Morphological, distributional and eco-ethological data on the carpet beetle Attagenus lobatus Rosenhauer (Coleoptera Dermestidae) are reported, based on original observations. A. lobatus is a household and stored product species with a primarily Palaearctic distribution, secondarily Holarctic due to passive dispersion by man. This species is not very common in temperate climates and is here recorded for the first time in northern Italy

Nicoli Aldini, R. (ORCID:0000-0002-4175-6678)

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NICOLI ALDINI R.

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Bulletin of Insectology 72 (2): 267-271, 2019 ISSN 1721-8861              eISSN 2283-0332   Notes on the carpet beetle Attagenus lobatus in Italy  Rinaldo NICOLI ALDINI Dipartimento di Scienze delle Produzioni Vegetali Sostenibili (Di.Pro.Ve.S.), Area Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante e degli Alimenti, Facoltà di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy    Abstract  Morphological, distributional and eco-ethological data on the carpet beetle Attagenus lobatus Rosenhauer (Coleoptera Dermestidae) are reported, based on original observations. A. lobatus is a household and stored product species with a primarily Palaearctic dis-tribution, secondarily Holarctic due to passive dispersion by man. This species is not very common in temperate climates and is here recorded for the first time in northern Italy.   Key words: dermestids, household pests, morphology, eco-ethology, geographical distribution, northern Italy.   Introduction  The genus Attagenus Latreille - one of the largest and most important genera of Dermestidae - includes over 230 valid species described in the world (Háva, 2003; 2015). At least 20 species of Attagenus are economical-ly more or less relevant worldwide, as they are house-hold and stored product pests (Hinton, 1945; Gorham, 1991; Hagstrum and Subramanyam, 2009). Obviously the harmful synanthropic species have been and contin-ue to be spread passively and accidentally by man through travel, transport and trade, gradually expanding their areals and tending to a cosmopolitan distribution, for some species already achieved (Hinton, 1945; Howe, 1991; Nicoli Aldini, 2003a; Háva, 2011a; 2015). As regards Italy, 21 Attagenus species have been rec-orded so far (Audisio et al., 1995; Háva and Nardi, 2007; Nardi and Háva, 2013), a dozen of which may be of economic interest. Among the latter we can quote with certainty: A. bifasciatus (Olivier), A. brunneus Fal-dermann, A. cyphonoides Reitter (= A. alfierii Pic),      A. fasciatus (Thunberg), A. lobatus Rosenhauer, A. pel-lio (L.), A. schaefferi schaefferi (Herbst) and A. unicolor unicolor (Brahm). However some of these species (e.g. A. cyphonoides and A. fasciatus) - being of exotic, trop-ical or sub-tropical origin - have been reported for Italy so far only on the basis of single, more or less recent records, while there are still no reliable data on their permanent settlement in Italy (Trematerra, 1987; Nicoli Aldini, 2003b; Nardi and Háva, 2013). As in regions with a temperate climate these primarily exotic species live exclusively in domestic and industrial environments (houses, warehouses, factories) which are not always easily accessible to specialized entomological research, it is more likely that they escape monitoring and faunal investigations compared with congeneric autochthonous species living also or above all in natural or semi-natural environments (species whose development is primarily related to insect and bird nests, mammal dens, animal dry materials, dried vegetables, etc.). Of the species mentioned above, A. brunneus, A. pel-lio and A. unicolor unicolor have been found and re-ported with relative frequency in Italy, but the others all seem to be much more sporadic and occasional (Nardi and Háva, 2013). These also include A. lobatus, the ob-ject of the following notes. It should also be stressed that even for the three common species above, most of the data available for Italy consist in simple distribu-tional reports, while biological, ecological and ethologi-cal observations are much less frequent.   Materials and methods  The original data presented here are based on material mostly collected by the author and only to a small extent provided by other collectors. The author's investigations took place in an apartment in the urban area of Bologna (the building is located about half a kilometer east of the historic centre of the town, in the ‘Santo Stefano’ dis-trict); in the apartment A. lobatus has been present per-manently for decades, although with a very low popula-tion density, so findings are rather sporadic. The measurements of adults in toto (length) were car-ried out on specimens prepared on labels and dry pre-served; the antennae and the male genitalia were exam-ined and measured, by means of an ocular micrometer, on microscopic preparations obtained with previous clarification in a KOH solution and observed in glycerol (antennae) or in Faure’s fluid mounted on a slide (male genitalia). The micrograph of the detail of the pronotal lobe (figure 6) was taken by means of a SEM on a met-allized dry specimen; the SEM used was a Quanta FEG 250 ESEM FEI in the Laboratorio di Microscopia Elet-tronica, Facoltà di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Am-bientali, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza.   