50 potential oviposition sites in one flight season, 28 of which were expected to be real oviposition sites.

Parasitoid wasp communities of the canopy of temperate forests are still largely unexplored. Very little is known about the community composition of parasitoids between canopy and understory and how much of this difference is related to forest structure or parasitoid biological strategies. In this study we investigated upon the difference in the community composition of the parasitic wasps Ichneumonidae between canopy and understory in a lowland temperate forest in northern Italy. We used general linear models to test whether parasitic strategy modifies species vertical stratification and the effect of forest structure. We also tested differences in β-diversity between canopy and understory traps and over time within single forest layers. We found that stand basal area was positively related to species richness, suggesting that the presence of mature trees can influence local wasp diversity, providing a higher number of microhabitats and hosts. The ichneumonid community of the canopy was different from that of the understory, and the β-diversity analysis showed higher values for the canopy, due to a higher degree of species turnover between traps. In our analyses, the vertical stratification was different between groups of ichneumonids sharing different parasitic strategies. Idiobiont parasitoids of weakly or deeply concealed hosts were more diverse in the understory than in the canopy while parasitoids of spiders were equally distributed between the two layers. Even though the ichneumonid community was not particularly species-rich in the canopy of the temperate forests, the extension of sampling to that habitat significantly increased the number of species recorded.

Rosalia alpina (Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the most attractive saproxylic longhorn beetle in Europe, ranked as a priority species and listed the Annexes II and IV of the European Habitats Directive 92/43EEC. The distribution range of R. alpina extends from central-southern Europe to northern Turkey and Caucasic Region (Sama G. 2002). In Italy, this species is widespread and mainly associated to ancient deciduous beech forests. In the frame of EU-LIFE Project MIPP (Monitoring Insects with Public Participation, LIFE11 NAT/IT/000252) - aimed to standardize methods for monitoring R. alpina in Europe - ecological data on population size and habitat preferences of this species were collected in two National Parks in Italy (PNFC: Parco Nazionale Foreste Casentinesi; PNALM: Parco Nazionale Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise). These ecological surveys were integrated by the analysis of genetic polymorphism at 6 microsatellite loci (Drag et al. 2013) in a sub-sample of 89 individuals of R. alpina from both PNFC and PNALM (years: 2014-2015) to assess levels of heterozygosity, population structuring and gene flow. Our analysis suggests similar levels of genetic diversity among examined sub-populations (with only slight differences in allelic richness), also comparable to those already observed in South-East Europe (Drag et al. 2015). Inferences about inbreeding, kin relationships and extent of gene flow among Italian R. alpina populations are presented. Finally, the significance of integrating ecological and genetic data to set efficient conservation planning for endangered saproxylic beetles are remarked.

Quantitative information on population size, structure and dynamics are urgently needed for assessing species extinction risk and developing monitoring measures, especially for beetles belonging to the threatened guild of saproxylic organisms. Here freshly cut log piles (FCLP) were tested for the monitoring of the longhorn beetle Morimus asper (Sulzer, 1776) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Novel mathematical models based on presence–absence or count data were compared with the most commonly used capture–recapture methods to investigate if less invasive and easier approaches may be suitable for large-scale monitoring of this species and other large saproxylic beetles. The use of FCLP as bait was reliable to detect the presence and abundance of M. asper, and capture events were not influenced by the phenomena of trap-happiness or trap-shyness. In order to obtain accurate presence–absence estimates of M. asper at a reasonable cost piles of at least 0.25 m3 are suggested. Models which take into account the abundance of the species without marking individuals were the best compromise between costs and accuracy of estimation. Therefore, a reliable assessment of the population size of M. asper, can be based on count data without marking individuals. Because FCLP attract adults of M. asper and other saproxylic beetles, they could act also as potential ecological traps if chipped and/or removed after the sampling season. Therefore, if FCLP are used in monitoring as a part of conservation programmes, the piles should be left until completely decayed.

