Specimens of Amnestus pusillus were collected in Veneto, Italy, at light. The species is of American origin and has been recorded previously out of its areal, in Iran and the Asian portion of Turkey. The present record is the first for Europe

Dioli, Paride

Pascotto, Ernesto

Uliana, Marco

English

Riviste Online SApienza - R.O.SA - 2 (Sapienza University of Rome)

419pISSN: 0429-288X (print version)eISSN: 2284-4880 (online version) Fragmenta entomologica, 53 (2): 419–422 (2021)Short scientific noteSubmitted: June 18th, 2021 – Accepted: August 28th, 2021 – Published: November 30th, 2021 DOI: 10.13133/2284-4880/535Amnestus pusillus Uhler, 1876 new to Europe found in Italy  (Heteroptera: Cydnidae)Paride DIOLI1,*, Ernesto PASCOTTO2, Marco ULIANA31 Museo di Storia Naturale, Sezione di Entomologia, Corso Venezia 55, 20121 Milano, Italy – paridedioli@virgilio.it; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4274-0926. 2 AULSS n.2 Marca Trevigiana, Dept. of Prevention – Veterinary Service, Via Castellana 2, Treviso, Italy – ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9257-333X 3 Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia Giancarlo Ligabue, Santa Croce 1730, 30135 Venezia – ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7180-6659 *Corresponding author AbstractSpecimens of Amnestus pusillus were collected in Veneto, Italy, at light. The species is of American origin and, outside its natural range, has been recorded previously from Iran and Asian part of Turkey. The present record is the first for Europe.Key words: Alien species, Burrower Bugs, Amnestus pusillus, Cydnidae, New record, Europe, Italy.IntroductionAmnestus Dallas, 1851 is a genus of Burrower Bugs described from the New World and confirmed in the revision of the Cy-dnidae of the Western Hemisphere (Froeschner 1960). So far 43 species are known, distributed from western Ontario, Can-ada, through the United States of America, Mexico, Central America, the Antilles and even South America, in Argentina (Mayorga & Cervantes 2014).Species of this genus were rarely found outside their natural range, except for  a single record of A. pusio (Stål, 1860) in Madagascar (Froeschner 1960), probably intro-duced with goods, a single record of Amnestus brunneus being passively introduced into the USA with vegetables (U.S. Custom and Border Protection 2014), and repeated documentation of Amnestus pusillus Uhler, 1876, in the western Palaearctic. The oldest known record dates back to 1994 (Lis 1998) and consists in one male and three fe-males collected by Linnavouri in Iran, Gilan province. It was originally interpreted as a new species (A. raunoi Lis, 1998) and then synonymized (Mayorga et al. 2012). The species appears established in the area, since further spec-imens were later collected in large numbers in different localities of the Gilan Province: Sume-eh Sara, Anzali, Dashte-Veel, Rasht, Seravan (Linnavouri 2007; Ghahari et al. 2009). Recently it was recorded from Izmir, Asian part of Turkey, based on a single specimen (Çerçi & Koçak 2016), representing the only other record of A. pusillus as an alien species outside Iran.During 2020, Amnestus pusillus was collected in Italy. Its presence is discussed below.Materials and MethodsRecent records:ITALY: Veneto, Treviso, W outskirts, 45.6696, 12.2224, indoor, attracted by light, 15-17.ix.2020, E. Pascotto (EP) leg., 2♂♂, 2♀♀, Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia (Fig. 1); 1♂, 2♀♀ coll. P. Dioli.Several other specimens were observed in the same conditions during the previous days by EP. The speci-mens were identified based on the revision of the Cyd-nidae of the Western Hemisphere (Froeschner 1960) and subsequent descriptions and comments (Lis 1998; May-orga et al. 2012; Mayorga & Cervantes 2014; Çerçi & Koçak 2016). General distribution Canada, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Iran, Asian part of Turkey (Aukema et al. 2013; Mayorga & Cervantes 2014; Çerçi & Koçak 2016) and Italy (the present paper).Dioli et al.420DiscussionMost Amnestus species are associated with different species of Ficus (Moraceae), and they feed mainly on decompos-ing seeds, as well as on juice of fruits fallen on the ground (Mayorga & Cervantes 2001). However, outside the coun-tries of origin, there is no information on the possible asso-ciation between A. pusillus and these plants, also because all the specimens were collected by light traps. It is possible that this species, accidentally imported with goods from America, could find a suitable host plant locally. Therefore, active investigations on its food source in the countries of introduction should be undertaken, fo-cusing especially on figs with fruits fallen on the ground.The specimens from Treviso were collected in different periods, always in the evening at about 8.45 pm, on the sec-ond floor of a building, attracted by light. It should be noted that near the building there is a little garden and a partially canalized stream with poor riparian vegetation, that includes plants of Ficus carica. It is important to underline that the wholesale fruit and vegetable market of Treviso is 200 me-ters away, and the local Customs Point is 1500 meters away.As Mayorga et al. (2012) commented, the presence of A. pusillus seems to be correlated to the proximity of ma-jor trade centers in port areas. Also in the present case, it DescriptionAmnestus species are recognized by their small size (2-3 mm) and by the presence of 4-5 marginal pegs in mandib-ular plate (Froeschner 1960).Amnestus pusillus is easily recognizable by the shape of hind femora of male, bearing a subapical, characteristic spine which is more than one-third (often one-half) as long as the tibia (Fig. 1-left). Female has a short, oblique, subapical spine, ventrally near apex of the posterior femora (Fig. 