Ricerc@Sapienza

Brassicogethes salvan (Audisio et al. Insect Systematics and Evolution, 34, 121) is certainly among the most important and unexpected recent discoveries in the European beetle fauna. The species was initially described from a couple of unidentified specimens collected in 1912 on the Maritime Alps (NW Italy). Despite a long series of attempts to recollect the species at the type locality (Rovina Lake, Mount Argentera Massif, Cuneo Province, Piedmont, NW Italy) and several neighbouring areas of the SW Alps between 2002 and 2016, no specimens of this species were found. We re-discovered B.

One aim of the MIPP Project (http://www.lifemipp.eu) was to develop non-invasive monitoring methods
for selected saproxylic beetles. In this paper, a method is proposed for monitoring the larvae of Osmoderma
eremita in their natural habitat (i.e. hollow trees), using a conservation detection dog (CDD). Wood mould
sampling (WMS), the standard method to detect hermit beetles and other saproxylic insects inside tree hollows,
is time-consuming and exposes the target species and the whole saproxylic communities to some risks.