On the evening of June 7th, 2019, Augusto Vigna Taglianti died in Rome at the age of almost 76 years, after a long illness, tenderly assisted by his wife Giuliana. Formerly a Professor of Entomology at the Sapienza University of Rome, he was a Full Member of the Italian National Academy of Entomology and of the National Academy of Sciences (the “Accademia dei XL”). In addition to these academic qualifications, Augusto played a leading role in the world of amateur entomologists and naturalists on the whole, being animated by an inborn desire to participate in the social life of the passionate lovers of insects, birds and wildlife in general. For this reason he was member of several naturalistic associations and became President of both the Italian Entomological Society and the Roman Association of Entomology. Owing to the wide spectrum of his zoological knowledge, he was also named President of the Scientific Committee for the Fauna of Italy.

Augusto Vigna Taglianti (AVT) (Figs 1-3) was born on 25 June 1943 in Borgo San Dalmazzo (province of Cuneo, Piedmont Region, NW Italy), at that time a middlesized village, and always crossroads toward France, where he lived until the transfer of his family to Rome in 1960, where his father had gone to work in a notary’s office. He studied at the classical high school, first in Cuneo and finally in Rome where he obtained the high school diploma in 1961. Since he was a boy, he had an intense bond with the mountains and, even after moving to Rome, spent long periods in peasant villages like Ferriere, in Val Stura (Cottian Alps), helping farmers and shepherds in their daily work.

After settling in Rome, AVT enrolled at the Sapienza University, where he graduated in Natural Sciences in 1966 with honors, discussing a thesis on “Systematics, zoogeography and ecology of the genus Niphargus (Crustacea, Amphipoda)”. During the subsequent years he won a research grant in Zoology and met a girl, Giuliana Gardano, who did the same in Botany. They married in 1968 and gave birth to two children, Michela and Pietro.

The entire University career of AVT took place at the Sapienza University of Rome from 1966 to 2013, when he retired. After graduation, he received research grants from the University of Rome and the Ministry of Education; since 1971 he was Voluntary Assistant and then Assistant Professor of the Chair of Zoology; from 1972 to 1982 became Appointed (tenured) Professor of Vertebrate Zoology and Entomology; in 1982 he won the Chair of Entomology as Associate professor; in 1990 was finally appointed Full Professor. In the meantime, from 1988 to 1991, he also taught Zoogeography for Degree Courses in Biological Sciences and Natural Sciences.

In the years of his youth, spent in the western Alps, AVT received a rock-climber training and then became an instructor of the Italian Alpine Club. Climbing ability was useful for his future research activity, mainly for the zoological exploration of high mountain and cave ecosystems. Since 1958, he attended the activities of the Piedmont Speleological Group and later those of the Roman Speleological Circle, where he joined a maniple of young enthusiastic persons interested in the study of the cave fauna (mainly Roberto Argano, Paolo Marcello Brignoli, Marina Cobolli, Vezio Cottarelli, Valerio Sbordoni, Vincenzo Vomero, all on the road to become professional zoologists). Together with them, AVT participated to the exploration of the karst habitats of the Apennines and Sardinia, then extended to other geographical areas where the major goal was the study of the still poorly known communities of caves, mountains and insular ecosystems. Thus, in the subsequent years, numerous expeditions were carried out in several Mediterranean countries, the Near East and Ethiopia.

In the Seventies, after obtaining the Chair of Entomology Professor, AVT became an active organizer of scientific expeditions whose aim was to study insect diversity through the discovery of new taxa and their phylogenetic relationships, as well through the collection of data on species distribution, phenology and habitat preference. It was an exploratory and adventurous approach, often set in difficult environments and hard geopolitical contexts (Balkans, Anatolia, Middle East, North Africa, Somalia, etc.), where the enthusiasm for the continuous discoveries animated the hearts of his young collaborators (Paolo Audisio, Marco Alberto Bologna, Maurizio Biondi, Giuseppe Maria Carpaneto, Marzio Zapparoli), often joined by senior amateur and professional entomologists such as Sandro Bruschi, Achille Casale, Fabio Cassola, Pietro Omodeo, and others.