1. The stag beetle, Lucanus cervus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera: Lucanidae), is a flagship species for the conservation of European old-growth forests. Despite its popularity and many studies conducted, the lack of knowledge of its habits and ecological requirements leads to difficulties in locating the species in the field and to provide information for suitable planning conservation actions suitable for the species. 2. In order to gather information on dispersal ability and space use, a radiotelemetry study was conducted in a relict floodplain forest surrounded by intensively cultivated land. During 2014 and 2015, from May to July, 55 beetles (34 males, 21 females) were radio-tagged, and 9 of these (7 males, 2 females) were telemetered immediately after the emergence from their development sites, by means of emergence traps. 3. The use of radio-telemetry allowed to detect the oviposition sites and to study the first part of the adult life, when they resulted to be more active. Males were more prone to disperse than females but the home range size did not differ between the sexes. Dividing the season in three intervals, the most active individuals were recorded during the first and the second ones (first and second half of June).

The implementation of conservation actions requires a reliable assessment of presence and/or abundance of targeted species. This is particularly difficult for rare and elusive species. In this study the use of bottle traps and the effects of two potential baits in relation to height in the trees were tested to detect presence and assess abundance of stag beetles (Lucanidae) and flower chafers (Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae), an important component of forest biodiversity. The study was carried out in a flood-plain forest of northern Italy. Forty-eight handcrafted traps were assigned to two height categories (1.5–2 m and 10–20 m) and three kinds of bait: (i) red wine, white wine and sugar, (ii) red wine, beer and mashed banana, (iii) no bait, as control. Fieldwork lasted 8 weeks, with 32 surveys, from May to July. Overall, we recorded 399 captures of the following species: Dorcus parallelipipedus, Lucanus cervus, Cetonia aurata, Protaetia speciosissima, P.affinis, P. morio and P. cuprea. Traps baited with red wine, white wine and sugar showed the highest detection probabilities for all the species. A clear preference for the canopy layer (traps between 10 and 20 m high) was shown by all species except for D. parallelipipedus which was mostly captured between 1.5 and 2 m of height. The study period was long enough to improve ecological knowledge on species phenology, but not enough to include the whole phenology for all of them. The method allowed the assessment of population size only for flower chafers as the number of stag beetles captures was too low.

Citizen science, the engagement of people in a research project, has grown rapidly in recent years, also for mapping of species of conservation interest. The Life Project "Monitoring Insects with Public Participation" (MIPP) actively promoted collaboration amongst scientists, public administrations and citizens in the collection of occurrence data of nine insect species listed in the Habitats Directive: Lucanus cervus, Osmoderma eremita, Cerambyx cerdo, Rosalia alpina, Morimus asper/funereus, Lopinga achine, Parnassius apollo, Zerynthia cassandra/polyxena and Saga pedo. These species were selected because they share two main characteristics: (i) they are listed in Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive and (ii) they are large and relatively easy to identify. From 2014 to 2016, many different strategies were applied to contact and engage the public and approximately 14,000 citizens were reached directly. Additionally, printed and online material informed the public about this project. Citizens could transmit data on the target species, accompanied by a photograph, via the web-site of the project or through a dedicated application (app) for smartphones and tablets. All records were validated by experts based on the photographs sent by citizens. A total number of 2,308 records were transmitted and 1,691 (73.2%) of these were confirmed. Most of the reports were submitted via the website, although the submission via the app increased over time. The species most commonly recorded was L. cervus, followed by M. asper/funereus and R. alpina. Data collected by citizen scientists allowed a detailed analysis to be made on altitudinal distribution and phenology of the species and the results obtained were compared with literature data on altitudinal distribution and phenology. For example, for L. cervus, 67% of the records collected were from the altitudinal range 0–400 m a.s.l. Interestingly, the data showed that the phenology of this species changed with altitude.

