Sequence Alignments

Italy hosts 27 species of Dermaptera, five belonging to <i>Forficula</i>, which were never thoroughly investigated. We integrated morphological (morphometric measurements) and molecular data (mitochondrial COI, 16S and nuclear 28S, ITS2) to revise the Italian species, focusing on the endemic taxa, and on the diversity within <i>F.auricularia</i> to reveal the presence of cryptic species. Our data were integrated with those available for other West Mediterranean <i>Forficula.</i> Our results confirmed the taxonomic status of the endemic <i>F.apennina</i> and <i>F. silana</i>, that belong to different lineages but share some morphological traits. The endemic <i>Pseudochelidura</i> <i>orsinii</i> and <i>P.galvagnii</i> resulted nested within <i>Forficula</i>, and a new taxonomic arrangement is proposed (<i>Forficula orsinii</i>: <b>resurrected combination</b> and <i>Forficula galvagnii</i>: <b>new combination).</b> Molecular data revealed the presence in Pantelleria and Sardinia of <i>F.mediterranea</i>, cryptic with <i>F.auricularia</i> and reported only from Spain and Morocco. Morphometric data showed a distinction between West Mediterranean and Italian specimens of <i>F.mediterranea</i>, indicating a divergent selection within this species. This study provides new insights for the Italian Forficulidae, highlighting the importance of combining different approaches in the study of species diversity for their conservation. Indeed, <i>F.apennina</i> and <i>F.galvagnii</i> are high altitude species which seem to be affected by global warming so much to raise fears for their conservation.