Gloria Antonini

Parent Project onlus

Chromosomal evolution is widely considered to be an important driver of speciation, as karyotypic reorganization can bring about the establishment of reproductive barriers between incipient species. One textbook example for genetic mechanisms of speciation are large-scale chromosomal rearrangements such as Robertsonian (Rb) fusions, a common class...

The flea beetle, Psylliodes chalcomera, was previously permitted as a biological control agent of Carduus nutans (musk thistle) in the USA. However, during subsequent exploration for prospective biological control agents of Centaurea solstitialis (yellow starthistle), we observed individuals attacking this plant in southern Russia. We also observed...

Lucanus cervus (L.), the stag beetle, is a saproxylic beetle species distributed widely across Europe. Throughout its distribution the species has exhibited pronounced declines and is widely considered threatened. Conservation efforts may be hindered by the lack of population genetic data and understanding of the spatial scale of population connect...

Spatial clustering results based on microsatellite genotypes of Lucanus cervus. (A) The BAPS results showing four clusters, (B-D) STRUCTURE results with (B) K = 2 main clusters involving all samples, and with (C) K = 2 subclusters and (D) K = 4 subclusters after excluding Greek samples assigned to one cluster in (B; indicated in pink). The estimate...

ΔK calculated for each K from 1 to 20 using the Evanno method in STRUCTURE HARVESTER. This is based on STRUCTURE results (A) using all samples and (B) after excluding the Greek samples. (TIF)

Microsatellite multiplex and simplex primer concentrations, fluorescent labels and annealing temperatures for Lucanus cervus. (PDF)

Lucanus cervus microsatellite data used in the analyses. (XLSX)

Maximum-likelihood phylogeny tree, calculated with RAxML for Lucanus cervus COI data, using L. ibericus as an outgroup species. Only bootstrap values greater than 70% are shown (100 replicates). The scale bar corresponds to the mean number of amino acid substitutions per site on the respective branch. Lineages I and II are indicated with blue and p...

Population pairwise FST values for microsatellite genotypes of Lucanus cervus. Significant values (p < 0.05) are indicated in bold. (PDF)

The final set of occurrence data of Lucanus cervus after thinning indicated with red x’s. The insert shows part of Southern England where grey crosses are occurrence sites before the final thinning step using the nearest neighbour distance of 5 km. (TIF)

Sample information of the collected stag beetles including localities, coordinates, year of collection and accession numbers of the studied COI sequences. (PDF)

Population pairwise FST values for mtDNA dataset of Lucanus cervus. Significant values (p < 0.05) are indicated in bold. (PDF)

Two Cordulegaster dragonflies present in Italy, the Palaearctic and northern distributed Cordulegaster boltonii and the endemic to the south of the peninsula Cordulegaster trinacriae, meet in central Italy and give rise to individuals of intermediate morphology. By means of mitochondrial and nuclear markers and of Geometric Morphometrics applied to...

Aim Biodiversity monitoring and conservation are extremely complex, and surrogate taxa may represent proxies to test methods and solutions. However, cross‐taxon correlations in species diversity (i.e., cross‐taxon congruence) may vary widely with spatial scale. Our goal is to assess how cross‐taxon congruence varies with spatial scale in European t...

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)) we...

Background: Drosophila suzukii is a highly destructive pest species, causing substantial economic losses in soft fruit production. To better understand migration patterns, gene flow and adaptation in invaded regions, we studied the genetic structure of D. suzukii collected across Italy, where it was first observed in 2008. In particular, we analyse...

Cerambyx cerdo is a longhorn beetle widely distributed in southern and central Europe. This saproxylic beetle is generally associated with oak forests where there are mature or partially dead and sun-exposed trees. Its populations are currently threatened by forest practices such as the removal of partially dead trees and the decline in the number...

Rosalia alpina (Linnaeus, 1758) is a large longhorn beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) which is protected by the Habitats Directive and which typically inhabits beech forests characterised by the presence of mature, dead (or moribund) and sun-exposed trees. A revision of the current knowledge on systematics, ecology and conservation of R. alpina is...

Citizen science, the engagement of people in a research project, has grown rapidly in recent years, also for mapping of species of conservation interest. Te Life Project “Monitoring Insects with Public Participation” (MIPP) actively promoted collaboration amongst scientists, public administrations and citizens in the collection of occurrence data o...

Thesis for the Master ”La scienza nella pratica giornalistica” (SGP). Università La Sapienza, Roma

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 specie...