L’Italia possiede un immenso patrimonio naturale, ma molte specie si trovano in condizioni di criticità. La Direttiva Habitat (92/43/CEE), uno dei pilastri della politica Europea per la conservazione della natura, ha come scopo la salvaguardia della biodiversità mediante la tutela degli habitat naturali, nonché della flora e della fauna selvatiche. A tal fine la Direttiva ha istituito una rete ecologica europea, chiamata Rete Natura 2000, e stabilisce che ogni Stato deve assicurare il mantenimento o il ripristino, in uno stato di conservazione soddisfacente, degli habitat e delle specie elencati nei suoi allegati. Per accertare lo stato di conservazione di questi habitat e specie la Direttiva richiede agli Stati membri di garantire il loro monitoraggio. A livello Europeo, la Direttiva ha elencato 117 specie di insetti; di queste, 49 sono presenti in Italia. Tuttavia, non esiste ancora un sistema di monitoraggio per questi insetti, accettato e applicato su scala nazionale. Inoltre per molte specie di insetti elencati nella Direttiva Habitat anche l’attuale conoscenza della loro distribuzione in Italia è molto lacunosa perché molte segnalazioni sono storiche.

Morimus funereus is a large longhorn beetle included in the European Habitats Directive and in previous releases of the IUCN red list. It represents a flagship species of old-growth forest saproxylic communities in E and SE Europe. The morphologically based taxonomy of W Palaearctic Morimus is rather unstable due to high phenetic intrapopulational and geographic variability and different authors have attempted to recognise one to five different taxa of specific/subspecific rank. No previous molecular data are available for the genus Morimus. Here, for the first time, a molecular approach based on COI and ITS2 gene sequences was applied in European and Anatolian Morimus specimens. The genetic variability among Euro-Anatolian Morimus populations and the geographical structure suggest that they can not be ascribed to the currently accepted five W Palaearctic Morimus species and may actually represent a single, genetically and morphologically variable biological species (M. asper), highlighting the necessity of an extended taxonomical revision. In light of these results, a phylogeographical hypothesis of postglacial colonisation of the central Mediterranean area has been developed and the consequences of this new taxonomic arrangement regarding conservation strategies for “Morimus funereus” and allied taxa in Europe and Turkey are discussed.

Up to now, global conservation priorities are far from incorporating megadiverse invertebrate taxa. Thus, an important emerging field in biological conservation is how we might manage landscape to preserve insects. In this study, we analyze the efficacy of Italian reserve network for protecting multiple saproxylic beetles, considering both nationally designated areas and Natura 2000 sites. We selected 150 species inhabiting the Italian territory from the European Red List for saproxylic beetles, on the basis of distribution data availability. For each species, a vulnerability score was assigned according to their Red List status, and the species' distributions data were used to perform an irreplaceability analysis. Our analyses show that conservation targets based on geographic range extent are achieved for only 7% of the considered species. We find that 13 species are not represented in any protected area: among these, two click beetle species (Elateridae) are listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature threatened categories (i.e. Ampedus quadrisignatus EN and Ampedus brunnicornis VU). Our analyses on protected area effectiveness for the conservation of saproxylic beetles showed that nationally designated protected areas are more irreplaceable than a random selection of cells. Surprisingly, the addition of Natura 2000 sites did not improve the species representation. Moreover, these reserves include sites that are not more irreplaceable than a random selection of cells. We identify some currently unprotected areas that protection could prevent from future extinctions and ensure a favorable conservation status of saproxylic beetles. In particular, we find an important stronghold for beetle conservation, which obtained a high irreplaceability score, in the Adige river basin. We recommend the designation of new reserves in this area to complement the existing network and to help guarantee invertebrate saproxylic fauna protection.

