L’eterotterofauna di un’azienda agricola a conduzione biologica del versante ionico calabrese

THE HETEROPTERA OF ORGANIC MANAGED FARM ON THE IONIAN COAST OF CALABRIA The investigated farm, whose extent is about 34 hectares located on the Copanello promontory (province of Catanzaro), was subdivided into six zones differing in environmental and vegetative characteristics and technique of cultivation. Sixtyfour species of Heteroptera were collected, directly on plants, or using pitt-fall and light traps. Most Heteroptera were phytophagous species living on herbaceous plants in a zone of the farm little affected by human activities, where the technique of cultivation was limitated to a yearly tilling. Key words: bugs, vegetation, biodiversity, Southern Italy. L’azienda indagata, di circa 34 ettari, ubicata sul promontorio di Copanello (CZ) è stata suddivisa in 6 aree con caratteristiche paesaggistiche e floristico/vegetazionali differenti, caratterizzate da vari gradi di naturalità e soggette a pratiche colturali diverse. Gli esemplari di Eterotteri censiti, per un totale di 64 specie, sono stati raccolti principalmente tramite cattura diretta, o utilizzando trappole a caduta e/o trappole luminose. Gli Eterotteri, per la maggior parte, sono stati raccolti sulla vegetazione, soprattutto piante erbacee, in alcune aree dell’azienda dove l’impatto antropico è piuttosto limitato. Parole chiave: Cimici, vegetazione, biodiversità, Sud Italia

Forty years of carabid beetle research in Europe - from taxonomy, biology, ecology and population studies to bioindication, habitat assessment and conservation

Volume: 100Start Page: 55End Page: 14

Predator feeding choice on conspicuous and non-conspicuous carabid beetles: first results

Insects use various types of behaviour, chemical defences, mimetic, aposematic or cryptic appearances as anti-predatory strategies. Among insects, carabid beetles of the genus Brachinus are distasteful prey because they discharge an irritating “cloud” of quinones when threatened. These beetles live in aggregations and adopt warning (conspicuous pattern) colours and chemicals to create a template that is easily learnt by predators. Another carabid beetle, Anchomenus dorsalis, mimics the colours and cuticular profile of Brachinus and is usually found in Brachinus aggregations. In this paper we report results from laboratory observations on feeding choice of the following natural predators - Crocidura leucodon (Insectivora: Soricidae), Ocypus olens (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) and Podarcis sicula (Reptilia: Lacertidae) - on carabid beetle species. Comparing the number of attacks of predators towards aposematic and non-aposematic prey, there was a statistically significant preference towards non-aposematic prey

Predatory behaviour on ground beetles (Coleoptera : Carabidae) by Ocypus olens (Muller) (Coleoptera : Staphylinidae) under laboratory conditions

We studied the prey preference and feeding behaviour of adult males of Ocypils olens (Muller) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), an active predator of many insects, under laboratory conditions, Tests were carried out individually on eight types of carabid beetles: three species with chemical defences and aposematic colours, Brachinus sclopeta (Fabricius, 1792), Anchomenus dorsalis (Pontoppidan, 1763) and Chlaenius velutinus (Duftschmid, 1812), and five species without these characteristics, Pseudophonus rufipes (De Geer, 1774), Sterolms melas italicus (Dejean, 1828), Amara anthobia Villa & Villa, 1833, Poecilus cupreus (Linne, 1758) and Calathus fuscipes (Goeze, 1777). Ocvpus olens preferred to attack prey without chemical defences and aposematic colour patterns, possibly stimulated by the prey's type of movement. RI Massolo, Alessandro/I-3437-201

Risposte comportamentali di <em>Crocidura leucodon</em> (Hermann, 1780) (Insectivora, Soricidae) ai meccanismi antipredatori di alcuni Artropodi

<strong>Abstract</strong> <strong>Behavioural responses of <em>Crocidura leucodon</em> (Insectivora, Soricidae) to Arthropod preys with various antipredatory defenses</strong> Two wild specimens of <em>Crocidura leucodon</em> have been tested in laboratory to study the predatory behaviour towards different types of preys: Arthropods with chemical defenses and aposematic colours (<em>Brachinus sclopeta</em>, <em>B. crepitans</em>, <em>B. peregrinus</em>, <em>Chlaenius chrysocephalus</em>, <em>Anchomenus dorsalis</em>) and less protected species (es. <em>Scybalicus oblongiusculus</em>, <em>Parophonus hispanus</em>, <em>Steropus melas</em>, <em>Calathus montivagus</em>). In the first part of the experiment satiated <em>Crocidura</em> specimens preyed only on non protected species. In the second part satiated and food deprived <em>Crocidura</em> began to prey, although with less intensity, also on highly protected species. The shrews adopted "new" attack modes to avoid chemical injuries

Morphometry of eyes, antennae and wings in three species of Siagona (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

In carabid beetles, physiological and behavioural characteristics reflect specific habitat demands and there is a strong correlation between body form and habit in species with different life style. In this study, we compared the morphometry and compound eye characteristics of three species of the genus Siagona: S. jenissoni, S. dejeani and S. europaea. These carabids have a stenotopic lifestyle in Mediterranean clayey soils, inhabiting the ground fissure system formed during the dry season. All species have a Mediterranean distribution and are nocturnal olfactory hunters, and are strict ant predators. For morphometric measurements, we considered body length (mm), wing length (mm), antenna length (mm), head width (mm), trochanter length (mm), number of ommatidia, eye surface area (mm(2)), ommatidia density (number of ommatidia/mm(2) of eye surface area), head height (mm), thorax height (mm) and abdomen height (mm). The data revealed intersexual and interspecific differences. The three species differ in relative length of the antennae, density and number of ommatidia and relative trochanter length. Significant differences occurred in wing sizes, which are well developed in S. europaea, the only species capable of flight. When eye size is compared with other ground beetles of various lifestyles, Siagona shows pronounced "microphthalmy" an adaptation to subterranean life in clayey crevices of tropical and subtropical climates with a marked dry season. RI Massolo, Alessandro/I-3437-201

Agonistic behaviour of Scarites buparius (Forster, 1771) (Coleoptera : Carabidae) in relation to body size

Intra-male aggressive behaviour of Scarites buparius was analysed; agonistic interaction between males consisted of a repeated series of fighting events. We defined this behaviour as "agonistic" because a dominance/submission status was established. We measured the males and found that the attack behaviour persistence is correlated with the body length. RI Massolo, Alessandro/I-3437-201