Insect and spider biodiversity: A dataset of mountainous wetland sites in Aspromonte National Park (Calabria, southern Italy).

Wetland areas encompass a range of natural habitats characterized by high animal and plant biodiversity. Understanding the impacts of environmental decline in such areas requires in-depth knowledge of the overall biodiversity. This study dataset provides a first evaluation of important sites of insect and arachnids biodiversity in peat bogs, marshes, and streams in Aspromonte National Park in Calabria, southern Italy.

A new Hoplia Illiger, 1803 from Calabria, southern Italy (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Hopliini).

Hoplia asprumuntiana Patacchiola, Fabbriciani, Boschin & Biscaccianti, new species from Aspromonte National Park (Calabria, southern Italy) is described and illustrated. The new species is compared with the two apparently most closely related species, namely H. maremmana Leo, Liberto, Rattu & Sechi, 2010 and H.

Olive Production Threatened by a Resurgent Pest (Costa, 1857) (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) in Southern Italy.

This study investigated a resurgence of Costa (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae), an insect pest of olive crops, in a focal Southern Italian olive-producing area (Calabria Region). The young and adult olive thrips feed on the leaves and fruits of wild and cultivated olive trees, producing distortions, necrosis, and premature dropping of fruit. In our study, organic and integrated olive groves were compared for two years in order to establish the relationship between leaf and fruit damage among olive groves managed under different phytosanitary conditions.

Short-Term Cold Stress Affects Parasitism on the Asian Chestnut Gall Wasp .

Temperature variation affects interactions involving plants, herbivores, and parasitoids, causing a mismatch between their phenological cycles. In the context of climate change, climatic factors can undergo profound and sudden changes, such as sudden hot or cold snaps. Herein, we show that the number of episodes of short but sustained low temperatures has increased, mainly during May, over the last two decades.

Profiling Volatile Terpenoids from Calabrian Pine Stands Infested by the Pine Processionary Moth.

Terpenoids make up the biggest and most diversified class of chemical substances discovered in plants, encompassing over 40,000 individual compounds. In conifers, the production of terpenoids, either as oleoresin or emitted as volatile compounds, play an important role in the physical and chemical defence responses against pathogens and herbivores. In the present work, we examined, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, the terpenic defensive relations of Calabrian pine ( subsp.

Winter temperature predicts prolonged diapause in pine processionary moth species across their geographic range.

Prolonged diapause occurs in a number of insects and is interpreted as a way to evade adverse conditions. The winter pine processionary moths ( and ) are important pests of pines and cedars in the Mediterranean region. They are typically univoltine, with larvae feeding across the winter, pupating in spring in the soil and emerging as adults in summer.

Effects of environmental parameters on the chestnut gall wasp and its complex of indigenous parasitoids.

The chestnut gall wasp (CGW), Dryocosmus kuriphilus, an invasive pest native to China, has caused severe yield and economic losses to chestnut production in Europe since its arrival in 2002. In Southern Italy, the complex of indigenous parasitoids colonizing CGW was monitored between 2013 and 2015, with the aim of estimating the composition of the indigenous parasitoid complex, its ability to control CGW populations, and the interactions of both factors with several measured environmental parameters. We compared results among three differently managed field types.

Aggregation and mating success of Capnodis tenebrionis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae).

An understanding of the relative importance of extrinsic and intrinsic factors in determining the potential distribution and mating success of individuals is critical for the successful monitoring and management of pest species. Using a combination of field observations and a caged field experiment, we explored the roles of environmental and individual variation on the formation of mating aggregations and mating success in the buprestid beetle Capnodis tenebrionis (Linnaeus, 1767), a pest species of stone fruit trees. Our field observations revealed that the formation of aggregations is influenced by a range of environmental factors including temperature, photoperiod, and population density.