A new species for the Italian fauna: Aphaenogaster strioloides, not A. crocea, inhabits Pantelleria Island (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Lavas were widely used in antiquity to produce millstones. This is mainly due to their superior properties for grinding cereals and availability when compared with other rock-types. In the past four decades, several studies have been published about lava millstones discovered in subaerial and submarine archaeological sites of the Central-Western Mediterranean. Although the morphological evidence of old quarries is rarely present, all these studies were aimed at recognizing provenance and manufacturing areas of the volcanic raw material. Typologies of grinding tools coexisted in different periods, even if some technological developments marked transitions between cultures. The main chronology is: Archaic saddle quern, Greek hopper-rubber (Olynthian), small to medium size rotary device (Morgantina type) and large hourglass rotary millstone (Pompeian style). Potential volcanic sources are widespread throughout the entire Mediterranean region, but two main Italian quarrying areas of volcanic rocks for the manufacture of millstones from the Phoenician to the Roman period were pointed out. These are the Latium-Umbria border in Central Italy, and Sicily (Eastern Sicily and Sicilian Channel) in Southern Italy. In detail, analysis of the lava lithotypes shows that grinding tools were mainly constructed of: (i) a leucite phonolite of the so called “Orvieto quarries” between the localities of Sugano and Buonviaggio in the Roman Volcanic Province (High-K alkaline series); (ii) hawaiites and mugearites (Na-alkaline series) from Etna volcano; (iii) basalts (Tholeiitic/Transitional series) of the Hyblaean Mountains and (iv) basalts (Na-alkaline series) from Pantelleria Island (Sicilian Channel). Although some lava millstones from other volcanic regions are recorded, the above four Italian volcanic rock types represent the most exploited in antiquity. A comparison between volcanic millstones and outcropping lavas already exists, from literature data, through thin section modal mineralogy and conventional igneous petrology (i.e., TAS classification, magmatic affinities, and major-trace elements signature). Therefore, on this basis we propose a set of discriminating geochemical parameters (major-trace elements and element ratios diagrams) useful for a quick assessment tool to possibly evaluate one of these four exploited volcanic areas of Italy matching millstones. A sketch of volcanic millstone trade networks and commercial routes in antiquity throughout the Central-Western Mediterranean has been also reported and overviewed on the basis of the literature data.

For communities to adapt, effective water management and governance strategies are necessary due to climate change's pressing challenges. Specifically, the proposed study examines the role of traditional water management systems in supporting land adaptation to harsh climate conditions on Pantelleria, a volcanic island in the Sicilian Channel.On the island of Pantelleria, there is a rich cultural heritage of water management, exemplifying a complex interaction between desertification, climate change, biodiversity, ecosystem services and land adaptation. As a result of Pantelleria's traditional water management, the landscape mosaic has been able to adapt and remain resilient to climate change impacts. Considering its successful application over time, the ingenious rainwater accumulation, storage, and distribution system demonstrates that this heritage serves not only as a legacy of the past, but as a critical organizing principle for the present. From a social-ecological perspective, preserving cultural heritage shifts the paradigm from innovating traditional knowledge toward reclaiming traditional water management methods that already contribute to the sustainability of local and environmental communities and incorporating them into a perspective of land adaptation to climate change.This study combines scientific research on desertification and land degradation in Southern Italy with interviews with local stakeholders in an effort to emphasize the importance of cultural heritage knowledge along with bottom-up actions by citizens, and advocates for the systemic vision of rural landscapes by mapping the distribution and abundance of traditional water systems in order to assess their functions in preserving and enhancing ecosystem services in an environment of constant land changing.Pantelleria serves as a model to demonstrate how similar regions experiencing water-related issues may benefit from its solutions and this study examines the barriers to integrating traditional and modern water management systems based on political, cultural, and institutional factors in order to improve water management and governance in similar harsh environments.

