Ricerc@Sapienza

Fine-scale knowledge of how anthropogenic effects may alter habitat selection by wolves (Canis lupus) is important to inform conservation management, especially where wolf populations are expanding into more populated areas or where human activity and development are increasingly encroaching on formerly pristine environments.

Asexual taxa often have larger ranges than their sexual progenitors, particularly in areas affected by Pleistocene glaciations. The reasons given for this ‘geographical parthenogenesis’ are con- tentious, with expansion of the ecological niche or colonisation advantages of uniparental repro- duction assumed most important in case of plants. Here, we parameterized a spread model for the alpine buttercup Ranunculus kuepferi and reconstructed the joint Holocene range expansion of its sexual and apomictic cytotype across the European Alps under different simulation settings.

In this study, we compare two community modelling approaches to determine their ability to predict the taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic properties of plant assemblages along a broad elevation gradient and at a fine resolution. The first method is the standard stacking individual species distribution modelling (SSDM) approach, which applies a simple environmental filter to predict species assemblages. The second method couples the SSDM and macroecological modelling (MEM—SSDM‐MEM) approaches to impose a limit on the number of species co‐occurring at each site.

Elevational gradients are characterized by strong abiotic variation within small geographical distances and provide a powerful tool to evaluate community response to variation in climatic and other environmental factors. We explored how temperature and habitat diversity shape the diversity of holometabolous predator and parasitoid insects along temperate elevational gradients in the European Alps. We surveyed insect communities along 12 elevational transects that were selected to separate effects of temperature from those of habitat diversity.

Although understanding of food habits of wolves in human-modified landscapes is critical to inform conservation and conflict management, no such studies have ever been conducted in the southern Apennines, Italy, where wolves long coexisted with humans. By means of scat analysis (n = 1743) and log-linear modelling, we investigated diet composition in five wolf packs in the relatively simple prey system of the Pollino National Park (PNP), southern Italy (1999−2003).

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.

Phasiinae (Diptera: Tachinidae) are endoparasitoid flies that attack Heteroptera, including a multitude of agricultural pests. A phylogenetically informed classification of Phasiinae has eluded systematists for over a century, primarily because of the conflicting character states and confusing morphology of certain taxa that indicate potential placement within other subfamilies. The unstable nature of phasiine taxonomy discourages important research into their classification, life history and potential use in biological control.

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

Meligethes (Odontogethes) inexpectatus sp. n. is described from China, Sichuan Province. The new species is based on a female specimen previously incorrectly referred to as Meligethes scrobescens Chen, Lin, Huang & Yang, 2015, which was recently described from a series of male specimens collected in the same area. Both species belong to the taxonomically difficult species-group related to M. chinensis Kirejtshuk, 1979, including a dozen closely related species distributed throughout Nepal and SW and Central China.

During recent expeditions in North and Southwest Iran, 10 species of Kateretidae and Nitidulidae (Coleoptera) were
found. One species of Kateretidae, Brachyleptus bicoloratus Reitter, 1896, and three nitidulid species, Afrogethes schilskyi
(Reitter, 1897), Stachygethes khnzoriani (Kirejtshuk, 1979), and S. nigerrimus (Rosenhauer, 1856) are recorded for the
first time for the Iranian fauna (the latter is also a new record for Asia). Thymogethes ahriman (Jelínek, 1981) is herein