New species of Dolichopoda Bolívar, 1880 (Orthoptera, Rhaphidophoridae) from the Aegean Islands of Andros, Paros and Kinaros (Greece)

In this paper two new species of Dolichopoda Bolívar, 1880 from the Cyclades islands of Andros and Paros and one from the Dodecanissos island of Kinaros, are described, increasing the total number of Greek species to 32. The new species from Paros (D. kikladica Di Russo & Rampini, n. sp.) and Kinaros (D. margiolis Di Russo & Rampini, n. sp.) show strong similarities with D. naxia Boudou-Saltet, 1972 from Naxos forming an homogenous group limited to the central Aegean islands. On the other hand the species D. christos-nifoni Di Russo & Rampini, n. sp. from Andros shows a combination of morphological characters that partly resemble characters found in Evvian Dolichopoda, and partly in species from the Cyclades. Relationships among these three new taxa and the other adjacent Dolichopoda species are discussed on the basis of the paleogeological and paleoclimatic events that shaped the present geography of the Aegean area

The Greek small farms paradigm: between decline and persistence

Although Greece is one of the older Member States of the European Union, its agricultural structures have not followed the same evolution compared to those of other Western European countries. In the majority of the latter, the number of farms and farmers has declined subsequently to the modernisation movement, while Greek agriculture has maintained a high number of farms and farmers. The Greek case can be considered as a paradigm between two EU country groups: the old and the new Member States. This paper deals with the reasons leading to this phenomenon: how do Greek farms manage to resist to an increasingly liberalised environment and to the reduction of EU and State financial support? Why do young people go on dealing with agriculture? This is a curious fact given the hostile natural environment, the low productivity and intensification of these farms. Moreover, this paper deals with some other questions relevant to the ways small farms function and contribute to landscape planning, environmental management and sustainable development of rural areas in general. Finally, some scenarios are developed about the future of European agriculture in the context of forthcoming changes that result from the CAP reform and liberalisation.Farm reproduction, Agricultural model, Greece, Agricultural and Food Policy,

The faunistic diversity of cave-dwelling spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) of Greece

Until today, from Greek caves a total of 109 species of spiders belonging to 25 families are known. One species, the linyphiid Porrhomma convexum (Westring, 1861) was recorded here for the first time in Greece. The 109 species are distributed in caves of different geographic territories as follows: Thrace – 8 species, Macedonia – 18, Epirus – 1, Thessaly – 6, Central Greece – 3, Attiki-Saronic Islands – 24, Peloponnese – 15, Evoia-Vories Sporades – 1, Eastern Aegean Islands – 5, Cyclades – 3, Dodecanese – 6, Ionian Islands – 23, Crete – 47. The largest fraction of troglobite species were encountered mainly in the territories of Crete – 15 species (5 of which are anophthalmic), the Ionian Islands – 4, Thrace – 2 (both anophthalmic), the Attiki-Saronic Islands – 2 (both anophthalmic), the Peloponnese – 2 (one anophthalmic), and Macedonia, Thessaly, and the Cyclades – each with 2 species. The richness of the troglobitic spidersin these regions strengthens the assumption that they were major centres of speciation and evolution for the species of this group. According to their current distribution, the established 109 species can be classified into 12 zoogeograpical categories, grouped into 4 complexes (widely distributed, European, Mediterranean, endemics). The largest number of species belong to the endemic complex (53.2 %) and are also the most characteristic and reflect the local character of the cave-dwelling spiders

New Research on the Gymnasium of Eretria

Das Gymnasion von Eretria gilt als eines der besten Beispiele für frühhellenistische Palästren. Dieser Beitrag präsentiert die Ergebnisse neuer Forschungen, die die Schweizerische Archäologische Schule in Griechenland 2015 und 2016 durchgeführt hat und die signifikante neue Erkenntnisse für die Chronologie, den Plan und die Funktion des Komplexes liefern. Der Bau wurde um 330–320 v. Chr. als Palästra mit zwei verschiedengroßen Höfen errichtet, die vermutlich für unterschiedliche Alters­gruppen konzipiert waren. Die Bauzeit korreliert mit der Einführung der Ephebeia in Eretria. Nach verschiedenen Umbauten, die vor allem der Verbesserung der Badeanlagen dienten, wurde die Palästra um 100 n. Chr. aufgelassen, als auch die Ephebeia an Bedeutung verlor