Unexpected complexity of the Embioptera (Insecta) fauna of the Tuscan Archipelago (Italy), with the disambiguation of two species of Haploembia Verhoeff, 1904 and description of a new species of Embia Latreille, 1825

Very little is known about the Embioptera of the Tuscan Archipelago, and no specific study has been published from there on this insect order. The study of literature and new material has allowed us to identify the presence of four species of Embioptera in the Tuscan Archipelago: Haploembia solieri (Rambur, 1842), Haploembia tarsalis Ross, 1940 (which was reported for the first time in Italy), Embia ramburi Rimsky-Korsakov, 1905 and E. ilvana n. sp., which is described here. As regards the species of the genus Haploembia Verhoeff, 1904, some bio-ethological aspects and the global distribution of the two species present in the archipelago are discussed.

The Buprestidae (Coleoptera, Buprestoidea) of the Tuscan Archipelago (Italy)

Background

Buprestidae is a group of beetles of important conservation and phytosanitary value that is poorly studied in the Tuscan Archipelago and the limited faunistic knowledge available refers to a few scant historical records.

New information

The present contribution increments the species documented in the Archipelago from 27 to 51, providing more than 300 georeferenced occurrence records, derived from both direct field research and citizen science via iNaturalist. Of particular importance is the discovery of Eurythyreaquercus on Isola d'Elba, an uncommon and localised species currently critically endangered.

Large-scale spatial patterns of small-mammal communities in the Mediterranean region revealed by Barn owl diet

Due to mainly opportunistic hunting behaviour of Barn owl can be its diet composition used for assessing local structure of small-mammal community. We evaluated the structure of small-mammal communities in the Mediterranean region by analysing Barn owl diet using own pellets and literature data (85 localities comprising 182,343 prey individuals). Contrary to widely accepted macroecological theory, we found a latitudinal increase of small-mammal alpha diversity, a less distinct west–east increase and lower diversity on islands. The mean prey weight decreased with increasing latitude, while on islands it decreased with increasing island area. The mean prey weight on islands was further negatively affected by mean land modification by human and positively affected by its range. The diet diversity on islands was not affected either by island area or its distance from the mainland. Its composition largely conformed to the main pattern pronounced over whole the region: an unexpected homogeneity of small-mammal community structure. Despite high beta diversity and large between-sample variation in species composition, Crocidura (+ Suncus etruscus) and murids (Apodemus, Mus, Rattus, in marginal regions partly replaced by gerbillids, Meriones or Microtus) composed more than 90% of owl prey in 92% of samples. Peak abundances of these widespread species are associated with a dynamic mosaic of dense patches of sparse herb vegetation and evergreen sclerophyllous shrublands interspersing areas of human activity, the dominant habitat of the inner Mediterranean and richest food resource for foraging Barn owls. The respective small-mammal species can be looked upon as invasive elements accompanying large scale human colonization of the region since the Neolithic and replacing original island biota. Our study documented that desertification of the Mediterranean played an important role in shaping inverse latitudinal gradient in diversity of small-mammals that contradicts to widely accepted mecroecological theory.

Frequency of Occurrence and Ingested Biomass of Different Prey of the Barn Owl Tyto alba in an Island Ecosystem

The Barn Owl Tyto alba is commonly reported as a non-selective predator of small mammals, and its diet has been thoroughly analyzed also to assess the small mammal assembly composition in many study areas. The aim of this work was to analyze the diet of the Barn Owl in the Elba island through the analysis of 161 pellets collected in September 2020. Undigested fragments were isolated and compared with reference collections. We confirmed that the Barn Owl is a typical predator of field mice (62% of relative frequency), with synanthropic murid rodents as the second category of prey. The frequency of consumption of shrews increased by 9% with respect to the previous work, suggesting that the natural environment of Elba island is still in a good health status. Moreover, fragments of two newborn hares were detected, increasing the knowledge on the local trophic spectrum of the Barn Owl. Finally, the skull of a Geoffroy’s Myotis Myotis emarginatus confirmed the presence of this species in Elba island after over 60 years from the first unconfirmed record. Repeated studies conducted in the same study site may provide useful information on prey population trends and local environmental status.