Diaparsis (Diaparsis) carinifer

Diaparsis (Diaparsis) carinifer (Thomson, 1889) Distribution Nearctic; Palaearctic (Eastern Palaearctic; Western Palaearctic). Asserted distribution in Italy: North Italy (Horstmann 1971, Scaramozzino 1995); PIE (Pagliano 2009); EMR (Venturi 1942, as Thersilochus [sic] moderator); TOS (Venturi 1942, as Thersilochus [sic] moderator); LAZ (Dysart et al. 1973); SAR (Horstmann 1971, Scaramozzino 1995). Notes Venturi (1942) reports Thersilochus [sic] moderator (Linnaeus, 1758) as a parasite of “ Lema melanopa ” (= Oulema melanopus (Linnaeus, 1758)) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae). According to Dysart et al. (1973), whose opinion we follow here, the species reported by Venturi (1942) is Diaparsis carinifer (Thomson, 1889). Venturi (1942) himself noted the oddity of obtaining the parasitoid from a chrysomelid, whereas the records for the species were all from weevils (Curculionidae). It is clear that the author applied an incorrect name (“ moderator ”) to the specimens obtained from Oulema, comparing then his results with the host records known for Porizon moderator known at that time. Venturi (1942) does not specify the localities of his records, but his research was carried out in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. We assume, therefore, that the parasitoid may be present in these two administrative regions.