Considering that indicators of old-growth features can vary across the European ecoregions, this paper provides some results to identify the distinctive traits of old-growth forests in the Mediterranean ecoregion. Deadwood occurrence as indicator of naturalness is investigated in some remote forest areas that have developed in absence of anthropogenic disturbance over the past few decades. Eleven study sites across the Italian peninsula were selected and records of deadwood were carried out in 1-ha size plots. Deadwood volume, deadwood types and decay stages were inventoried in the selected sites. The amounts of deadwood indicate a large variability among the investigated forest stands: the total volume ranged between 2 and 143 m 3 ha -1 , with an average of 60 m 3 ha -1 . Lying deadwood is the most abundant component of deadwood in the investigated forests, due to the natural mortality occurring in the stands in relation to the processes established in the last decades. On the contrary, stumps are the less represented type of deadwood in almost all the study areas. All the decay classes are present in each study site. The amount of deadwood in Southern Europe, even if lower than that reported for North and Central European countries, could have a different meaning due to the faster decay occurring in Mediterranean forest ecosystems. For this reason, old-growth features and the characteristics of each indicator should be framed and referred to well-defined climatic and

All published records on Stratiomyidae from Sardinia were critically evaluated and extensive, recently collected material (more than 500 specimens) was identified. The present review of the soldier flies from Sardinia includes 27 species. Nemotelus niloticus Olivier, 1811 is newly recorded from Europe and Italy, and Lasiopa pseudovillosa Rozkosný, 1983 and Zabrachia tenella (Jaennicke, 1866) are newly recorded from Sardinia. Nemotelus brachystomus Loew, 1846 and N. leucorhynchus Costa, 1884 are proposed as new synonyms of N. notatus Zetterstedt, 1842. Beris hyaliniventris Costa, 1857, the types of which could not be found, is removed from synonymy with Chorisops tibialis (Meigen, 1820) and declared as species incertae sedis. Brief comments are made on the zoogeography of Sardinian soldier flies.

(index)

A new species, Sargus harderseni sp. n., is described from Italy. It is compared with the closely related S. albibarbus Loew, 1855 and included in the S. cuprarius species group. The female holotype of S. ceriferus Jaennicke, 1866 is re-examined and definitively confirmed as a synonym of S. albibarbus. The detailed description of the new species is accompanied by the figures and photographs illustrating the diagnostic characters. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

The “Bosco Fontana” natural reserve includes the last remaining mixed floodplain forest in northern Italy and one of the most endangered ecosystems in Europe. Its effective management is hindered by the complexity of interactions of mixed-tree species and the influence of environmental factors on understory plant diversity. In this study we analyzed the patterns of natural evolution in semi-natural floodplain forest stands at Bosco Fontana with the aim of better understanding its current natural processes and dynamics. Stand structure, taxonomic and functional diversity, species composition, and leaf area index (LAI) of overstory and understory layers were surveyed in permanent plots over two inventory years (1995, 2005). The influence of environmental factors on understory plant diversity was assessed using Ellenberg’s indices for light, soil moisture, soil nutrient and soil reaction. Results indicated that overstory species composition varies according to the soil moisture, with hornbeam prevailing in xeric sites and deciduous oak species in mesic sites. Xeric sites showed high functional dispersion in both drought and shade tolerant traits, while it was significantly lower in both overstory and understory in the moist site. Functional dispersion of drought tolerance in the overstory and understory layers was positively correlated, while species richness was negatively correlated between the two layers. Diversity in the understory was mainly correlated with soil conditions. Understory LAI was positively correlated with overstory LAI in xeric and mesic plots, while no correlations were found in the moist plot. Overall, our results suggest that site conditions (soil conditions and water availability) are the major drivers of understory and overstory dynamics in the study forest. Hence, local site conditions and the understory should be carefully considered in the management of mixed floodplain forests.

The aim of paper is to provide an overview of options and results and how these can be scaled up and transferred to other forests. The adaptability of implementations tested, is also discussed. ManFor C.BD suggests the opportunity of managing forests formerly devoted mainly to wood production balancing different goals such as: i) the productive functions; ii) the maintenance or development of the inherent carbon sequestration and stock ability (i.e, the mitigation function); iii) the maintenance and development of structural, compositional and functional biodiversity at the different operational scales.