Widespread volcanism has been known in the Sicilian Channel for a long time, even if some submarine volcanoes have only recently been discovered. Most of this volcanism formed along the NNE-trending transfer zone known as the Capo Granitola–Sciacca Fault Zone, while others, such as the islands of Pantelleria and Linosa, are associated with the continental rift zone that has developed since the early Pliocene in the central part of the Sicilian Channel through the formation of three deep tectonic troughs (Pantelleria, Linosa and Malta). However, the origin of a group of five volcanoes (here called “Tetide volcanic cluster”) that form a NW-SE alignment on the eastern edge of the Adventure Plateau is not yet known. In this work, we hypothesize that this volcanic alignment may represent the remnants of a failed rift attempt that was unable to generate another tectonic trough in the Sicilian Channel. Based on seismic sections and gravimetric data, three phases in the formation of this volcanic alignment can be identified: (i) a major magmatic intrusion in the early Pliocene associated with a NW-SE normal fault that formed during the opening of the Pantelleria graben, leading to the uplift and deformation of the host sedimentary rocks; (ii) a late Pliocene-Quaternary tectono-magmatic quiescent phase; and (iii) a renewed magma intrusion through fissures or cracks that led to the formation of the volcanoes in the late Quaternary. This process was not able to cause significant extension and only limited volcanism, which is why the “Tetide volcanic cluster“ is interpreted as the morphological expression of a failed rift.

ABSTRACTIslands provide unique opportunities to study historical biogeography, acting as both cradles of endemism and active corridors for species dispersal. The Sicilian Channel, which separates Sicily from the Maghreb, exemplifies this complexity. We investigated the colonisation history of the lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) on Pantelleria Island (southern Italy) to assess whether its population derives from Europe or North Africa. Because R. hipposideros has limited dispersal ability and is largely sedentary, its occurrence on Pantelleria raises questions about past connectivity across the Channel. We analysed mitochondrial markers (COI, cyt‐b, 12S) from Pantelleria, Malta, Algeria, and across the species' range. Phylogenetic and haplotype network analyses place Pantelleria and Malta in a well‐supported clade sister to North African lineages and distinct from European populations. Time‐calibrated analyses based on cyt‐b suggest that the Pantelleria–Malta group diverged from North African conspecifics around 200,000 years ago (MIS 7.2). A palaeogeographical reconstruction for this interval indicates lowered sea level reduced the marine gap between Pantelleria and Tunisia to about 68 km, consistent with over‐sea colonisation from North Africa. The short available sequences for conspecific European bats suggest considering these inferences as provisional. Within these limitations, our results are most consistent with a Maghrebian origin for Pantelleria's R. hipposideros, while alternative routes (including European sources) cannot be excluded. Broader genomic sampling, especially from Sicily and Morocco, will be required to resolve colonisation direction and fully establish the population's biogeographic history. More generally, our findings reinforce the view of the Sicilian Channel as an asymmetrically permeable biogeographic corridor that can facilitate faunal exchange across the central Mediterranean.

Author(s): Talenti, Enrico; Cianfanelli, Simone; Bodon, Marco | Abstract: The genus Plagyrona Gittenberger, 1977, includes only two small species of terrestrial snail: Plagyrona angusta Holyoak and Holyoak, 2012, and Plagyrona placida (Shuttleworth, 1852). While P. angusta is known only from Portugal, P. placida has a vast but fragmented distribution: it is known from some of the Macaronesian islands (Madeira and the Canary Archipelago) and some European countries: Portugal, France (in Corsica only), Italy (including Sardinia and the Tuscan Archipelago), Albania, Greece (in the Ionian Islands only) and North Africa (Algeria). New research has led to redefine the distribution range of P. angusta, identifying new populations in Spain (Balearic Islands), continental France (Var department), southern Italy (Campania), Sardinia and Greece (Kerkyra Island) and to discover new sites of P. placida on Pantelleria island and of Plagyrona spp. in Zannone island and southern Italy. The specific determination of these and others populations by examination of recent literature from Sardinia, Campania and Calabria, was carried out on a morphometric basis, but, for some populations, the variability of the diagnostic characters and the limited number of available specimens, do not allow a precise assignment. On the other hand, the existence of two distinct species is not evident at all, at least in the Mediterranean countries.

Internal waves in the Sicilian Channel are observed in synthetic aperture radar images gathered by the Seasat satellite. A correlation is here presented between these waves and data collected by a seismograph recently installed on the Island of Pantelleria, which show intense seismic activity followed by anomalous signals.

Replicative DWV type A in Bombus terrestris in Pantelleria island (Sicily, Italy)

The pupa of Nebrioporus (Zimmermannius) ceresyi is described and illustrated at S.E.M. on the basis of a female specimen collected on the Island of Pantelleria (Italy, Sicilian Channel, central Mediterranean). The morphology and chaetotaxy of this pupa are compared to those of the other known pupae of the same genus and to those of related genera previously attributed to the genus Potamonectes.

