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CONCLUSIONS

In summaty, the centipede fauna of the centrai Apennines seem to be rather
homogenous from a faunistic perspective, in spite of the cognitive and taxo-
nomic gaps that still exist. There are however clear differences between the
coastallsub-coastal!hilly region (especially on the Tyrrhenian side) and the
inner mountain areas, probably due to present ecologica! factors.
Notably, some northern and orientai elements, such as Lithobius piceus
(Centraieuropean) and Pleurolithobius patriarchalis (E-Mediterranean) respec-
tively, are only in a marginai part of the studied area. Moreover, i t is interesting
to note the absence of records of Harpolithobius anodus (Latzel, 1880), a litho-
biomorph centipede which range includes Anatolia and south-eastern Europe,
from Bulgaria to Austria and from Poland to the Peloponneso, present in Italy
in the Alps, in the Ligurian Apennines and aiong the northern border of the
Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. H anodus is the only Itaiian species of a genus dis-
continuously distributed in the Caucasus, Middle East, Pontus, T aurus, an d
south-eastern Europe (Zapparoli, 2003; Zapparoli and Minelli, 2006).
Apart from Hydroschendyla Brolemann and Ribaut, 1911, which compris-
es a single haiophilous species, among the geophilomorph genera represented
in peninsular Italy (from Emilia-Romagna to Calabria), Nannophilus Cook,
1895, distributed in Macaronesia and in the Mediterranean basin, represent-
ed in Italy by N eximius (Meinert, 1870), whose range extends from
Macaronesia to continental Greece, through North Mrica, southern Italy and
Sicily, and Acanthogeophilus Minelli, 1982, a monospecific taxon whose the
only representative, A. dentifer Minelli, 1982, has been recorded in Liguria (La
Spezia province) and Puglia (Gargano) (Minelli, 1982b; Minelli and Zapparoli,
1985), have not been recorded in the centrai Apennine.
As far as the strictly mountain sectors of the studied area concerns, it is dif-
ficult to identify the two distinct subregions recognized for other terrestriai
arthropods, e.g. carabids beetles ( Coleoptera Carabidae) (Vigna T agli an ti,
1992), that is the northern (Sibillini, Laga, Reatini Mountains and the Gran
Sasso) and the southern (Simbruini-Ernici, Velino Sirente, Maiella, Marsicana,
Matese Mountains) areas. Neither among the endemics, nor among the more
widely distributed species it has been possible to discern a characterizing ele-
ment. Although a detailed understanding ofits distribution and affinity has not
been achieved, Lithobius pasquinii, an Apenninic endemie species found in the
Gran Sasso but aiso in the Erniçi Mountains, may be the only exception.
Severai factors, in addition to insufficient faunistic knowledge, may con-
tribute to these results. Firstly to a lack in the studied area of alticolous species,
as opposed to the Alps where this component, aithough not numerous, is how-
ever represented. Secondly, to a lack (or scarcity) of strictly centrai Apenninic
endemie species. And finaily, to the greater significance that the ecologicai than

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