Euscorpius alpha Caporiacco, 1950

Colombo, Marco, 2006, New data on distribution and ecology of seven species of Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae), Euscorpius 36 (36), pp. 1-40 : 3-6

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).

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

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Euscorpius — 2006, No. 36

Figures

Figure 1: Euscorpius (Alpiscorpius) alpha, adult female, Cislano (Lombardy, Italy) (photo by Giorgio Colombo).

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.