Results and discussion  The following notes are provided on A. lobatus: a) col-lecting data of the specimens examined by the author; b) salient morphological characteristics of the adult for the purpose of specific discrimination from other closely related species; c) a summary of current knowledge of its general and Italian distribution; d) some original bio-logical and eco-ethological observations concerning the adults; e) a summary of possible damage it may cause.   268 Examined specimens of A. lobatus  Lombardy - Milan, urban environment, in an apart-ment: 24.VII.1997 (1 ♀, F. Gallizia leg.) (Nicoli Aldini collection). Emilia Romagna - Bologna, urban environment, in an apartment: 3.VII.1974 (1 ♂); 15.VII.1974 (1 ♀); 5. VIII.1975 (1 ♂, 1 ♀); 28.VII.1976 (1 ♀); 19.VI.1978   (1 ♂); 29.VI.1982 (1 ♂); VII.1994 (1 ♀); 28.VI.2009   (1 ♀); 19-20.VI.2010 (1 ♀); 9.V.2010 (1 ♂); 29.V.2010 (1 ♀); spring-summer 2010 (1 ♂, 1 ♀); 26-27.VI.2010 (1 ♀); 17.VII.2010 (1 ♂); 17.VII.2011 (1 ♀); VII.2011 (1 ♀); 24.VI.2012 (1 ♂); 25.IV.2014 (1 ♂); 7.IX.2014 (1 ♂); 14.VI.2015 (1 ♂, collected dead); 19.VII.2015   (1 ♂, 1 ♀, both collected dead); 26.VIII.2015 (1 ♂, col-lected dead); 29.VII.2017 (1 ♂); 22.VI.2019 (2 ♀♀, one of which collected dead); 7.VII.2019 (1 ♀); 21.VII.2019 (1 ♀) (R. Nicoli Aldini leg. all the specimens from Bo-logna, preserved in the Nicoli Aldini collection). Sardinia - Cagliari: 21.VI.1971 (1 ♀, inside house,    C. Meloni leg.); 24.VII.1973 (1 ♀, C. Meloni leg.) (Me-loni collection preserved in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale "Giacomo Doria", Genoa). Cagliari: M.te Ur-pinu, 29.VII.1971 (1 ♀, inside house, C. Meloni leg., Nicoli Aldini collection).  Morphology and identification A. lobatus is 2.8-6.0 mm long (among the specimens examined by the author: males 3-4.2 mm, females 3.5-4.8 mm). Body slightly more slender in the male and more squat in the female, uniformly ochre-light-brown in colour, with the head a little darker; antennae and legs of the same ochre colour (figures 1-2). Body pro-vided dorsally and ventrally with very fine, short and dense, downy clear pubescence. Male with the distal antennomere of the club no longer or only slightly long-er than the proximal two antennomeres of the club (fig-ure 3); female with antennal club shorter (figure 4). Pos-terior margin of the pronotum in front of the mesotho-racic scutellum with a median protruding lobe-shaped prominence - present in both sexes - posteriorly truncat-ed and generally provided on the border with hairs, fac-ing backwards, slightly longer on the two sides and shorter at the centre (figures 5-6). Male legs slightly more slender than those of the female. Male genitalia as in figure 7.   Figure 1. A. lobatus ♂ from Bologna, habitus.     Figure 2. A. lobatus ♀ from Bologna, habitus.     Figure 3. A. lobatus from Bologna, ♂ right antenna.     Figure 4. A. lobatus from Bologna, ♀ right antenna.   269    Figure 5. A. lobatus, ♀ from Bologna, detail showing the pronotal lobe.     Figure 6. A. lobatus, ♀ from Bologna, SEM micrograph of the pronotal lobe and chaetotaxy.     Figure 7. A. lobatus from Bologna, ♂ genitalia (dorsal view).   The set of these characteristics allows specific dis-crimination from closely related species (Porta, 1929; Hinton, 1945; Ver et al., 1991; Manzanares, 2013).  General and Italian distribution A. lobatus is a primarily Palaearctic (Centralasian-Mediterranean) species, secondarily Holarctic due to passive introduction into North America, where it is es-tablished permanently in some towns of the USA (Beal, 1970). This species has been reported for the following coun-tries: Europe- Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy, Romania, Spain, Ukraine; Africa- Alge-ria, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia; North America- USA; Asia- Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Ka-zakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turk-menistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan (Hinton, 1945; Mroczkowsky, 1968; Beal, 1970; Veer et al., 1991; Al-Houty, 1997; Hagstrum and Subramanyam, 2009; Háva, 2007; 2009; 2011b; Háva et al., 2013; Kadej and Háva, 2014). For Italy it has been reported so far in Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Apulia, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia (Lui-gioni, 1929; Porta, 1929; Audisio et al., 1995; Háva and Nardi, 2007; Nardi and Háva, 2013). For Sardinia the data reported here confirm the recent record by Háva and Nardi (2011); the above data for Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna represent the first reports for northern Italy, where the species has however been established in the anthropic environment for decades at least.  