Ho trovato il
PDF originale, reperibile in rete senza nessuna difficoltà.
Dall'articolo,
Alates with a pronotum of a darker shade of yellow, with a dark posterior margin, or even entirely dark, of the same color as the head, have been reported for some italian localities, in the regions Veneto, Tuscany, Marche, Apulia, Campania, and Sicily (Becker 1955; Giordani Soika 1962; Springhetti 1964, 1968).
si evince che siano state trovate anche nella mia regione (curioso come la loro presenza si estenda da Nord Est a Sud Ovest per tutta la penisola italica), ma non c'è nessun riscontro vero e proprio poichè lo studio è stato fatto solo su colonie di Grosseto.
Grosseto alates have an- other color peculiarity, i.e., unpigmented wings, evidently paler than those of K. flavicollis alates. the light color of wings was quite a striking feature, because dark wings have been indicated as a diagnostic character for the genus Kalotermes (Krishna 1961). the wings of Grosseto alates seemed to be less effective in -ying than those of K. flavicollis alates. Wing venation was very variable among individuals, as usually happens in termites (Grassé 1949), and can vary sensibly between the 2 wings of the same pair.
Uno dei due esemplari di
K. flavicollis che sto tentando di far fondare possiede ancora le ali, se non completamente integre... Potrei tentare un confronto di colorazione 'dal vivo', alla stessa luce. Ma a quanto pare una differenza di pigmentazione potrebbe essere semplicemente una variazione intraspecifica.
Riguardo i segmenti delle antenne neanche mi metto a contarli considerando che a) se li sono recisi b) lo spettro di variazione è molto ampio:
Grosseto alates had 14- to 16-segmented antennae, and most individuals had a different number of segments in the 2 antennae. Kalotermes avicollis alates usually have antennae with 17 or 18 segments, even though some authors have found a wider range of 12-20 segments (Springhetti 1964, and references there in).
In sintesi:
Diagnosis
The Kalotermes italicus alate differs from the K. flavicollis alate by having a dark brown/black pronotum, unpigmented wings, and smaller arolia. It differs from K. sinaicus by having arolia. The Kalotermes italicus soldier has eyes smaller than those of the K. flavicollis soldier, while the K. sinaicus soldier has no eyes. the head of K. italicus is wider than that of K. maroccoensis, about 1.4-1.5 times as long as wide, while the K. sinaicus head is about twice as long as wide. Kalotermes italicus soldier has antennae of 13-14 seg- ments, while K. maroccoensis soldier has 15-segmented antennae. the Kalotermes italicus soldier and the K. flavicollis soldier have basal tubercles on the outer side of mandibles that are absent in K. sinaicus and K. monticola soldiers.
From the mitochondrial DNA point of view, the sequences of the fragment COI/tRNA-Leu/ COII and of a portion of control region of K. italicus (A.n. Jn 029900-02) differ from those of K. flavicollis (p-distance 5.6-6.7%). Populations with mitochondrial DNA sequences similar to those of K. italicus, but morphologically classi able as K. flavicollis, are found in Feniglia (tuscany) and Portonovo (Marche), and are possibly hybrids between the 2 species.
Distribution
Until now, K. italicus has been found only in Grosseto Marina (Southern Tuscany, italy). The sampled area is about 200 × 100 m.
Quindi per quanto ne sappiamo (e secondo una stima probabilistica) l'esemplare che ho trovato potrebbe essere definito più
K. flavicollis var.
fuscocollis che
K. italicus. In ogni caso contatterò lo studio per ulteriori informazioni, sul campione e in generale.
PS:
samples for genetic analyses were kept in 100% ethanol. samples for microscopy analysis were kept in 70% ethanol.
Inviato: 15/09/2017, 0:09