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Reticulitermes aegeus sp. nov. (Rhinotermitidae) is described, based on samples of alates and soldiers collected on the island of Cyprus. The range of the species includes the island of Lošinj (Croatia), north-eastern Greece (Halkidiki and north-eastern Greece), Eastern Peloponnese, Northern Turkey, Crete, Cyprus and Amorgos (Cyclades Islands). The ascertained range of R. aegeus does not overlap with the ranges of other species occurring in the eastern Mediterranean lands. From the phylogenetic point of view, R. aegeus belongs to the eastern Mediterranean Reticulitermes clade, that also includes R. urbis, R. balkanensis and R. clypeatus, as well as taxa not yet described from Turkey and the island of Samos. R. aegeus is genetically distinct from other eastern Mediterranean Reticulitermes species, while its morphological characters do not allow a reliable diagnosis without further support. DNA analysis provides such corroboration.

In Italy, three species of subterranean termites in the genus Reticulitermes exist: the native R. lucifugus (Rossi), the North- American R. flavipes (Kollar), and R. urbis Bagneres, Uva et Clement. R. urbis is a recently described species, that is suspected to have been introduced from the Balkans to France and Italy, where until the present study it had been found only in a few urban areas. The distribution of R. urbis in Italy is still poorly understood. We collected 22 Reticulitermes samples in 17 Italian localities in order to define better the distributions of R. urbis and R. lucifugus and to determine whether R. urbis can be found also in natural environments. We identified termite species by sequencing a portion of the mitochondrial gene encoding for the cytochrome oxidase subunit II (COII), that we also used for the construction of haplotype networks and for phylogenetic analysis. We found R. urbis in three urban areas in the north, and in seven natural areas in the south. So, in Italy, R. urbis is more diffused than previously thought. The same pattern of distribution, restricted to urban areas in the north and including also natural environments in the south, is seen in the native R. lucifugus, and may be explained by the climatic requirements of these species. The lower genetic variability of R. urbis observed in Italy and France, compared with the Balkans, may be explained without implying an introduction by man. Moreover, many insect species exist with a range similar to that of R. urbis. For these reasons, we think that R. urbis could be native in Italy.

Zerynthia cassandra (Geyer) (Lepidoptera Papilionidae) is a butterfly species endemic to Italy, which was recently split from the Habitats Directive species, Zerynthia polyxena (Denis et Schiffermuller). The distribution of Z. cassandra is fragmented, limited to microhabitats where the larval food plants (Aristolochia spp.) can grow. The creation of new habitat patches can increase habitat availability and connectivity, thus improving the chances of survival of this species. This study relates on the creation of a new habitat patch in a 320,000 m2 park in the province of Bologna (Northern Italy), 8-15 Km distant from natural patches occupied by Z. cassandra. Fifty rootstocks of the local larval food plant, Aristolochia rotunda L., were introduced in 1982 in a 5 × 30 m belt along the edge of a pond. From the 1990s onwards, the management of the park became more conservation-oriented and favoured the spread of A. rotunda, that is now abundant. In 2016, the new habitat patch was spontaneously colonized by Z. cassandra. The number of adults and the areas where eggs and larvae were found increased in 2017 and 2018, the presence of 67 adults was estimated in 2018, so Z. cassandra appears to be now well established in the park. In the light of this experience, criteria for the selection and management of sites for the creation of new habitat patches are suggested and discussed.

Taxonomy and phylogeny of termites of the genus Reticulitermes in central and eastern Mediterranean lands are poorly understood, partly due to insufficient sampling. This study aims to contribute to the knowledge of east Mediterranean termites by presenting morphological and molecular data on Reticulitermes from Cyprus. Samples from 15 colonies were collected throughout the island. Qualitative and quantitative morphological characters were analyzed for alate and soldier castes. Partial sequences of the mitochondrial genes COII and 16S were used to evaluate genetic diversity of Cypriot colonies and to determine their phylogenetic relationships with taxa from central and eastern Mediterranean areas.Cypriot alates have some morphological features in common with the Israeli R. clypeatus: an enlarged postclypeus and a wide unpigmented margin of the eye. They are larger than R. clypeatus but smaller than western European species, such as R. banyulensis, R. lucifugus corsicus and R. grassei. For Cypriot soldiers, two size groups were identified, possibly in relation with the age of their mother colonies.Phylogenetic analysis shows that, contrary to what might be expected, the samples with the highest affinity with Cypriot samples are not those from the nearby mainland (south Turkey, Israel), but from north-eastern Greece. Comprehensive sampling in the nearby mainland is lacking, so the possibility that populations exist it that region with an affinity towards Cypriot Reticulitermes sp. cannot be ruled out. Together with samples from the Halkidiki peninsula, north-eastern Greece, northern Turkey and Crete, Cypriot Reticulitermes form a well-supported north-eastern Mediterranean clade.

