Molecular identification of Curculio glandium Marsham, 1802 reported as chestnut insect pest in Sicily (Italy) for the first time. Redia, 89: 11-13

During our research on chestnut insect pests in some chestnut groves on Mount Etna (Sicily, Italy), larvae of the weevil Curculio elephas (Gyll.) and of a second species of Curculio, which presented morphological characters different from the former, were found in chestnut fruits. Since the latter species could not be diagnosed on morphological basis, a molecular approach was undertaken in order to identify it. Amplification and sequencing of a fragment of the cytochrome B mitochondrial gene revealed that these specimens belong to Curculio glandium Marsham, 1802, a species known as a parasite of acorns, never reported as a chestnut parasite in Italy.