The Scarabaeoidea of the Maltese Islands (Central Mediterranean) (Coleoptera)

The Scarabaeoidea of the families Trogidae, Geotrupidae, Hybosoridae and Scarabaeidae from the Maltese islands are reviewed. A total of 54 species are included of which the following eight species represent new records for this archipelago: Trox fabricii and T. scaber in Trogidae; Aphodius beduinus, A. algiricus, Amphimallon (?) scutellare, Aplidia hirticollis, Protaetia opaca and Lasiotrichius succinctus in Scarabaeidae. Of these, the record of Aplidia hirticollis, previously endemic to southern Italy, extends its distributional range further south and that of Lasiotrichius succinctus is based on intercepted material and its local establishment is not confi rmed. A number of species are based on old records and were not collected again recently pointing out to the possible extinction of these species from Malta. The almost complete absence of grazing animals in Malta may have contributed substantially for the disappearance of species associated with animal dung. Thirteen previously recorded species of Scarabaeoidea from Malta are being excluded from the Maltese fauna.peer-reviewe

Phenylethylene glycol-derived LpxC inhibitors with diverse Zn2+-binding groups

Under embargo until: 10.12.2020The Zn2+-dependent bacterial deacetylase LpxC is a promising target for the development of novel antibiotics. Most of the known LpxC inhibitors carry a hydroxamate moiety as Zn2+-binding group. However, hydroxamic acids generally exhibit poor pharmacokinetic properties. (S)-N-Hydroxy-2-{2-hydroxy-1-[4-(phenylethynyl)phenyl]ethoxy}acetamide (3) is a known phenylethylene glycol derivative potently inhibiting LpxC with a Ki of 66 nM. In vitro experiments have confirmed in silico predictions that the hydroxamate moiety of 3 is indeed metabolically labile. In this study, several strategies were explored to replace the hydroxamate moiety by other Zn2+-binding groups while maintaining target activity. In total, 15 phenylethylene glycol derivatives with diverse Zn2+-binding groups like carboxylate, hydrazide, carboxamide, sulfonamide, vicinal diol, thiol, thioester, and hydroxypyridinone moieties were prepared in divergent syntheses. However, their biological evaluation revealed that the replacement of the hydroxamate moiety of 3 by any of the investigated Zn2+-binding groups is detrimental for LpxC inhibitory and antibacterial activity.acceptedVersio

Spatial and temporal variations of aridity shape dung beetle assemblages towards the Sahara desert

Assemblage responses to environmental gradients are key to understand the general principles behind the assembly and functioning of communities. The spatially and temporally uneven distribution of water availability in drylands creates strong aridity gradients. While the effects of spatial variations of aridity are relatively well known, the influence of the highly-unpredictable seasonal and inter-annual precipitations on dryland communities has been seldom addressed. Aims: Here, we study the seasonal and inter-annual responses of dung beetle. Dung beetle abundance and species richness showed large seasonal variations, but remained relatively similar between years. Indeed, aridity and its interaction with season and year were the strongest correlates of variations in species richness and composition. Increasing aridity resulted in decreasing species richness and an ordered replacement of species, namely the substitution of the Mediterranean fauna by desert assemblages dominated by saprophagous and generalist species both in space towards the Sahara and in the dry season.Indradatta deCastro-Arrazola was funded by an FPI grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (BES-2012-054353). This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation project SCARPO (grant CGL2011-29317)

Parametri biogeografici della Biodiversità. Struttura e rapporti del popolamento siculo a Scarabeidi degradatori (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea).