The full-length element of the non-LTR retrotransposon R2 is here characterized in three European isopteran species: the more primitive Kalotermes flavicollis (Kalotermitidae), including two highly divergent mitochondrial lineages, and the more derived Reticulitermes lucifugus and R. urbis (Rhinotermitidae). Partial 3' sequences for R. grassei and R. balkanensis were also analyzed. The essential structural features of R2 elements are conserved in termites. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that termite elements belong to the same clade and that their phylogeny is fully compatible with the phylogeny of their host species. The study of the number and the frequency of R2 insertion variants in four R. urbis colonies suggests a greatly reduced, or completely absent, recent element activity.

The presence of the yellow-necked drywood termite, Kalotermes flavicollis Fabr., has been reported along most of the Mediterranean coasts of Europe, Africa and Asia. While morphological and genetic data exist on European K. flavicollis populations from western and central Mediterranean regions, data on eastern Mediterranean Kalotermes are scarce, and no genetic data exist to date. In this study, we analyzed 17 Kalotermes sp. colonies from 11 localities in the Levant (Cyprus, Lebanon, and Israel), in order to characterize genetically (mitochondrial DNA: COII, 16S, and control region) these populations. We found that samples from the Levant are genetically different from K. flavicollis, with distance values falling in the range of interspecific distances. In the phylogeny of European Kalotermes populations, samples from the Levant form a clade of their own, sister to a clade including K. flavicollis and Kalotermes italicus. Inside the eastern Mediterranean clade, all the samples from Cyprus are included in a well-supported subclade, suggesting that the colonization of the island might have occurred in a single event. These findings show that the populations we examined do not belong to the species K. flavicollis, but to a new species peculiar to the Levant, that we describe as Kalotermes phoeniciae sp. nov. It is possible that previous reports of K. flavicollis in this region can be attributed to K. phoeniciae.

The biodiversity of the European termite Kalotermes flavicollis is here studied through the analysis of mitochondrial (303 bp of control region and 912 bp of COI/tRNALeu/COII) and nuclear (five microsatellite and 20 Inter-SINE loci) markers on 18 colonies collected in Southern France, Corsica, Sardinia, peninsular Italy, the Balkans and Greece. Different statistical analyses (Bayesian phylogenetic analysis, parsimony network, F-statistics, PCA) were performed. Mitochondrial sequences produced an unresolved polytomy including samples from peninsular Italy, Balkans and Greece, and three main clades: southern France, Corsica-Sardinia and Portoscuso (SW Sardinia). Nuclear markers confirm these data, further highlighting a more significant divergence at the regional scale. The results obtained for the peri-Tyrrhenian area agree with major paleogeographic and paleoclimatic events that shaped the biodiversity of the local fauna. K. flavicollis biodiversity and its phylogeographic pattern are also evaluated in the light of the data available for the other native European termite taxon (genus Reticulitermes), in order to produce a more complete scenario of the Mediterranean. In the area comprised between southern France and Italy, the degree of diversity is similar; however, in the eastern area, while K. flavicollis is differentiated only at the population level, the genus Reticulitermes comprises at least six entities of specific and/or subspecific level. This discrepancy may be explained by taking into account the different evolutionary histories of the two taxa.

We relate and discuss the application of a monitoring-baiting program with the IGR hexaflumuron to termite control in Bagnacavallo (Ravenna, Northern Italy), where a massive Reticulitermes urbis infestation existed in the old town. Termite control was carried out in different zones over a period of 15 years, starting from the centre of the infested area and extending towards the peripheral areas. The treatment succeeded in eliminating termites from Bagnacavallo old town, using a total of 63 g of hexaflumuron.