Global change imposes rapid assessments to obtain reliable and updated distribution data to implement conservation measures. This task is undoubtedly unaffordable for numerous invertebrate species, both in terms of time and economic resources, because they are often elusive, detectable life stages are present for a restricted time and ecological data are scarce. Citizen science might be able to provide a large number of records and these data might facilitate the evaluation of extinction risks. Large saproxylic beetles represent an ideal group to assess the potential of citizen science to map distributions on a large scale geographic distribution. The data presented were collected during a citizen science program developed within the LIFE Project “Monitoring of Insects with Public Participation”, which used a website and a mobile app to involve citizens. We selected three pan European species protected under the Habitats Directive: Lucanus cervus , Morimus asper / funereus and Rosalia alpina , and we compared the data gathered by the citizen science project with distributional data from the official national species inventory. For all species we found a low overlap of occupied cells and the integration of the two datasets resulted in an increase in the distributional ranges of up to one third. Furthermore, taking into account the time frame of data collection, we found that the extent of occurrence obtained in 10 years of records present in the national dataset was comparable to data collected in only two years of the citizen science data project. Similar results were obtained for the estimates of spatial parameters for the IUCN Red List assessment. Our study shows the potential and the efficacy of citizen science projects as rapid tools to provide reliable distributional data for neglected species of high conservation priority.

Insects are a diverse group of terrestrial organisms, countig at least one million of species and undoubtedly the predominantportion of animal biomass, consequently representing an essentialcomponent of every terrestrial environment. They are too oftensimplistically perceived as a simple nuisance or as pests due tothe significant economic damages caused by a relatively small,but notable percentage of species. However, the ecological role ofinsects in forests is significant. Indeed, the present environmentis the result of hundreds of millions of years of co-evolutionbetween insects and plants, giving rise to the present biodiversityand complexity.

The LIFE project “MIPP” - Monitoring of Insects with Public Participation (11 NAT/IT/000252) is focused on selected insect species (five Coleoptera, three Lepidoptera, one Orthoptera), all included in the annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive (HD) 92/43/EEC. One important aim is a citizen science initiative where every person may become a citizen scientist and collect faunistic data on the above species throughout Italy. Another objective of the project MIPP is the development of standard methods for monitoring the conserva- tion status of the five target beetle species. One innovative method employed is a sniffer-dog (“Osmodog”), trained to find the rare and endangered hermit beetle, Osmoderma eremita, which lives in veteran, hollow trees. The dog detects the strong smell of mature peach produced by adult males and an odor produced by the larvae. Another objective of the project MIPP is the dissemination of topics such as HD, Natura 2000, importance of dead-wood, Life projects, insect monitoring and conservation., Fragmenta Entomologica, Vol. 47 No. 1 (2015)

Read the Feature Paper: Protected areas and insect conservation: questioning the effectiveness of Natura 2000 network for saproxylic beetles in Italy Commentaries on this Feature Paper: Institutional vertebratism hampers insect conservation generally; not just saproxylic beetle conservation; Knowledge gaps in protected area effectiveness

