Invertebrate Fauna
The Italian fauna includes 56213 species of invertebrates. This is 97.8% of the total species richness (the vertebrates are 2.2%).Of these 37303 species (approximately 65%) are insects. The (recorded) species richness of the Italian fauna is certainly one of the highest in a European country. For insects (the best known in other countries as well and therefore allowing comparison) the species richness is the absolute highest (Minelli A., 1996). Northern Italy Northern Italy ( Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige, Lombardia, Val d'Aosta, Piemonte, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna) has 33414 invertebrate species. Peninsular Italy (Toscana, Marche, Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzi, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata) has 24297. This may be a faunistic gradient but less complete data are available for southern Italy and the biotopes are very different. ( Stoch F., 2004).
Commonly seen insects in Italy are the Sail Swallowtail, the Scarlet Dragonfly, Cleopatra Butterfly, European Praying Mantis, Cicada, Glow-worm, Hummingbird Hawk-moth, Italian Stinkbug, Firebug, Field Cricket, European Hornet, Cuckoo Wasp, Carpenter Bee and the Rose Chafer.
Read more about this topic: Fauna Of Italy
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