Článek zkoumá předpoklady hypotézy, podle níž několik keramických fragmentů ze středočeských oppid imituje tvary středomořské keramiky. Dosud aktuální názor na problematiku je shledán sporným z důvodu chronologických či formálních nesrovnalostí a je poukázáno na meze úvah o formální imitaci. Namísto nich je u většiny fragmentů středomořský vliv shledáván nanejvýš ve funkční inspiraci. V případě jednoho fragmentu by o imitaci bylo možno uvažovat jen v případě jeho datace do raně laténského období. and The article reconsiders the premises of a hypothesis according to which several pottery sherds found in the late La Tène oppida in central Bohemia imitate Mediterranean ceramic forms. The idea of the formal imitation of concrete vase types is questioned on the grounds of chronological and formal inconsistencies. Instead of a problematic theory of formal imitation, functional inspiration is proposed as a more appropriate mechanism to explain the reception of the Mediterranean influence. In one case, only change of the object’s chronology (to the early La Tène period) could help it maintain its status of an imitation.
1_Intraguild predation (IGP) and cannibalism occur in the field and could affect the dominance structure of guilds of coccinellid species. The exotic biological control agent Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is now well established in most areas of Northern and Central Italy, but it is unclear what effect this species could have on native dominant and non-dominant coccinellids with which it co-occurs. In order to predict the trophic interactions in coccinellid guilds and the likely effect of H. axyridis, the incidence of IGP and cannibalism among the following six species were evaluated under laboratory conditions: H. axyridis, three native dominant species, Adalia bipunctata (L.), Oenopia conglobata (L.) and Coccinella septempunctata L. and two native non-dominant species, Platynaspis luteorubra (Goeze) and Scymnus apetzi (Mulsant). Unfed and fed fourth instar larvae of the above species were paired in an experimental arena and the incidence of predation recorded over a period of 24 h. In absence of aphids, the survival probabilities (SP) of A. bipunctata and O. conglobata were lowest when paired with either C. septempunctata or H. axyridis (< 0.20 SP after 24 h). The SP of C. septempunctata was similar if paired with either a conspecific larva or H. axyridis (< 0.34 SP after 24 h) and that of H. axyridis was reduced similarly if paired with either a conspecific larva or C. septempunctata (> 0.71 SP after 24 h). The SP of P. luteorubra was lower when paired with A. bipunctata and C. septempunctata (< 0.07 SP after 24 h) than with other species and that of S. apetzi was greatly reduced when paired with all the dominant and exotic species (< 0.27 SP after 24h)., 2_In presence of aphids no predatory events occurred in most combinations. H. axyridis acted as a strong predator of native dominant and non-dominant coccinellids when the aphids are scarce. We did not find any evidence, however, that the incidence of IGP among exotic and native species is higher than either IGP or cannibalism in native species. The likelihood of IGP occurring in the field is discussed., Gabriele Rondoni, Andrea Onofri, Carlo Ricci., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The philometrid nematode, Philometra saltatrix Ramachandran, 1973, is redescribed from male and female specimens collected from the ovaries of the marine fish (bluefish) Pomatomus saltatrix (L.) (Pomatomidae, Perciformes) from the Tuscan Sea, Italy. The light and scanning electron microscopical examination made it possible to study in detail the morphology of this so far little known species. For the first time, the actual structure of the male cephalic and caudal ends is described. The male possesses 14 small cephalic papillae arranged in two circles, the spicules are 84-111 µm long and the gubernaculum, 75-84 µm long, has its distal portion provided with dorsal transverse lamella-like structures. The caudal end of subgravid females bears two very small, hardly visible lateral papilla-like projections. This is the first record of P. saltatrix, a species originally described from the West Atlantic, from the Tuscan Sea and the second one in the Mediterranean region.