The main objectives of this review are: 1) the compilation and updating of a reference database for Italian saproxylic beetles, useful to assess the trend of their populations and communities in the next decades; 2) the identification of the major threats involving the known Italian species of saproxylic beetles; 3) the evaluation of the extinction risk for all known Italian species of saproxylic beetles; 4) the or- ganization of an expert network for studying and continuous updating of all known species of saproxylic beetle species in Italy; 5) the creation of a baseline for future evaluations of the trends in biodiversity conservation in Italy; 6) the assignment of ecological categories to all the Italian saproxylic beetles, useful for the aims of future researches on their communities and on forest environments. The assess- ments of extinction risk are based on the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria and the most updated guidelines. The assessments have been carried out by experts covering different regions of Italy, and have been evaluated according to the IUCN standards. All the beetles whose larval biology is sufficiently well known as to be considered saproxylic have been included in the Red List, either the autochtho- nous species (native or possibly native to Italy) or a few allochthonous species recently introduced or probably introduced to Italy in his- toric times. The entire national range of each saproxylic beetle species was evaluated, including large and small islands; for most species, the main parameters considered for evaluation were the extent of their geographical occurrence in Italy, and the number of known sites of presence. 2049 saproxylic beetle species (belonging to 66 families) have been listed, assigned to a trophic category (Table 3) and 97% of them have been assessed. On the whole, threatened species (VU + EN + CR) are 421 (Fig. 6), corresponding to 21 % of the 1988 as- sessed species; only two species are formally recognized to be probably Regionally Extinct in Italy in recent times. Little less than 65% of the Italian saproxylic beetles are not currently threatened with extinction, although their populations are probably declining. In forest environments, the main threats are habitat loss and fragmentation, pollution due to the use of pesticide against forest pests, and habitat simplification due to economic forest management. In coastal environments, the main threats are due to massive touristic exploitation such as the excess of urbanization and infrastructures along the seashore, and the complete removal of woody materials as tree trunks stranded on the beaches, because this kind of intervention is considered an aesthetic amelioration of seaside resorts. The number of spe- cies whose populations may become impoverished by direct harvest (only a few of large forest beetles frequently collected by insect traders) is very small and almost negligible. The Red List is a fundamental tool for the identification of conservation priorities, but it is not a list of priorities on its own. Other elements instrumental to priority setting include the cost of actions, the probability of success,and the proportion of the global population of each species living in Italy, which determines the national responsibility in the long-term conservation of that species. In this scenario, information on all species endemic to Italy, to Corso-Sardinia, to the Tuscan-Corsican ar- eas, and to the Siculo-Maltese insular system are given. A short analysis on relationships among beetle species traits, taxonomy, special- ist approaches, and IUCN Categories of Risk is also presented., Fragmenta Entomologica, Vol. 47 No. 2 (2015)

It was the late summer of 2003 when we first travelled to Sardinia to set up traps in the forest of Marganai, an area owned by the regional administration, in the south-western part of the island. Our Centro Nazionale per lo Studio e la Conservazione della Biodiversità Forestale in Verona—a research institute of the Italian State Forestry Service—had been entrusted with the assessment of arthropod diversity in permanent monitoring sites of the ICP Forests network, a European body for long-term research in forest ecosystems (Mason et al. 2006). The project included a total of twelve forests in Italy, and we were setting up a standard sampling design at each site.

The species of Ptilocera Wiedemann, 1820 are re-examined on the basis of extensive historical as well as recent material from several institutions and a critical evaluation of published records. Ten species are distinguished and three of them, P. aureopilosa sp. nov., P. kerteszi sp. nov. and P. simplex sp. nov. are described as new. Ptilocera fastuosa Gerstaecker, 1857, is considered to be a synonym of P. continua Walker, 1851, and P. smaragdifera Walker, 1859 is interperted as a synonym of P. smaragdina Walker, 1849. Lectotypes are designated for P. amethystina Snellen van Vollenhoven, 1857, P. fastuosa, P. quadridentata (Fabricius, 1805) and P. smaragdifera. Seven species (P. amethystina, P. continua, P. kerteszi sp. nov., P. paradisea Lindner, 1951, P. quadridentata, P. simplex sp. nov. and P. smaragdina are mainly confined to the Oriental Region and three to the Australasian Region (P. aureopilosa sp. nov., P. bergi James, 1948, and P. violacea Edwards, 1915). Ptilocera quadridentata was introduced to Japan and Fiji, and P. smaragdina to New Britain. P. bergi is newly recorded from Australia, P. amethystina, P. continua and P. quadridentata from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, the first two species also from Myanmar, P. amethystina also from Malaysia and Thailand, and P. continua also from Nepal and Singapore. Diagnostic characters including terminalia of both sexes are illustrated for all species examined and an identification key is compiled.

(cover)