The presence of an introduced termite species, Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), was recently reported for the first time in Italy, where it was found in Olgiate Olona (Lombardy). In this study, we report the finding of an additional R. flavipes infestation in Vailate (Lombardy), about 70 km from Olgiate Olona, indicating that this pest may be more widely distributed than previously known. Another sample examined in this study, collected in Rozzano (Lombardy), was found to belong to Reticulitermes lucifugus (Rossi), the only Reticulitermes species known for Italy up to 2001. Because south of Lombardy the recently described species Reticulitermes urbis Bagneres, Uva et Clement is also present, Reticulitermes distribution in Lombardy should be re-analyzed on the basis of genetic analysis.

Owing to its peculiar paleogeographic history, Crete island is one of the most interesting biodiversity hotspots within the Aegean area. We here analyze the lineage diversity of Cretan Reticulitermes termites obtained on mitochondrial genes (COII and 16S) and nuclear Inter-SINE loci. The evolutionary pattern here detected shows a high correlation between clade divergence and geological events of the specific geographical area. The new haplotypes identified in Crete converge with those of specimens collected in northern Turkey, Thrace and Macedonia/Calcydia: this allows to suggest a unique genetic lineage for the Aegean area. A taxonomic and phylogenetic re-analysis of the Reticulitermes genus in Mediterranean Europe agrees with the species rank suggested for Reticulitermes balkanensis and Reticulitermes urbis, as well as for Reticulitermes banyulensis and Reticulitermes grassei from France and the Iberian peninsula. A level of divergence compatible with a specific rank of differentiation is scored also among the three Reticulitermes lucifugus subspecies from Italy and Corse, with the Sardo-Corsican entity basal to the other taxa. In the eastern area, the “Aegean” entity, including the Cretan lineages, results the most apical clade while R. urbis, distributed along the East Adriatic shores and Peloponnesus, lays as the most basal one.

The first record of Reticuliterms flavipes (Kol l?r) (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in Europe was in 1837, in Vienna, Austria, after infested plants im ported from the U.S. were discovered in the green house of the Sch?nbrunn Palace (Kollar 1837). In 1924, R. flavipes was found on the French Atlan tic coast and initially described as a new species, R. santonensis (Feytaud 1924). The synonymy of R. santonensis with R. flavipes was eventually confirmed by mitochondrial DNA analyses (Aus tin et al. 2002). In France, R. flavipes is currently distributed in an area extending from the Gi ronde region up to Paris and Normandy, and causes structural damage to buildings and trees (Lohou et al. 1997). During the 1930s, R. flavipes was discovered in wooden forepoles of channel construction in the steam heating district of Hamburg, Germany, where populations were sup ported by the favorable microclimate (Weidner 1937). Today, populations of R. flavipes remain es tablished in Hamburg, and cause damage to buildings and trees (Hertel & Plarre 2006). In Oct 2008, a subterranean termite infesta tion was discovered by a homeowner in a de tached house and adjacent garden situated in a residential district built in the 1970s in the out skirts of Olgiate Olona (Varese), in northern Italy. Termite workers and soldiers were observed and collected during a structural inspection in Nov 2008. Specimens are maintained in the Marini termite collection at the University of Bologna. Molecular analysis was used to determine the termite species, which were preserved in 100% ethanol prior to DNA extraction. A 684-bp region of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit II gene and a 491-bp region of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA gene were amplified by PCR. Sequencing was performed by Macrogen Inc. (Seoul, South Korea). Closely related sequences were identified from GenBank using the BLAST network service (Altschul et al. 1990) at NCBI. For both genes, nucleotide sequences were identical in the 2 workers (GenBank Accession GU070788 and GU070789). Sequences from the Olgiate Olona house corresponded (97-100% cov erage, 100% similarity for COII sequence; 92 100% coverage, 100% similarity for 16S sequence) to GenBank sequences of R. flavipes from North America and France and of R. arenincola Goell ner (Table 1). This latter species appears to be identical to R. flavipes based on the DNA se quences obtained so far.

The first finding of Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann) (Isoptera Rhinotermitidae) in Italy and Europe is here reported. Termites were found on a yacht docked in a boatyard in Riposto (Catania, Sicily) for extraordinary repairs. Because C. gestroi and other Coptotermes species are known as serious pests, particular attention should be paid to the timely identification and treatment of their infestations, in order to avoid their settlement and spreading in Italy.