Leonardo Dapporto

We report the butterfly species of four national parks in the central Apennines (Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise; Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga; Maiella; Monti Sibillini). Since most literature records are outdated, we update them with new data collected during targeted surveys conducted as part of the activities required by a ministerial directive, also adding citizen science records and data from other sampling activities. Overall, we report 157 species, with several new records for the parks. Many orophilous species have their only Apennine populations in the study area and many species of conservation interest occur here.

Papilio alexanor exhibits a disjunct distribution across the western Palearctic. Records of this species from southern Italy have been rare and sporadic, leading to suggestions that these individuals might be strays originating from the Balkans or Greece. In this study, we provide an updated list of observations of P. alexanor in southern Italy, including records of ovipositing females and early larval instars, as well as DNA sequences from the COI barcode of five specimens from Monte Pollino (Calabria) and Cilento (Campania), to investigate the origin of these southern Italian populations. Our findings support the hypothesis that P. alexanor is native to southern Italy, with three unique COI haplotypes differing by a single nucleotide from populations in Greece (Lesbos) and the Balkans. We discuss these results in the context of the species’ biogeography and conservation. Implications for insect conservation: The populations of P. alexanor in southern Italy are small, currently not recognized as native, and partially distributed outside of protected areas. We propose a revision of the conservation status of this species in Italy and highlight the need to invest on locating and safeguarding potentially stable populations in southern Italy.

Evolution relentlessly challenges any concept of species, and human efforts to fit a taxonomic hypothesis to patterns in nature often seem unsatisfactory. Genomics show that a solution does not always come with more data: a fine‐scaled view may reveal populations with a more gradual array of differentiation, infer cases of hybrid origin and bring to light the existence of ghost populations. The false heath fritillary, Melitaea diamina , is a Palearctic butterfly with patchy, localized populations highly dependent on humid temperate habitats. Despite its extensive geographic range, populations at the southern edge of its European distribution are scarce and poorly studied genetically. Here, we employed genome‐wide data to reveal the existence of two major groups in M. diamina : an Iberian and a Eurasian lineage. Within Iberia, we documented a remarkable diversity: the populations in the Pyrenees are of hybrid origin between the Eurasian lineage and a now apparently extinct Iberian population. The ghost population was related to three extant additional Iberian lineages that align with mitochondrial differentiation, distinct morphological traits, and/or ecological specialization in the form of host plant association. Gene flow analyses suggested historical admixture despite current isolation, underscoring the complex evolutionary history of these populations. We attempt a revised taxonomic framework for this novel array of evolutionary significant units, adopting an updated subspecies concept—defining subspecies as incompletely separated lineages within a more inclusive lineage. Such an approach allows accurate representation of evolutionary complexity without prematurely elevating these populations to species rank, thereby informing targeted, biologically meaningful conservation strategies.

Aim: Comparison between islands and equivalent mainland areas to dissect the effect of area, isolation and species traits in determining island genetic endemicity and genetic differentiation. Location: The Western Mediterranean region. Time Period: Current. Major Taxa Studied: Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea). Methods: We analysed 10,367 COI sequences from 105 species, 34 islands and 47 sea straits, along with four functional species traits. We compared determinants of genetic diversity (nucleotide diversity, NucDiv ), endemic mutations (EM) and the Dst fixation index between island populations and similarly sized mainland populations (Continental Area Equivalents, CAEs). Generalised linear mixed models tested fixed effects and interactions of island characteristics and species traits. We also evaluated whether population‐level effects (individual species increasing differentiation with island size and isolation) or community‐level effects (larger, less isolated islands hosting more genetically divergent species) better explain observed island patterns. Results: CAEs and islands exhibited highly distinct genetic signatures. NucDiv was higher in CAEs while Dst was higher across sea straits than between land areas separating CAEs, particularly for larger islands and non‐migratory species. EM increased with island area, especially in non‐migratory and small species. Island communities were significantly nested. Widespread species also showed lower genetic variation, thus producing a strong community‐level effect. The population‐level effects showed a weaker effect. Counterintuitively, increasing isolation did not increase divergence, as both processes tended to reduce genetic differentiation in more isolated islands. Main Conclusions: Comparing islands with CAEs reveals that even narrow sea barriers of a few kilometres greatly reduce gene flow in non‐migratory butterflies, increasing genetic differentiation to a greater extent than similar mainland distances. After controlling for the presence of sea straits, island size predicts genetic divergence while increasing isolation does not. Overall, endemicity remains low, indicating that mainland‐driven genetic turnover, rather than in situ evolution, dominates insular genetic patterns.

DNA barcoding has become a cornerstone for species identification and biodiversity monitoring, enabling applications from ecological research to conservation and environmental policy. The International Barcode of Life (iBOL) provides global coordination, but national nodes are essential for implementing barcoding at scale, building local capacity and translating scientific advances into practice. This paper synthesises experiences from 20 countries (17 in Europe), drawing on a survey and a workshop conducted under the Horizon Europe Biodiversity Genomics Europe project. We examine how national nodes are initiated, governed and sustained and identify common challenges, such as defining scope, securing funding, harmonising methods and engaging stakeholders. Most nodes were initiated by research communities and operate as informal networks with heterogeneous governance and staffing models. Key priorities include constructing comprehensive DNA barcode reference libraries, aligning activities with biomonitoring needs and promoting FAIR and CARE data principles. We highlight strategies for capacity building, methodological standardisation and stakeholder engagement, alongside approaches for diversifying funding and strengthening communication. Based on these insights, we present ten practical recommendations to guide the establishment and long-term success of national DNA barcoding nodes. Strengthening these infrastructures will enhance Europe’s ability to deliver robust DNA-based biodiversity monitoring, underpin metabarcoding and metagenomic studies and contribute to global efforts in species discovery, conservation and environmental management.

Conservation biases have been documented since the first emergence of the concept of biodiversity in the 1980s, showing a systematic disproportion in the allocation of research and conservation efforts among taxa. One factor underlying this disproportion, gaining prominence in recent literature, is variation in species’ perceived beauty, shaped by human visual preferences. Here, we integrate a large-scale survey of the perceived beauty of European butterflies involving >21000 respondents from >100 countries within a full interconnected and time-explicit network linking species’ beauty, public attention, research and conservation efforts, and the regulatory framework at the continental EU level (Fig. S1). We found that a beauty bias consistently shapes public attention, research and conservation efforts, interacting with species detectability: research efforts and public attention concentrate on widespread and attractive species, whereas the legal conservation framework, particularly the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (hereafter: Bern Convention, BC, 1979) and the EU Habitats Directive (hereafter: HD, 1992), favours those that are both visually appealing and range-restricted. Because these frameworks guide funding and management actions, initial aesthetic preferences influencing BC and HD have produced long-lasting institutional effects that still shape research and conservation actions on European butterflies. By contrast, European IUCN Red Lists do not privilege beautiful species and increasingly identify less conspicuous taxa as threatened. This mismatch reveals a tension between scientific assessments of extinction risk and historically embedded conservation priorities. Our findings suggest that recognizing beauty bias is vital for aligning conservation with actual ecological urgency.

The Tuscan Archipelago is an insular system located between the Tuscan mainland and Corsica and composed of seven major islands and several islets differing widely in size, distance from the two ma...