Several studies address the question of which forest attributes are most important for the conservation of biodiversity. Unfortunately, there are no unequivocal answers because the response of a biological group to changes in forest structure depends on its natural history and scale of organization. It is important to increase our knowledge of the potential relationships between under studied groups of species and forest variables in order to adopt timber harvesting strategies not detrimental to biodiversity, especially in old-growth forests. We assessed the importance of 10 forest attributes and old-growth for Psychidae (Lepidoptera) species and communities. Research was carried out in 12 forest stands in a mountainous beech dominated landscape in southern Italy, in the middle of the Mediterranean Basin. Samples were collected in 2001 and 2013 and data were merged after pairwise comparison analyses that confirmed the long term stability of communities. Correspondence Analysis, Cluster Analysis and non-parametric Spearman Rank Order Correlation were used to identify determinants of Psychidae abundance and diversity. We collected 2,732 Psychidae belonging to 8 species. Correspondence analysis identified old-growth as the main determinant of communities. Most significant attributes for individual species were beech dominance, diameter at breast height and its standard deviation. For Taleporia defoliella there were positive correlations with these forest parameters, whereas for Psyche crassiorella the correlations were negative. This study underlined the importance of forest attributes associated with old-growth forests for sustaining biodiversity. These findings indicate the need to incorporate these attributes in forest planning, especially those aspects that are easily recognizable such as the number of large trees., Stefano Scalercio, Teresa Bonacci, Rosario Turco, Vincenzo Bernardini., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Social housing in Italy, its historical and recent developments, and its criticalities are discussed considering both the pre- and the post-crisis period. The main effects of the crisis on Italian households and the exacerbating of housing problems are also analysed. A critical review of the main policy instruments implemented before and after the crisis is provided, with a special focus on new models of intervention. It is not clear how the housing needs of low income households will be addressed in the near future. Traditional public-managed social housing has been left with insufficient resources while the newly-built affordable housing sector is mainly targeting mid-income households. Several new policy instruments have been deployed and billions of euros invested. Nevertheless, it is still difficult to observe a consistent strategy oriented to increasing the level of social protection in the housing domain, beyond the conventional management of “emergencies”.
The distribution of Sphaerospora dicentrarchi Sitjà-Bobadilla et Alvarez-Pellitero, 1992 and S. testicularis Sitjà-Bobadilla et Alvarez-Pellitero, 1990, myxozoan parasites of European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax (L.), was investigated in different farming systems in Italy. In total, 1406 fish were examined. High S. dicentrarchi prevalence was observed in all the farming systems involved in this survey (extensive farms: 51.5%; intensive farms: inland 59.6%, inshore floating cages 76.2%, offshore floating cages 41.6%) except for submersible cages (7.4%). S. testicularis was detected only in nine male fish from two intensive farms. The epidemiology and pathological effects of the parasites are discussed.
This paper presents biological notes on two species of Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae that emerged from old spongy-woody galls of Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu, 1951 collected in Sicily (Italy) in April 2015: Leptophyes sicula Kleukers, Odé et Fontana, 2010 (Phaneropterinae) and Cyrtaspis scutata (Charpentier, 1825) (Meconematinae). Between the end of April and the first few days of May a total of 30 neanids emerged from the galls, were reared and their life-cycle recorded. While L. sicula laid eggs in groups, C. scutata laid single eggs inside the galls; both species in a few years have adapted to exploiting this new shelter for egg laying. No interaction with the gall inducing insect was noted., Giuliano Cerasa, Bruno Massa., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Endemic Sicilian pond turtles Emys trinacris Fritz, Fattizzo, Guicking, Tripepi, Pennisi, Lenk, Joger et Wink were examined for the presence of haemogregarine parasites. The presence of haemogregarines, occurring mainly in the microgametocyte stage (13.2 ± 0.12 μm in length and 6.4 ± 0.52 μm in width), was observed in approximately 9% of the sampled E. trinacris. Based on the observed morphology and on the sequencing of nuclear 18S rDNA, we identified the parasite as Haemogregarina stepanowi Danilewsky, 1885. Morphometric study of uninfected and infected red blood cells has shown that H. stepanowi induces different changes in erythrocyte shape depending on the infective stage. The differential count of leukocytes in specimens infected with H. stepanowi showed no significant difference compared with healthy specimens. However, considering the health problems which might be induced by H. stepanowi in the closely related European pond turtle Emys orbicularis (Linneaus), monitoring of the health status of the infected Sicilian populations of E. trinacris is desirable. The restricted distribution of populations of Emys infected with haemogregarines in Sicily is quite puzzling and the possible human-mediated introduction of the parasite in Sicily is briefly discussed., Vincenzo Arizza, Francesco Sacco, Debora Russo, Rita Scardino, Marco Arculeo, Melita Vamberger, Federico Marrone., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We studied a natural infection of the oligochaete Branchiura sowerbyi Beddard, 1892 with the Raabeia-type actinosporean stage of Myxobolus lentisuturalis Dyková, Fiala et Nie, 2002 which infected goldfish Carassius auratus auratus (L.) in Italy, using molecular analysis of the SSU rRNA gene. The existence of intraoligochaete development shows that this parasite follows the life-cycle pattern described by Wolf and Markiw (1984) for Myxobolus cerebralis. Histological examinations of the goldfish infected by M. lentisuturalis showed at low magnification the presence of two bilateral crescent-shaped masses in the dorsal epaxial muscle. These lesions were not circumscribed, presented irregular edges and infiltrated the underlying bundles of skeletal muscle and interstitial tissue. At higher magnification, disappearance of muscle fibres and substitution of the muscle tissue with Myxobolus spores and plasmodia were observed.
Paola Bertoli, Veronica Grembi., Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy., České resumé, and Vydává: Univerzita Karlova, Centrum pro ekonomický výzkum a doktorské studium, Národohospodářský ústav AV ČR