Bio-, eco- and ethological notes In the above mentioned apartment in Bologna (Emilia-Romagna, Italy), A. lobatus has been observed more or less continuously, although always with a very low population density, as of the seventies of the last centu-ry, very likely indicating a stable settlement of the spe-cies. The apartment is located on the fifth floor in a building built in the 1960s. Adults of this species have been observed from May to September, in living rooms (where carpets are also found), in bedrooms (with par-quet floors, wooden skirting boards, bedside carpets), and in bathrooms. The adults of A. lobatus show a marked tendency to fly. In the summer months when the temperature of the domestic environment is high, during the day specimens (males especially, but not only) of this species make short flights, flying for example approximately at hu-man height towards a natural light source (window) or, in the evening, to an artificial source (chandeliers, bed-side lamps). The flight is very fast, with a mostly curvi-linear or rather spiralling course and recalls, in speed and also in the rapid changes of direction, the flight of a small fly rather than that of a beetle. The species there-fore presents an evident positive phototaxy, especially in the male and at least in certain phases of the adult life. Sometimes the adult also settles on walls, at head height or even higher, making itself clearly visible on light coloured walls.   270  In the same conditions a lower tendency to fly is re-vealed by the congeneric A. brunneus, which has been present syntopically for decades in the same apartment as juvenile stages and as adults, but rather more frequent than A. lobatus. A. brunneus does not fly so fast and in flight is more easily recognizable as a beetle. In addi-tion, in the same apartment the syntopic presence of lar-vae and adults of another carpet beetle, the widespread Anthrenus (Florilinus) verbasci (L.), has also been ob-served with a certain continuity over the years, although always in a low number of individuals. In the same en-vironmental conditions, at room temperature both A. brunneus and A. verbasci adults appear in spring on av-erage earlier and disappear, in late spring or summer, earlier than A. lobatus, which seems to be therefore a more thermophilic species. Early stages of A. lobatus are only incompletely known. The mature larva is described by Beal (1970) and Veer et al. (1991). Eggs were never obtained from females of A. lobatus found in the apartment in Bologna and kept alive in glass tubes with dry food substrate. Only A. brunneus adults were obtained by rearing some Attagenus larvae collected over the years in the same environment. The biological cycle of A. lobatus seems to be univoltine (Veer et al., 1991; Wilches et al., 2016) or even slower, according to the environmental condi-tions.  Damage A. lobatus is reported associated with feathers, fur, hide, museum specimens, woollen clothes, red pepper, wheat; it has been collected in facilities where grains are stored or processed (Veer et al., 1991; Hagstrum and Subramanyam, 2009). According to Hagstrum et al. (2013), it is recorded with the same frequency both on animal products and grains. In an apartment, it is likely that the larval development of this species is based on wool carpets, woollen clothes, small dead insects, shoe leather, hair and other organic debris forming the ‘house dust’ on the floors. Due to the very low population densities observed in the apartment in Bologna, the damage by A. lobatus must be locally very limited and can be considered insignifi-cant.   Acknowledgements  Thanks are due to Sandro Gabbiani, Di.Pro.Ve.S., and to Andrea Roverselli, Laboratorio di Microscopia Elet-tronica, Università Cattolica, Piacenza, who collaborat-ed in taking and managing the photographs and SEM micrograph. Cordial thanks to Wendy Farrar, Coordi-namento SeLdA Sede di Piacenza-Cremona, Università Cattolica, for her careful linguistic revision of the man-uscript. Grateful thanks also to three anonymous refer-ees, whose suggestions allowed to improve this contri-bution.   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Author’s address: Rinaldo NICOLI ALDINI (e-mail: rinaldo.nicoli@unicatt.it), Dipartimento di Scienze delle Pro-duzioni Vegetali Sostenibili (Di.Pro.Ve.S.), Area Protezione Sostenibile delle Piante e degli Alimenti, Facoltà di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali, Università Cattolica del Sa-cro Cuore, via Emilia Parmense 84, I-29122 Piacenza, Italy.  Received July 8, 2019. Accepted September 20, 2019.    

Notes on the carpet beetle Attagenus lobatus in Italy

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Notes on the carpet beetle Attagenus lobatus in Italy

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