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A Recent Colonization Of Dolichopoda Cave Crickets In The Poscola Cave (Orthoptera, Rhaphidophoridae), Camilla Bernardini, Claudio Di Russo, Mauro Rampini, Donatella Cersaroni, Valerio Sbordoni

International Journal of Speleology

We report a series of investigations carried out on a Dolichopoda population recently discovered in the Poscola cave and in some small caves nearby (Lessini Mountains, Vicenza). This population is located north of Po river, outside the present known geographic range of this genus in Italy. Morphology of the epiphallus corroborated by chromosome and allozyme analysis indicated that this population belongs to D. laetitiae. Study of the genetic structure of population in the Poscola area revealed high gene flow levels between Poscola and the other minor caves, suggesting the occurrence of a single expanding population. This finding as well …