Maurizio Mei

Wild boar rooting intensity determines shifts in understorey composition and functional traits

In recent decades, the European populations of wild boar have grown substantially, as has the impact of this species, owing above all to its rooting activity. Our aim was to investigate the relationships between vascular plant understorey and wild boar rooting intensity. The questions we addressed are: does rooting intensity influence understorey species composition and diversity? Which functional traits are associated with different levels of rooting? We performed a comparative analysis of plant communities in areas with contrasting levels of rooting intensity within a Mediterranean deciduous lowland forest in central Italy. Besides comparing species composition and diversity, we tested the association between species traits and rooting levels through fourth-corner analysis. We found that contrasting levels of rooting were associated to different understorey species composition and evenness, while we observed no significant difference in species richness. In contrast with our expectations, sites with lower rooting returned i) lower evenness values and ii) a higher proportion of species characterized by traits related to resistance or response to herbivory, i.e., spinescence, clonality, endozoochory, underground storage organs, and low height values. Our findings suggest that current vegetation patterns partly depend on the legacy effect of past rooting disturbance, since the areas currently subjected to low rooting intensity were likely to be intensely rooted in the past. These areas may have developed a marked dominance of clonal thorny species that, in turn, inhibited further feeding activities by wild boar.

Remarks on Zodion nigritarsis (Strobl, 1902) and other European species of Zodion Latreille, 1796, with a revised key (Diptera, Conopidae)

The conopid Zodion nigritarsis (Strobl, 1902) was originally described as a species of Glossigona Rondani, 1856, a junior synonym of Melanosoma Robineau-Desvoidy, 1853, on the basis of a female specimen from Nis (Yugoslavia). Strobl did not provide illustrations for the new species and, since the type specimen was never seen by later authors, Z. nigritarsis was dealt with as a species of Melanosoma in all of the subsequent revisions and catalogues (e.g., Krober 1915a, 1936; Chvala & Smith 1988). Stuke (2003) only recently demonstrated that it represents a valid species of the genus Zodion Latreille, 1796. We were able to find and study several additional specimens of this poorly known conopid and in the present paper we provide an improved diagnosis of the species, complete with illustrations and the description of the previously unknown male. An investigation into the possible synonymies involved with this species led us to carry out a wider survey of some other problematic taxa, and to prepare a new and updated key to all of the European Zodion species. The genus Zodion includes 64 valid species and is distributed in all the major biogeographical regions, except for the Australasian region. About half of the known species occur in the Neotropics (Camras 1978). The genus can be distinguished among the other Old World Myopinae by the characteristic proboscis, which is geniculate at the base only. All the species whose biology is known so far are parasitic in Hymenoptera Aculeata (Howell 1967; Maeta & MacFarlane 1993; de Meijere 1904; Severin 1937; Smith 1966). Remarks on Zodion nigritarsis (Strobl, 1902) and other European species of Zodion Latreille, 1796, with a revised key (Diptera, Conopidae)

Eugymnopeza braueri (Diptera, Tachinidae) as parasitoid of Blaps gibba (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae), with description of the preimaginal instars

Abstract Eugymnopeza braueri, a tachinid known up to now only from the type pair reared from an adult carabid, was rediscovered in Central Italy, where it was bred from adult Blaps gibba (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae). The first available data on the biology and behaviour of this parasitoid are provided and discussed. A redescription of the species is given, complete with the first description of the preimaginal instars, data on the range of adult variation, and notes on the taxonomy of the genus.

Environmental heterogeneity effects on predator and parasitoid insects vary across spatial scales and seasons: a multi-taxon approach

As predator and parasitoid insects depend on multiple resources for adult feeding and reproduction, environmental heterogeneity (EH) is expected to be a key driver of their species diversity. In temperate regions, the benefits of EH are expected to vary across spatial scales and seasons, depending on species life‐history traits and temporal fluctuations in resources. We tested the importance of EH at multiple spatial scales on diversity and abundance of predator and parasitoid insects, and whether its effects changed across seasons. Insect sampling was carried out in highly fragmented landscapes in a Mediterranean region (Tuscany, Central Italy). We selected 18 semi‐natural patches, embedded in an intensive agricultural matrix. For each patch, EH was measured at three spatial scales (micro, patch, and landscape). Five groups of predator and parasitoid insects were sampled 16 times with pan traps between March and November, 2012. EH at the landscape scale positively influenced the diversity of predator and parasitoid insects, while the effects at smaller spatial scales were less evident. The strength and the direction of EH˗diversity relationship changed between groups and across seasons, indicating that the mechanisms by which EH affects predators and parasitoids are various and complex. Conservation strategies aimed at maximising the diversity of predators and parasitoids should focus more on increasing EH at the landscape scale than at the local scale.

A neotype designation for the bone-skipper Centrophlebomyia anthropophaga (Diptera, Piophilidae, Thyreophorina), with a review of the Palaearctic species of Centrophlebomyia

Abstract The European bone-skippers (Diptera: Piophilidae: Thyreophorina), long considered extinct, have recently been the object of much interest by dipterists after their unexpected rediscovery. Considerable faunistic work has been done on these flies in recent years. However, some nomenclatural and taxonomic issues still require attention. A neotype is designated for Thyreophora anthropophaga Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (now in the genus Centrophlebomyia Hendel, 1903) to fix the identity of this nominal species. Centrophlebomyia anthropophaga is recognized as a valid species. It is described and illustrated in detail, and information on its preimaginal instars is provided for the first time. Four Palaearctic species of Centrophlebomyia are recognized and reviewed and a key is provided for their identification. Centrophlebomyia orientalis Hendel, 1907 from northern India, is removed from synonymy with Centrophlebomyia anthropophaga and recognized as a valid species of Centrophlebomyia, stat. r. The nominal genus Protothyreophora Ozerov, 1984 is considered a junior synonym of Centrophlebomyia, syn. n.

BumbleKey: an interactive key for the identification of bumblebees of Italy and Corsica (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Abstract BumbleKey is a matrix-based, interactive key to all 45 species of bumblebees of Italy and Corsica. The key allows to identify adult males and females (queens and workers) using morphological characters. The key is published online, open-access, at http://www.interactive-keys.eu/bumblekey/default.aspx.