New data on distribution and ecology of seven species of Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae)
Author
Colombo, Marco
text
Euscorpius
2006
2006-12-31
36
36
1
40
https://mds.marshall.edu/euscorpius/vol2006/iss36/1/
journal article
10.18590/euscorpius.2006.vol2006.iss36.1
1536-9307
12781855
Euscorpius alpha
Caporiacco, 1950
(
Figs. 1–3
,
Table 3
)
Described as a subspecies
E. germanus alpha
by
Caporiacco (1950)
, this taxon was elevated to species status by
Gantenbein et al. (2000)
; their molecular analysis showed a 7% DNA divergence between
E. germanus
and
E. alpha
.
This species is found only in
Italy
and
Switzerland
. In
Italy
, it is recorded from the north (Alpine and Prealpine mountain ranges), as far eastward as Adige River (
Trentino-Alto Adige region
); beyond this river it is substituted by
E. germanus
(
Marcuzzi, 1961
)
. It is also abundant in southern
Switzerland
(
Braunwalder, 2001
,
2005
).
Caporiacco (1950)
reported it from the Lombardian Prealps, as far as Brembo River; also, he mentions some localities from Piedmont for
E. germanus beta
that now is a synonym of
E. alpha
. The maps of
Crucitti (1993)
show numerous records from eastern Lombardy, and less from western Lombardy, Piedmont, and Valle d’Aosta.
Gantenbein et al. (2000)
report several Italian localities, especially from Bergamascan Prealps, and also some Swiss localities.
In this study, localities from both
Italy
and
Switzerland
(
Fig. 3
) where surveyed in order to obtain a detailed picture of ecological conditions across the range of
E. alpha
. In
Italy
, this species was found by the author eastward from
Piedmont
(Romagnano Sesia) in many localities within
Lombardy
(as far as Lake Iseo). In
Switzerland
,
E. alpha
was studied in two localities (Monte San Giorgio and Monte Caslano), and in a small (
1.7 km
2
) Italian enclave (Campione d’Italia).
Figure 2:
E. alpha
forest habitat in Cislano (Lombardy, Italy) (photo by Marco Colombo).
Figure 3:
E. alpha
collecting sites. Lombardy, Piedmont (Italy) and Ticino (Switzerland):
1.
Monte Caslano;
2.
Monte San Giorgio;
3.
Campione d’Italia;
4.
Romagnano Sesia;
5.
Monte Isola;
6.
Cislano;
7.
Sombreno;
8.
Piani Resinelli;
9.
Colico;
10.
Brunate;
11.
Eupilio.
E. alpha
is usually found in mountainous areas (up to
2000 m
a.s.l.;
Crucitti, 1993
) or even in hilly areas, so it could be defined as orophilous (
Crucitti, 1993
). Ecology of
E. alpha
seems to be similar to that of other related European species, such as
E. germanus
and
E. gamma
; the last species was found down to the sea level
6
Euscorpius
— 2006, No. 36