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Carabus clatratus (Coleoptera: Carabidae): study case of mass rearing and release of a threatened species with new details on its life history

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Abstract

Carabus clatratus is currently known as highly threatened and/or extinct at a European level due to the loss of its habitat, represented by wetlands, to which it is closely linked. In southern Europe, this is much more serious due to the effective adult predation by the alien and invasive crustacean Procambarus clarkii, introduced from the United States of America since the 1980s and now rapidly expanding its range. In an extreme attempt to preserve the Italian native populations of the subspecies C. clatratus antonellii, an effective mass rearing method was developed in 2009. This method, that allowed to record new important data on the biology of the species, is described in detail. Contrary to what is reported in the literature, C. clatratus showed a very high reproductive potential, with an average of 82.8 eggs laid by each female per season. The low prolificacy erroneously attributed to it was wrongly considered a contributing cause of the rarefaction and/or extinction of some of its populations, while the new findings make us focus on other causes. The knowledge of the effective reproductive potential is also important for a better implementation of mass rearings and introduction programs as a function of potential offspring. The duration of the various stages of pre-imaginal development of C. clatratus, from the hatching of the larva to the emergence and appearance of the adults on the ground, is compared with that of another congeneric species living in an extremely unstable habitat (C. stenocephalus susicus) resulting, however, surprisingly even shorter. I hope that other entomologists and conservation biologists will also try their hand at rearing this species (where still present) in an attempt to save it from extinction.

Implications for insect conservation

The new data obtained on the biology and fecundity of C. clatratus, as well as the issues encountered after its release, can be exploited for future initiatives for the species conservation.

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Change history

  • 28 November 2021

    The figures 1 & 2 are replaced with high resolution images.

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Acknowledgements

I wish to thank my friends and colleagues who, in various ways, have helped me in accomplishing this work: Dr. Valentina Candian (DISAFA, University of Turin) for the statistical processing of rearing data; Prof. Achille Casale (Department of Zoology, University of Sassari); Pierfranco Cavazzuti (Pagno), and Andrea Petrioli (Florence) for the detailed biogeographic indications useful for finding the species in the Chiusi and Montepulciano sites, and for the gift of the first living individuals of Carabus clatratus antonellii, used for the development of the rearing methodology; Dr. Claudio Ghittino (IZSUM, Terni) for his help in the field in collecting the parentals of the individuals used for mass rearing; Dr. Peter John Mazzoglio (DISAFA, University of Turin) for the translation of the text into English; Dr. Dietrich Mossakowski (Institute for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Bremen) for giving me some living pairs of C. clatratus clatratus; Prof. Rosemarie Tedeschi (DISAFA, University of Turin) for the help in the revision of the manuscript. I would also like to thank the three anonymous reviewers who provided comments and suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript.

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  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari (DISAFA), Unità di Entomologia, Università degli Studi di Torino, Largo Braccini, 2, 10095, Grugliasco, Torino, Italy

    Enrico Busato

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Busato, E. Carabus clatratus (Coleoptera: Carabidae): study case of mass rearing and release of a threatened species with new details on its life history. J Insect Conserv 26, 29–41 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-021-00359-y

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