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Wetland areas encompass a range of natural habitats characterized by high animal and plant biodiversity. Understanding the impacts of environmental decline in such areas requires in-depth knowledge of the overall biodiversity. This study dataset provides a first evaluation of important sites of insect and arachnids biodiversity in peat bogs, marshes, and streams in Aspromonte National Park in Calabria, southern Italy. It is a basic faunal survey that aids understanding of the importance of these large faunal groups in sites mainly within this national park. The data obtained highlight a rich insect and spider diversity in this region and provide useful information to use to outline strategies for the conservation and the management of inland aquatic environments at risk from climate change. Moreover, as baseline data, these will be useful for future monitoring and management of other inland aquatic environments that are similar to those of the study sites reported herein.

The distribution and knowledge on the Mediterranean mantid Iris oratoria (Linnaeus, 1785) is here updated. Despite is beautiful appearance and presence in the social media, the scientific knowledge on its real distribution is poor and incomplete and this may affect its conservation at local scales. Citizen science records have been here compared with traditional science records, here updated with many new and original localities: this species is reported for the first time for Libya, Malta, Calabria and many Mediterranean islands and islets. The ecological preferences have been investigated in a retrodunal transect to investigate the preferred vegetation patterns for this species. The general value of citizen science records in evaluating the real distribution of a species have been tested here, using Iris oratoria as a case study for further investigations.

The expectation is that the phenology of an herbivore is influenced by abiotic factors and its own population density during development. In this study, we investigated how the pupal density affected the pupal traits and emergence of Thaumetopoea pityocampa moths over a period of 3 years in two clearings in a pine forest. The pupae were larger in years when the pupal density was high and in the clearing exposed to less solar radiation. There was no relationship between the time of pupation and pupal size. Large pupae were positively correlated with an early emergence of adult moths and a longer period of adult emergence. Up to 13.9% of the pupae developed without cocoons, especially in years when they were abundant, but this did not affect the emergence of the moths. Incidence of pupal diapause was density-dependent and only occurred at a low level in dense populations. Overall, our results indicate that gregariousness confers important fitness-related advantages in this species.

Lethocerus patruelis (Stål, 1854) is the only European member of the Belostomatidae family. During the last decades Lethocerus patruelis records have become frequent in south-eastern Italy, probably due to multiple accidental introductions or a natural westward spread of its range. The first records of Lethocerus cfr. patruelis for the Calabria region are here reported. The first individual was observed alive and photographed in Villapiana (Cosenza province), while the second one was found and collected in Prunella (Melito di Porto Salvo municipality, Reggio Calabria province). The status of Lethocerus patruelis in this region and in Italy as introduced or naturally spreading species is yet to be assessed.

Terpenoids make up the biggest and most diversified class of chemical substances discovered in plants, encompassing over 40,000 individual compounds. In conifers, the production of terpenoids, either as oleoresin or emitted as volatile compounds, play an important role in the physical and chemical defence responses against pathogens and herbivores. In the present work, we examined, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, the terpenic defensive relations of Calabrian pine (Pinus nigra subsp. laricio (Poiret) Maire), facing the attack of the pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Denis and Schiffermüller, 1775)), brought about in the open on adult plant individuals growing at two distinct forest sites. Among the volatile terpenoids emitted from pine needles, bornyl acetate [(4,7,7-trimethyl-3-bicyclo[2.2.1]heptanyl) acetate] was the most frequently and selectively associated with the infestation, increasing during the period of most intense trophic activity of the caterpillars (defoliation), and decreasing thereafter. Although further work is needed to clarify whether the observed response reflects defence reactions and/or they are involved in communication among the infested plants and their biotic environment, the present results boost the currently growing interest in the isolation and characterization of plant secondary metabolites that can be used to control pests, pathogens, and weeds.