Eupithecia conterminata (Lienig, 1846), una specie silvicola alloctona nuova per la fauna italiana nel Parco Nazionale della Sila, area MAB Unesco (Lepidoptera, Geometridae).

Lepidoptera new for the Italian fauna are regularly recorded in southern regions. These species usually have an Asiatic or African range, inhabit peculiar habitats, or have an expanding range moving northwards from southern coasts of the Mediterranean Basin. To the light of these observations, the first record of the cold-adapted Eupithecia conterminata (Lienig, 1846) in the south, Parco Nazionale della sila, Calabria, is really unexpected. It is hypothesized that this species was accidentally introduced in the sila Mountains several decades ago, when plantlets of Picea abies, the food plant of larvae, were planted. Future researches are needed in order to clarify the original range of the recorded population, and to identify the ecological parameters sustaining a resident population of this cold-adapted species in southern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]