scholarly journals On the life-cycle of ameles spallanzania (Rossi, 1792) (Insecta, Mantodea)

2011 ◽  
Vol 152 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Roberto Battiston ◽  
Carlo Galliani

The recent find of an <em>Ameles spallanzania</em> population in a continental area of northern Italy permitted to redraw the northernmost edge of the distribution of this species and to study its life cycle in extreme climatic conditions. A comparison with collecting records of adult specimens from the Mediterranean area has been performed to put in evidence how this species adapts its life-cycle timings in different latitudes: hatching earlier or using nymphs to overwinter in warmer localities or oothecae in colder ones. Overwintering strategies of <em>Ameles spallanzania</em> have been compared with strategies of other genera of mantids that share the same habitat but have different life-cycle strategies and general distribution. Different developing times in mantids seem to be linked to behavioural strategies more than physiological attitudes.

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Elena Percivalle ◽  
Irene Cassaniti ◽  
Mattia Calzolari ◽  
Davide Lelli ◽  
Fausto Baldanti

Phleboviruses transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies are endemic in the Mediterranean basin. Toscana phlebovirus (TOSV), Sicilian phlebovirus (SFSV), and Naples phlebovirus (SFNV) are responsible of summer fever, with well-known pathogenic potential for humans ranging from asymptomatic to mild fever, in addition to neuro-invasive infections during summer. Although TOSV, in particular, is a significant and well-known human pathogen, SFVs remain neglected, with many gaps in the relevant knowledge. Sero-epidemiological studies and case reports recently showed a geographical wider distribution than previously considered, although the real incidence of phleboviruses infections in the Mediterranean area is still unknown. Here we retrospectively evaluated the circulation of phleboviruses during summer seasons between 2007 and 2019 in 649 patients showing neurological symptoms using both molecular and serological approaches. We found that 42/649 (6.5%) subjects experienced phlebovirus infection and only 10/42 cases were detected by molecular assays, whereas the other 32/42 were identified using serological approaches, including neutralization assays. During the 2013 summer, an outbreak in the Lombardy region is described because the prevalence of phlebovirus infection reached 37.2% (19/51 subjects). Interestingly, only 5/19 (26.5%) reported traveling in endemic areas. Of note, no cross-neutralization was observed between different strains tested, showing the possibility to be reinfected by newly discovered phlebovirus strains. In conclusion, phlebovirus infections are still inadequately considered by physicians and are generally underestimated. However, based on our results, sandfly fever viruses should be routinely included in diagnostic panels during summer period, including in Northern Italy.


Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 605
Author(s):  
Alba Piña-Rey ◽  
Estefanía González-Fernández ◽  
María Fernández-González ◽  
Mª. Nieves Lorenzo ◽  
Fco. Javier Rodríguez-Rajo

Viticultural climatic indices were assessed for the evaluation of the meteorological variations in the requirements of wine cultivars. The applied bioclimatic indices have been widely used to provide an initial evaluation of climate change impacts on grapevine and to delineate wine regions and suitable areas for planting around the world. The study was carried out over a period of 16 years (from 2000 to 2015) in five Designation of Origin areas in Northwestern Spain located in the Eurosiberian region, the transition zone between the Eurosiberian and the Mediterranean areas, and in the Mediterranean area. In addition, the high-resolution meteorological dataset “Spain02” was applied to the bioclimatic indices for the period 1950–2095. To further assess the performance of “Spain02”, Taylor diagrams were elaborated for the different bioclimatic indices. A significant trend to an increase of the Winkler, Huglin, Night Cold Index and GSS Indices was detected in the North-western Spain, whereas slight negative trends for BBLI and GSP Indices were observed. To analyze future projections 2061–2095, data from the high-resolution dynamically downscaled daily climate simulations from EURO-CORDEX project were used. To further assess the performance of Spain02, Taylor diagrams were elaborated for the different bioclimatic indices. A trend to an increase of the Winkler, Huglin, Night Cold Index and GSP Indices was detected in Northwestern Spain, whereas slight negative trends for BBLI and GSP Indices were observed. Our results showed that climatic conditions in the study region could variate for the crop in the future, more for Mediterranean than Eurosiberian bioclimatic area. Due to an advance in the phenological events or the vintage data, more alcohol-fortified wines and variations in the acidity level of wines could be expected in Northwestern Spain, these processes being most noticeable in the Mediterranean area. The projections for the BBLI and GSP Indices will induce a decrease in the pressure of the mildew attacks incidence in the areas located at the Eurosiberian region and the nearest transition zones. Projections showed if the trend of temperature increase continues, some cultural practice variations should be conducted in order to preserve the grape cultivation suitability in the studied area.


