A new, isolated population of Dichotrachelus meregallii (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from the Ortler massif (South Tyrol, Eastern Alps).

The discovery of an isolated population of Dichotrachelus meregallii in the Eastern Alps,
in South Tyrol, has stimulated a study, based on morphological and molecular analyses,
to compare the new find with the typical population of the Western Alps. The results
indicate that the two populations differ only by very few substitutions in the mitochondrial
genomic sequences, that do not warrant taxonomic recognition. The new data
suggest that the species was originally diffused all along the Alpine chain, and its
present relict distribution was probably determined by the Pleistocene climatic events.
The phylogenetic relationships of D. ulbrichi, originally referred to the D. meregallii
group, were also analysed. Based on its mitochondrial genomic sequences, it belongs to
the D. rudeni group.