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Rinaldo Nicoli Aldini

  • Biodiversity Journal, 8 (3): 827-832

    Rinaldo Nicoli Aldini
    Morphological observations on a gynandromorph of Anacridium aegyptium (Linnaeus, 1764) (Orthoptera Acridiidae)

    ABSTRACT
    This paper describes and illustrates a gynandromorph of Anacridium aegyptium (Linnaeus, 1764) (Orthoptera Acridiidae). Its morphological features are compared with normal male and female features in this species. Biometric data are also provided. This is the first case of gynandromorphism reported in A. aegyptium. The specimen was collected in the field near Imperia (northern Italy).

  • Biodiversity Journal, 3 (4): 445-458

    Rinaldo Nicoli Aldini, Agostino Letardi & Roberto A. Pantaleoni
    State of the art on Neuropterida of Sicily and Malta

    ABSTRACT
    Sicily, the largest Mediterranean island, is surrounded by many small islands (Aeolian Islands, Ustica, Aegadian Islands, Pantelleria, Linosa, Lampedusa, Maltese Islands), some of which forming archipelagoes. The authors, after a historical sketch of the research on Neuropterida in Sicily (sensu lato), analyze the biodiversity of the area, highlighting the species richness and providing an up-to-date check-list. The lack of knowledge on some of the most paradigmatic communities of Neuropterida is discussed in relation to their various habitats. The distributional patterns of Sicilian Neuropterida are interpreted in order to obtain a biogeographical characterization of the area. It is confirmed that the location of Sicily and its surrounding islands forms a bridge between north and south and a door from the W Mediterranean region to the oriental Mediterranean basin.

  • Biodiversity Journal, 3 (2): 132-136

    Rinaldo Nicoli Aldini & Roberto A. Pantaleoni
    Zephyr’s wings: Tiepolo’s imagination or the antlion Pseudimares Kimmins,1933 (Neuroptera, Myrmeleontidae) as his model?

    ABSTRACT
    When Giambattista Tiepolo, in his painting ‘Triumph of Zephyr and Flora’, gave Zephyr dragonfly-like wings with eyespots, was he inspired by pure imagination or did he have an insect he had previously seen in mind: the rare and astonishing Pseudimares? It is impossible to be sure. The authors of the present note point out the innovatory characteristic of the pictorial arrangement adopted by Tiepolo for the wings, compared with stylistic elements which were fashionable before and during his epoch, and suggest the reasons why we cannot rule out that the artist could have been inspired by a model, a specimen of Pseudimares, two centuries before the scientific discovery of this very rare antlion, at present only known from Iran and Morocco. A short account is provided on the bio-ecological significance of the eyespots found on insect wings.

  • Biodiversity Journal, 14 (4): 0649-0664

    Rinaldo Nicoli Aldini
    A significant novelty for the Palaearctic entomofauna: Sphaeropsocopsis (Italopsocopsis n. subgen.) utriusquemariaechristinae n. sp. (Insecta Psocodea Troctomorpha, Sphaeropsocidae), a new synanthropic psocid living in northern Italy
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2023.14.4.649.664
    https://www.zoobank.org/478ECFCE-7BF9-4A43-B89B-DBF793984208

    ABSTRACT
    Based on specimens of both sexes, Sphaeropsocopsis (Italopsocopsis n. subgen.) utriusquemariaechristinae n. sp. (Insecta Psocodea Troctomorpha Sphaeropsocidae), a new tiny sphaeropsocid found in buildings in two towns in northern Italy - Piacenza and Cremona - is described. The new taxon, collected by means of sticky traps, was found relatively frequently in the rooms of institutions preserving items of cultural heritage. At a global level, this is the second sphaeropsocid which has been found living in an indoor environment; the first, Badonnelia titei Pearman, 1953, is also the only recent previous species of the same family known for the Palaearctic region (B. titei occurs in northern and central Europe), but it is not believed to be autochthonous, because the other congeneric species have a Neotropical distribution. In the case of the new species here described (perhaps also of Neotropical origin), there is not sure evidence that it is an introduced alien taxon; its discovery is, in any case, of clear zoogeographic interest. Some bio-ecological observations on the new sphaeropsocid are provided.

  • Biodiversity Journal, 11 (4): 0969-0974

    Roberto Rattu, Roberto A. Pantaleoni & Rinaldo Nicoli Aldini
    Emergence trap for woodpile insects provides two interesting species of Neuropterida from Sardinia
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2020.11.4.969.974

    ABSTRACT
    An emergence trap for woodpile insects, assembled in the coppice holm oak forest of San Gregorio (SE-Sardinia), captured few specimens of only two species of Neuropterida, but these were very interesting ones: Isoscelipteron glaserellum (U. Aspöck, H. Aspöck et Hölzel, 1979) (Neuroptera Berothidae), new to Italy, and Dendroleon pantherinus (Fabricius, 1787) (Neuroptera Myrmeleontidae), new to Sardinia. Further specimens of both species were collected at the same site using other methods. An old find of Dendroleon pantherinus, previously considered unreliable, was confirmed. The ecology and rarity of both species are discussed.