Isoscelipteron fulvum Costa, 1863

Letardi, Agostino, 2017, Echoes from the past ¦ rediscovering Isoscelipteron fulvum Costa, 1863 (Neuroptera ¦ Berothidae) in Italy., Arquivos Entomolóxicos 18, pp. 279-282 : 279-280

Isoscelipteron fulvum Costa, 1863

Italy: Calabria, Montalto Uffugo ( CS) , Vallone Argentino, 565 m, light trap, 39,4082°N 16,1209°E, 22.VII.2015, 1 ♂, Scalercio & S. Infusino M. leg., Collezione Museo Scienze Naturali di Bergamo (A. Letardi det.) .

Italy: Calabria, Fuscaldo ( CS), fiumara Lavandaia, 30 m, light trap, 39,449°N 15,994°E, 18- 24.VIII.2017, 1 ♀, Valle N. & M. leg., Collezione Museo Scienze Naturali di Bergamo (A. Letardi det.) .

The male specimen was collected during a research conducted to study moth communities in chestnut woodlands of the Catena Costiera mountains, Calabria ( Italy). The Catena Costiera is a mountain chain that stretches about 70 km on the northern Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria, between the Orsomarso mountains and the mouth of the Savuto river. The location of the mountain chain, combined with the system of winds that blow mainly from the west loads of humidity, create a microclimate characterized by persistent fog for most of the year, with high rainfall and cool temperatures. These characteristics favor the development of forest vegetation with the presence on the Tyrrhenian side of beech forests from very low altitudes. The East slope is characterized by the abundant presence of chestnut ( Castanea sativa L.) and other mesophilic species (e.g. Quercus spp. , Alnus spp. or Salix spp. ).

In order to monitor the local entomofauna ( Greco et al., 2016), insects were sampled using UV-LED traps powered by a 12 V battery ( Fig. 1 ). Traps were positioned at 1.30 m above ground level and equipped with a timer that turned on at the sunset and turned off at the sunrise. Traps were activated one night per month from May to November 2015.

The female specimen was collected two years later, by a UV-LED trap positioned on the ground ( Fig. 2 ) near the coastal Tyrrhenian area between the sea and the Catena Costiera mountains, in a riparian dense vegetation zone adjacent to a small creek characterized by the abundant presence of alder trees ( Alnus spp. ).

Figures

Fig. 1.- Sampling trap used for monitoring moth communities in chestnut woodlands of the Catena Costiera mountains in 2015.

Fig. 2.- Sampling trap and micro-habitat in which the female specimen was collected in 2017.