2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Pondrelli ◽  
Simone Salimbeni ◽  
Paolo Perfetti ◽  
Peter Danecek

<p>In May 2012, a seismic sequence struck the Emilia region (northern Italy). The mainshock, of Ml 5.9, occurred on May 20, 2012, at 02:03 UTC. This was preceded by a smaller Ml 4.1 foreshock some hours before (23:13 UTC on May 19, 2012) and followed by more than 2,500 earthquakes in the magnitude range from Ml 0.7 to 5.2. In addition, on May 29, 2012, three further strong earthquakes occurred, all with magnitude Ml ≥5.2: a Ml 5.8 earthquake in the morning (07:00 UTC), followed by two events within just 5 min of each other, one at 10:55 UTC (Ml 5.3) and the second at 11:00 UTC (Ml 5.2). For all of the Ml ≥4.0 earthquakes in Italy and for all of the Ml ≥4.5 in the Mediterranean area, an automatic procedure for the computation of a regional centroid moment tensor (RCMT) is triggered by an email alert. Within 1 h of the event, a manually revised quick RCMT (QRCMT) can be published on the website if the solution is considered stable. In particular, for the Emilia seismic sequence, 13 QRCMTs were determined and for three of them, those with M &gt;5.5, the automatically computed QRCMTs fitted the criteria for publication without manual revision. Using this seismic sequence as a test, we can then identify the magnitude threshold for automatic publication of our QRCMTs.</p>


Zootaxa ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 634 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Arribas ◽  
Salvador Carranza

Iberolacerta cyreni martinezricai is elevated to the species level (I. martinezricai) based on both morphological and molecular data. The phylogenetic analysis using two mitochondrial and one nuclear gene shows I. martinezricai is more closely related to I. monticola than to I. cyreni. A multivariate analysis of the morphological data also supports the affinities between I. martinezricai and I. monticola but, at the same time, clearly indicates that I. martinezricai is morphologically distinct from both I. monticola and I. cyreni. The molecular data suggests I. cyreni and the clade formed by I. monticola + I. martinezricai split approximately 6.1 Mya, during the Mesinian Salinity Crisis, when climatic conditions around the Mediterranean area changed dramatically as a result of the desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea. Separation between I. martinezricai and I. monticola occurred approximately 2 Mya but, with at least two equally plausible alternative hypotheses, their biogeography is still unclear. New data on the habitat and distribution of I. martinezricai indicates its distribution area is very small (12 15 km 2 ), and that it lives in a climatically extreme habitat for this kind of mountain species. As a result of that and the low numbers of individuals, I. martinezricai is considered here as Critically Endangered.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Zerboni ◽  
Anna Maria Mercuri ◽  
Assunta Florenzano ◽  
Eleonora Clò ◽  
Giovanni Zanchetta ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;The Terramare civilization included hundreds of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;banked and moated villages, located in the alluvial plain of the Po River of northern Italy, and developed between the Middle and the Recent Bronze Ages (XVI-XII cent. BC). This civilization lasted for over 500 years, collapsing at around 1150 years BC, in a period marked by a great societal disruptionin the Mediterranean area. The timing and modalities of the collapse of the Terramare Bronze Age culture are widely debated, and a combined geoarchaeological and palaeoclimatic investigation &amp;#8211; the SUCCESSO-TERRA Project &amp;#8211;is shading new light on this enigma. The Terramare economy was based upon cereal farming, herding, and metallurgy; settlements were also sustained by a well-developed system for the management of water and abundant wood resources. They also established a wide network of commercial exchange between continental Europe and the Mediterranean region.The SUCCESSO-TERRA Project investigated two main Bronze Age sites in Northern Italy:(i) the Terramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio, and (ii) the San Michele di Valestra site, which is a coeval settlement outside the Terramare territory, but in the adjoining Apennine range. Human occupation at San Michele di Valestra persisted after the Terramare crisis and the site was settled with continuity throughout the whole Bronze Ages, up to the Iron Age. The combined geoarchaeological, palaeoclimatic, and archaeobotanical investigation on different archaeological sites and on independent archives for climatic proxies (offsite cores and speleothems) highlights the existence of both climatic and anthropic critical factors triggering a dramatic shift of the landuse of the Terramare civilization. The overexploitation of natural resources became excessive in the late period of the Terramare trajectory, when also a climatic change occurred. A fresh speleothem record for the same region suggests the occurrence of a short-lived period of climatic instability followed by a marked peak of aridity. The&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;unfavourable concomitance between human overgrazing and climatic-triggered environmental pressure, amplified the on-going societal crisis, likely leading to the breakdown of the Terramare civilization in the turn of a generation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;


2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Ghrab ◽  
Mehdi Ben Mimoun ◽  
Moncef M. Masmoudi ◽  
Netij Ben Mechlia

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 2915-2935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Tamburini ◽  
Paola Pedrini ◽  
Maria Marchetti ◽  
Elisa Fano ◽  
Giuseppe Castaldelli

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