The European stag beetle Lucanus cervus, widely distributed across Europe and in some Near East countries, is one of the best known coleopteran species listed in the European Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC and it is considered a flagship species for conservation of saproxylic fauna. Lucanus tetraodon is a closely related species whose geographical di...

The use of baited traps for species detection and population assessment has been widely debated for saproxylic beetles. In this study the bottle traps and the effects of two potential baits in relation to vertical position and site covariates were tested to detect and assess populations size of longicorns and stag beetles. The study was carried out...

The 17 known members of the mostly Western Palaearctic Brassicogethes coracinus species group (highly specialized pollen beetles associated with flowers of Brassicaceae) were re-analyzed, with the aim to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships and the pattern of evolution of their larval/host-plant associations. Evidence from mtDNA data (COI m...

Marine rockpools represent a dynamic ecosystem where inhabiting species usually suffer changeable conditions, with consequent phenomena of local populations’ size expansions and reductions. Nevertheless, a few specialized insect groups are known to live in marine rockpools, and among them, several species belong to the water beetle family Hydraenid...

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 cit...

Abstract The Afrotropical endemic pollen beetle genera Tarchonanthogethes Audisio & Cline and Xenostrongylogethes Audisio & Cline, of the Anthystrix genus-complex, are revised. Eleven new species of Tarchonanthogethes (T. autumnalis, sp. nov.,T. bisignatus, sp. nov., T. fasciatus, sp. nov., T. gratiellae, sp. nov., T. hermani, sp. nov., T. hystrix,...

This paper updates our present knowledge on the geographical distribution and host plant relationships of Turkish species of the sap-and pollen-beetle family Nitidulidae. Pria zenobia Jelinek, 1997 from eastern Mediterranean areas is synonymized with Pria angustula Cooper, 1982, from South Africa (syn. nov.). The unknown ovipositor of Xerogethes os...

Twenty-two saproxylic beetles are listed in Annex II of the European Habitats Directive. These beetles are considered " flagship species " for the conservation of ancient forest and are extremely familiar and apparently easy determined species. One of the best known is the European Stag beetle, Lucanus cervus, with a western European distribution....

The pollen beetle Tarchonanthopria freidbergi gen. nov., sp. nov., from SW Kenya, Rift Valley, is described and illustrated. The taxonomic and phylogenetic position of Tarchonanthopria is discussed using evidence from a preliminary molecular analysis of the new genus and a group of related genera, as well as results from a companion paper implement...

The taxonomy of stag beetles (coleoptera: Lucanidae) remains challenging, mainly due to the sexual dimorphism and the strong allometry in males. Such conjecture confounds taxonomic based conservation efforts that are urgently needed due to numerous threats to stag beetle biodiversity. Molecular tools could help solve the problem of identification...

Consensus Bayesian tree of 60 haplotypes of the 3’ end of the COI gene. Values given by the nodes are posterior probabilities above 0.70. (doi: 10.3897/zookeys.365.5526.app1) File format: Adobe PDF file (pdf).

Nucleotide diagnostics for (sub)species or species groups according to the Neighbour-Joining and Bayesian Inference tree topology. (doi: 10.3897/zookeys.365.5526.app2) File format: Adobe PDF file (pdf).

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...

The taxonomy of stag beetles (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) remains challenging, mainly due to the sexual dimorphism and the strong allometry in males. Such conjecture confounds taxonomic based conservation efforts that are urgently needed due to numerous threats to stag beetle biodiversity. Molecular tools could help solve the problem of identification o...

A new species of Epuraea, Epuraea sutcuimamun Avgin, Lasoń & Audisio sp. n., from southern Turkey (Taurus Chain) was identified using morphological analyses. This species is a member of a circum-Mediterranean endemic group of sap beetles, the Epuraea latipes species group of the Dadopora lineage, which are mostly associated with cedar (Cedrus spp.)...

Molecular analyses on the Brassicogethes coracinus species complex (pollen beetles associated with Brassicaceae) were performed to explore genetic and ecological diversification, and robustness of the current morphologically based classification. Complete COI sequences (1,542 bp) were obtained from 69 individuals assigned to 10 recognized species a...

The molecular markers can provide a valuable tool to investigate on cryptic/sibling species and on biotypes and to exploring the populations structure. In the frequent cases, especially for insects and pathogens, of absence of morphological distinction together with the necessity of an accurate taxonomic identification, the application of molecular...

Hydraena is the largest genus within the water beetle family Hydraenidae, with ca. 1000 species distributed worldwide. Within this large genus some monophyletic groups of species are recognised, among them the "Haenydra" lineage, including ca. 90 species distributed in the western Palaearctic from the Iberian peninsula to Iran. Species of "Haenydra...