In this paper, we studied the relationships between ecobiogeography and historical biogeography, based on Sicily’s population of Scarab dung beetles (Geotrupidae and Scarabaeidae).We based the island’s ecogeographic partition on its floristic districts and subdistricts (Brullo et al., 1995).We applied some techniques of biodiversity analysis to the study of I and II order chorotypes (Bellucci et al., 2007; Zunino, 2005, 2007). Species and groups found correspond to 14 chorotypes of I order and to 22 of II order, differently represented and distributed in the sample. The !, and " diversities were studied with both hierarchical levels of chorology. The obtained results, using different indexes, confirm Sicily’s landscape heterogeneity. # diversity does not refute the proposed phytogeographic island’s partition in districts. The analysis of the districts’ similitude, on the other hand, seems to refute the hierarchically superior partition in subsectors. In fact, all the calculated indexes agree on grouping districts that in the phytogeographic classification belong to different subsectors. Therefore, with the comparative analysis of the I order chorotypes, the synchronic relations of the studied Sicilian faunistic component are discussed. Finally, through the analysis of the II order chorotypes, considered as spaces that are occupied by panbiogeographic tracks, the relationships of the Sicilian Scarab beetles are examined with a historical biogeography standpoint, suggesting hypotheses of primary biogeographic homologies. From the same analysis, it becomes satisfactorily clear that Sicily is included in more than one panbiogeographic node, and that this is evidence of its involvement in allotopic and allochronic biogeographic histories

Il popolamento a Scarabeidi degradatori delle Marche. I. Catalogo sistematico e corologico (Coleoptera Scarabaeoidea)

Sono stati riuniti i dati, pubblicati e inediti, sui coleotteri Geotrupidae e Scarabeidae degradatori delle Marche (Italia centro-orientale). L’informazione, sempre sottoposta ad analisi critica, proviene da dati originali, di bibliografia, e da quelli ricavati dallo studio diretto di collezioni pubbliche e private. Per ogni specie è riportata una scheda bibliografica, la distribuzione geografica generale ed i dati di bionomia. E’ registrato un totale di 33 specie per complessive 138 località.Viene confermata la presenza di 4 specie di Scarabeidae già citate per la Regione ma non riferite nella recente “Checklist e distribuzione della Fauna Italiana” (Carpaneto et al., 2005), più un’ulteriore specie che risulta nuova per le Marche. Il numero delle località indagate si incrementa sensibilmente nei confronti della letteratura. Vengono citati, per la loro importanza generale, anche alcuni lavori che non coinvolgono direttamente l’area.</jats:p

On the road of dung: hypothetical dispersal routes of dung beetles in the circum–Sicilian volcanic islands

We analysed dung beetle communities on ten volcanic islands located around Sicily (Italy) to identify the most probable dispersal routes in the colonization of these islands. Assuming two scenarios, we analysed the dung beetle communities through the coefficient of dispersal direction DD2. Our results suggest that dispersal fluxes do not strictly follow the ‘stepping stone’ dynamic. Lipari and Vulcano are the likely core source areas for the north–of–Sicily area. In the Sicily Channel, Linosa appears to have been the main target area with three equivalent fluxes from Tunisia, Sicily, and Malta, while the fauna of Pantelleria resulted from their interchange and proximity to Tunisian fauna. In light of the congruence of our results with the known history of human movements and colonization, we propose a likely human contribution to the genesis of the dung beetle fauna of the circum–Sicilian volcanic islands

Cumulative Annual Dung Beetle Diversity in Mediterranean Seasonal Environments

Species diversity assessments should consider the dynamic nature of ecological communities, especially in highly seasonal ecosystems. Here we provide a comprehensive framework for analysing seasonal changes in species composition, richness and diversity in two local dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Aphodiidae, Geotrupidae, and Scarabaeidae) communities from Western Tuscany (Italy), in the Mediterranean ecoregion. We test whether, in this highly seasonal region, cumulative annual diversity is an oversimplification of well differentiated seasonal communities. Data were obtained through repeated standardised samples collected regularly over an entire year. We clearly identify different summer and winter communities at each site based on species composition and abundance. Seasonal richness and diversity values are different from the cumulative annual values, as a consequence of beta diversity between seasons, and some dung beetle species are identified as idiosyncratic of each particular season. Both ecological (niche partitioning) and biogeographical factors are suggested as drivers of these temporal variations. Thus, because local inventories of fauna that include records over long time periods actually reflect situations where coexistence and interactions are unlikely to occur, highly seasonal sites must be viewed as having temporally differentiated communities in order to reach feasible and reliable baselines for local diversity assessments. © 2011 The Ecological Society of Japan