Ground deformation and gravity changes on the island of Pantelleria in the geodynamic framework of the Sicily Channel

The caper bush, Capparis spinosa (Brassicales: Capparaceae), is intensively grown on Pantelleria Island (Trapani, Sicily, Sicilian channel) where it has been granted protected geographical indication (PGI) by the EU. On this island, Bagrada hilaris, a stink bug native of Asia and Africa, is the major pest of caper crops. Recent studies have shown the attraction of B. hilaris to volatiles of brassicaceous plants at the seedling stage. The objective of this study was to evaluate three cotyledon-stage seedlings of host plants, Brassica oleracea var. botrytis (cauliflower), Eruca sativa (rocket) and Brassica carinata (Abyssinian cabbage), as potential trap plants for B. hilaris. The relative preferences of these species were first evaluated in laboratory and field experiments, carried out during summer when the level of B. hilaris infestation was the highest. Behavioral bioassays in the laboratory conditions showed that adults of B. hilaris preferred to orient toward seedlings of B. oleracea and E. sativa over B. carinata. Field experiments confirmed these results. Then seedlings were tested in trap plant trials, by sowing them in artificial pots formed with aluminum trays and placing them in caper fields infested with B. hilaris. Results showed that E. sativa and B. oleracea diverted hundreds of B. hilaris individuals from the capers to these sources of attraction. Overall, these results suggest that B. oleracea and E. sativa seedlings used as lure inside traps or as trap plants may be a useful tool in the management of B. hilaris populations.

The study analyses the changes in vegetation structure and composition within a sere of secondary succession at Pantelleria Island (Sicilian Channel, Italy). It aims to show that not only phytosociological data but also structural parameters, like woody species’ height and spatial distribution indices are useful to describe and interpret renaturation processes. Woody species structure was recorded on abandoned terraces, both on north-facing and on south-facing slopes. Relevés were made in fallows representing five different stages of succession. The pace of succession, measured through the analysis of woody species cover, basal area, height distribution and spatial indices, resulted quite rapid: already after 50 years of abandonment terraces are covered by dense maquis communities. Our study also revealed that different plant species or groups prevail during colonisation dynamics, mostly depending on exposition, a factor which strongly influences also the speed of colonisation by woody species. In this case study, human activity seems to be unnecessary to accelerate the process of renaturation, except in some unfavourable contexts. Species turnover rate, biodiversity value, and structural evolution along progressive succession must be taken into account in nature management and conservation policies of terraced landscapes, which are nowadays one of the most endangered landscape types throughout the Mediterranean area.

This paper is devoted to discussing new records of land molluscs from Sicily and the surrounding archipelagos (Italy) acquired during our survey in the field in the last twenty years (2004–2024). Monacha parumcincta, a species widespread in Kérkira Island (Greece) and Apennine Italy, is reported for the first time in northeastern Sicily; Sardovitrina polloneriana, up to now considered endemic to Sardinia Island (Italy), is recorded for the first time from Pantelleria Island and Linosa Island (Sicilian Channel); Aegopinella pura, a species with European distribution, is confirmed in Sicily on the summit part of the Madonie Mountains (northern Sicily); and Milax lopadusanus, recently described from Lampedusa Island (Pelagian Archipelago, Sicily), is here reported also for Marettimo Island (Aegadian Archipelago, Sicily). The species identification is based on morphological inspection of shells and genitalia. Taxonomy and biogeographic issues are discussed as well.

Glass chemistry in volcaniclastic sediments of ODP Leg 107, Site 650, sedimentary sequence: provenance and chronological implications

We present a new global palaeomagnetic database, comprising lava flows and thin intrusive bodies, suitable for studying palaeosecular variation and the time-averaged field. The database is presented in some detail in the appendix and is available on-line from the authors. We review palaeosecular variation models to date, emphasizing the assumptions required and the rather arbitrary construction of many of these models. Preliminary studies of the statistical properties of the new database suggest that existing palaeosecular variation models are inadequate to explain the long-term temporal variations in the field. It is increasingly apparent that data distribution and quality are pivotal in determining the characteristics of the secular variation. The work presented here demonstrates the need for revised models of the time-averaged field structure for both normal and reverse polarities before reliable models for palaeosecular variation can be made.

Capo Granitola-Sciacca Fault Zone (Sicilian Channel, Central Mediterranean): Structure vs magmatism