1-right).Head yellow-orange, clypeus surpassing mandibular plates, with 4 pegs on its anterior margin. Each mandibular plate with 4 pegs becoming smaller toward eyes. Surface of the head, except clypeus, coarsely punctate. Antennae pale orange, second segment apically enlarged. Pronotum orange, wider than long, with a distinct transverse im-pression marked by a row of punctures. Scutellum light brown, darker than pronotum, in the shape of an equilat-eral triangle, coarsely punctured. Hemelytra pale orange, membrane smooth and transparent, distinctly exceeding the abdomen. Fore femora ventrally with a short submedi-an spine, anterior tibia with two prominent angulations or spines on lower edge, more pronounced in males. Posteri-or femora of male and female as stated above. Length of body: mm 2.3 – 3.2.Fig. 1 – Amnestus pusillus: specimens collected in Italy, male (left), and female (right) (photo M. Uliana – Coll. Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia).Amnestus pusillus in Italy and Europe 421the adjacent provinces in northern Iran. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae, 47: 77–91.Lupoli R., van der Heyden T., Dioli P. 2020. Erthesina Spinola, 1837 – a new alien genus for Europe, found in Albania (He-miptera: Pentatomidae). Heteroptera Poloniae - Acta Faunis-tica. Opole. vol. 14: 121–123.Mayorga C., Cervantes L. 2001. Life cycle and description of six new species of Amnestus Dallas (Hemiptera-Heteroptera: Cydnidae) associated with the fruits of several species of Fi-cus (Moraceae) in Mexico. Journal of the New York Entomo-logical Society, 109: 392–402.Mayorga C., Cervantes L., Lis J.A. 2012. Amnestus raunoi J.A. Lis, the only representative of the Amnestinae in the Old World: a synonym of Amnestus pusillus Uhler (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cydnidae). Zootaxa, 3445: 67–68.Mayorga C., Cervantes L. 2014. The genus Amnestus Dallas (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cydnidae: Amnestinae) in Mexico, with the description of eleven new species from Chiapas. Zo-otaxa, 3779: 401–432.Rabitsch W. 2008. Alien True Bugs of Europe (Insecta: Hemip-tera: Heteroptera). Zootaxa, 1827: 1–44.U.S. Custom and Border Protection 2014. U.S. Customs and Bor-der Protection Agriculture Specialists Intercept Rare First in Nation Pest at Pharr International Bridge. Official website of the Department of Homeland Security. https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/us-customs-and-border-pro-tection-agriculture-specialists-intercept-rare [last access: June 15th, 2021].should be emphasized that Treviso is included in the main commercial trade triangle served by the port of Venice-Mar-ghera. Furthermore, the area is close to a dense network of motorways and highways, that facilitates the spread of al-ien species. Some of the recent introductions of alien True Bugs in Italy seemingly took advantage of it either through the passive transport of goods from the ports to the sorting areas, or through the vegetated edges (often consisting of non-native plants) along the highways. Moreover, consid-ering that A. pusillus seems to be easily attracted by light, illumination of ships and ferries, connecting maritime and oceanic destinations, could have functioned as a passive method of transportation (Rabitsch 2008; Dioli 2010; Dioli & Grazioli 2012; Cesari et al. 2014; Lupoli et al. 2020).Acknowledgments – We are grateful to Nicola Novarini (Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia Giancarlo Ligabue) for promoting con-tacts among authors, to Davide dal Pos (University of Central Flor-ida) for the revision of English, and to Paolo Audisio (Università di Roma “Sapienza”) and Attilio Carapezza (Università degli Studi di Palermo) for improving the original version of the manuscript.ReferencesAukema B., Rieger C., Rabitsch W. 2013. Catalogue of the Het-eroptera of the Palaearctic Region.VI. Supplement. Nether-lands Entomological Society, xxiii + 629 pp. Çerçi B., Koçak O. 2016. Contribution to the knowledge of Het-eroptera (Hemiptera) fauna of Turkey. Journal of Insect Bio-diversity, 4 (15): 1–18.Cesari M., Maistrello L., Ganzerli F., Dioli P., Rebecchi L., R. Guidetti 2014. A pest alien invasion in progress: potential pathways of origin of the brown marmorated stink bug Haly-omorpha halys populations in Italy. Journal of Pest Science, 88: 1–7. Doi: 10.1007/s10340-014-0634-y.Dioli P. 2010. Presenza in Toscana e all’Elba del ligeide tropicale Graptostethus servus (Fabricius, 1787) e altre nuove segnal-azioni nel Lazio e in Campania. (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Lygaeidae). Onychium, 8: 6–10. Dioli P., Grazioli L. 2012. Prime segnalazioni di Lygaeus creticus Lucas, 1854 per il Veneto e altre regioni dell’Italia peninsu-lare (Insecta, Heteroptera, Lygaeidae). Bollettino del Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia, 63: 19–25.Froeschner R.C. 1960. Cydnidae of the Western Hemisphere. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 111: 337–680.Ghahari H., Choret F., Linnavouri R.E., Ostovan H. 2009. Anno-tated catalogue of Iranian burrower bugs (Heteroptera, Pen-tatomoidea, Cydnidae). ZooKeys, 26: 1–31.Lis J.A. 1998. Amnestus raunoi n. sp. from Iran, the first Old World representative of the New World subfamily Amnesti-nae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cydnidae). Entomologica Fen-nica, 9: 5–7.Linnavuori R.E. 2007. Studies on the Piesmatidae, Berytidae, Pyrrhocoridae, Stenocephalidae, Coreidae, Rhopalidae, Aly-didae, Cydnidae and Plataspidae (Heteroptera) of Gilan and 

Amnestus pusillus Uhler, 1876 new to Europe found in Italy (Heteroptera: Cydnidae)

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Amnestus pusillus Uhler, 1876 new to Europe found in Italy (Heteroptera: Cydnidae)

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