Information: Meloe apenninicus, described by Bologna in 1988 from Sicily, Nebrodi Mountains.
Species endemic to the Italian peninsula and Sicily. It seems distributed in NW Italy and along the Apennines as well as on the volcanic mountains of western peninsula (Amiata Mt., Colli Albani), at least from Emilia-Romagna south to Calabria, and in northern Sicily. Records from Piedmont and Lombardy, previously referred to M. rugosus (Bologna 2005, 2020a), are now referred to M. apenninicus after the present molecular and morphological studies. In Central Apennines, it is sympatric and probably syntopic with M. digiuliorum, an uncommon condition between close endemic species.
Body length: 8 - 20 mm
Peak activity: September - June
Remarks: Distributed in NW Italy both at low (100–600 m a.s.l.) and high elevation (1700 m a.s.l.); in central Italy, it was re corded from 650 to 1500 m a.s.l., while in Sicily records are espe cially thickened between 1200 and 1800 m a.s.l.
Distribution: Italy
Zoogeographic region: Palearctic
Taxonomic classification:
Meloe apenninicus Bologna, 1988 x Meloe rugosus Marsham, 1802
Material examined (& observation):
Italy 
Lazio Province, RM
Parco Naturale Regionale Monti Simbruini
Mount Livata
(GPS) 
Altitude 1445 m a.s.l. | 25.10.2020
det. Marco Bologna 2024
Our observation period: October ~ November
Sampling Methods: in the grass of roadsides in meadows and pastures 
Italy