The pollen beetle Restiopria biondii gen. nov., sp. nov., from Western Cape, South Africa, is described. The taxonomic position of Restiopria is discussed. The new genus is not noticeably related to any other known Meligethine, although it exhibits a few shared characters with Pria Stephens 1830. Larval host plants of the single known species are m...

The pollen-beetle Jelinekigethes dichromus n. sp. from northern South Africa is described. The new species is closely re-lated to the other known species of this genus, J. danielssoni (Audisio 1995) from southwestern South Africa. The taxonomic position of Jelinekigethes is discussed in the context of presumably related African and Oriental meliget...

An open-field test was conducted in southern France to assess the host-specificity of Ceratapion basicorne (Illiger), a candidate for biological control of yellow starthistle. Test plants were infested by naturally occurring populations of C. basicorne but were also exposed to sympatric herbivore species, including other Ceratapion spp. Insects fro...

The European Stag beetle Lucanus cervus (Linnaeus 1758) is one of the best-known, familiar and easy to identify coleopteran species listed in Annex II of the European Habitat Directive and is considered a flagship species for conservation of saproxylic insects. A second closely related southern European species, Lucanus tetraodon Thunberg, 1806 is...

A molecular and morphological analysis was performed to clarify the taxonomic status of Italian members of the Calobius quadricollis complex (Coleoptera, Hydraenidae, Ochthebiinae), including species strictly associated with hypersaline marine rock pools along the Mediterranean and Macaronesian coasts. The analysis was mainly focused on the specifi...

Marine rock-pools, commonly found along the Mediterranean coasts, are isolated patches of habitat char-acterised by large spatial and temporal variations. The phy-logeography of Calobius quadricollis and C. urbanelliae, two sibling species of moss beetles (Coleoptera, Hydraeni-dae) inhabiting Italian temporary marine rock-pool ecosys-tems, were stu...

A combined morphological and bionomical analysis was performed to clarify the position of a problematic species of the Meligethes lugubris group from Sardinia and Corsica (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae, Meligethinae). This species-group is represented by a dozen anthophagous species associated with Lamiaceae, and distributed from North Africa to Japan. T...

A morphological analysis was performed in order to clarify the taxonomic scenario within the Hydraena evanescens complex (Coleoptera: Hydraenidae: Hydraeninae), including species associated with fast running waters in mountain areas of Corsica and Sardinia. The analysis was mainly focused on the specific distinction and formal description of a new...

The pollen beetle subfamily Meligethinae C. G. Thomson, 1859 (Nitidulidae), is distributed throughout the Holarctic, Afrotropical, Oriental, and Australasian Regions. Previously, the subfamily included fifteen genera and approximately seven hundred species, most of which were attributed to the widespread and paraphyletic genus Meligethes Stephens,...

The European Stag beetle Lucanus cervus (Linnaeus 1758) is one of the best-known, familiar and easy to determine coleopteran species listed in Annex II of the European Habitat Directive and is considered a flagship species for conservation of saproxylic insects. A second closely related species, Lucanus tetraodon Thunberg, 1806 is mainly distribute...

he pollen beetle genus Anthystrix Kirejtshuk, 1981 previously included six South African species characterized by unusual dimorphic development of male antennal characters. The genus is revised and three new species are described from South Africa, including Anthystrix endroedyi new species, Anthystrix flabellicornis new species, and Anthystrix meg...

Molecular analyses can play a primary role in the process of host specificity evaluation at species and population levels. Here we present an example of their application with a promising candidate biological control agent for yellow starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis L. Although it is highly host specific, Ceratapion basicorne (Coleoptera: Apioni...

A molecular analysis was carried out on the European hermit beetles (the Osmoderma eremita species complex) to explore their genetic diversification and the robustness of previous morphologically based taxonomic arrangements. Complete sequences of mtDNA cytochrome C oxidase I gene were obtained from 26 individuals. Mean levels of interspecific sequ...

A comparative analysis of ITS2 sequences and secondary structures in 89 species of pollen beetles of the subfamily Meligethinae (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae) was performed. The ITS2 folding pattern was highly conserved and comparable with the general model proposed for eukaryotes. Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were responsible for most of the observed...

The pollen-beetle Sebastiangethes anthystrixoides, n.gen., n.sp. from northern South Africa is described. The taxonomic position of Sebastiangethes, the related genus Anthystrix Kirejtshuk, 1981, as well as a relatively large assemblage of partially undescribed allied African taxa is discussed in the context of the Oriental genus Cyclogethes Kirejt...