The effects of short-term climate change on the range of species: the case ofthe expanding European dwarf mantis Ameles spallanzania in northern Italy(Mantodea: Amelidae)

Climate change is altering the distribution of many species, which shift their range chasing the suitable conditions to survive and reproduce.Within a few years, the European dwarf mantis (Ameles spallanzania) seems to have expanded its range towards northern Italy, settlingin the Po Valley and reaching the Alps. Our goal was to investigate the relationship between the climate of the last four decades in Italyand the distribution of this species in the current period and in the past. The results indicate that, during the last decades, a rapid andremarkable increase in climatically suitable area for this species has occurred in northern Italy, while in the historical presence sites it hasremained rather constant. The existence of corridors such as railways, embankments, and roadsides may have accelerated its dispersal.These results suggest that rapid climate change, in particular the rise in average annual temperature, may contribute significantly to therapid expansion of a thermophilic species, with hitherto unknown consequences on the ecological communities it reaches.