The scientific production of AVT consists of 415 publications (see list below), mostly represented by articles on international and national scientific journals or multiauthored books. The research subjects of these scientific papers are systematics, biogeography and ecology of three taxonomic groups: Coleoptera Carabidae (sensu lato), Dermaptera and Crustacea Amphipoda.

The production of AVT on amphipods started with his Degree Thesis and continued in the first two decades, then decreased in the Third Millennium. On the whole, it deals with 20 articles, mostly written in collaboration with Sandro Ruffo, at that time Director of the Natural History Museum of Verona. Three new genera have been described in the mentioned papers: Ilvanella (from Elba, Italy), Gammaropisa and Parhadzia (both from Anatolia). Several new species of the genera Niphargus, Bogidiella and Ingolfiella were discovered in Mediterranean countries and Central America (see below the list of all species and taxa described by AVT).

The production of AVT on Dermaptera (25 articles) mainly dealt with the Italian earwigs, in order to fill the gaps in their geographical and ecological distribution, with the scope of writing the volume of the Italian Fauna series. After his retire, AVT started to write this book but he failed in this intent because of the worsening of his illness. The new species he described belong to the genera Forficula, Chelidurella and Esphalmenus, from Africa, Turkey and Ecuador respectively.

The major part of the AVT scientific research was dedicated to Coleoptera Carabidae (sensu lato), with 170 articles on the taxonomy, zoogeography and ecology of ground beetles. He had a special interest in the subterranean species, e.g. the Trechini and Sphodrini tribes. He was an intimate follower of the French entomologist René Jeannel (1879-1965), enlightened by the biogeographical scenarios theorized by this author. He described many species of Duvalius and Trechus from Mediterranean and Near East countries, Doderotrechus from Western Alps, Lessinodytes from Eastern Pre-Alps, Guizhaphaenops from China, Mexanillus, Chiapadytes e Mayaphaenops from Mexico. Among his most interesting papers, we remember the review of the Anillini of Central America, the taxonomic revision of the genus Aptinus (together with Achille Casale), several studies on riparian Bembidiini (often with Paolo Bonavita), the pilot study on the mimicry among African Cicindelini and Graphipterini (together with Fabio Cassola), and the overview of Calosomini from Ethiopia and Somalia (together with Sandro Bruschi). We have also to remark the studies on larval stages and phylogeny of the subfamily Paussinae, carried out in the last years (together with Andrea Di Giulio). One of the most important monographs written by AVT is the volume on Carabinae and Paussinae for the Italian Fauna series. This work became a model for the subsequent volumes of the same series, thanks to the excellent level of the introductory chapters, the standard style of the descriptions and the clear illustration of morphological details. Another important contribution of AVT was the Checklist online of the Carabidae of Europe, published in 2004 and updated in 2010 on the initiative of the author himself. Besides the taxonomic and biogeographical revisions of many groups of Carabidae, AVT and his collaborators (e.g. Paolo Bonavita e Stefano De Felici) carried out some interesting studies (some still unpublished) on the composition and phenology of ground beetle communities inhabiting various habitat types, from Mediterranean forests, like xerothermic and mesophilous oaklands, up to beech forests, coniferous stands, mountain and high grasslands. In addition to the articles dedicated to single taxonomic groups, AVT devoted himself to write several articles of general interests, such as the methods of biogeographical analysis. A first innovatory approach consisted in the definition of biogeographical units within the Italian fauna, based on numerical criteria: it was written by Cesare Baroni Urbani, Sandro Ruffo and AVT in 1978, by using three model animal groups (Cicindelidae, Carabidae and Chrysomelidae). Many years later, together with a large group of younger collaborators (included also the authors of the present article), AVT promoted an open discussion on the corotypes of the Western Palearctic Region, where each specialist compared the distribution patterns observed in the species of his taxonomic group with those reported by other specialists for other groups. This comparative approach produced a synthesis on distribution models which may apply to all the terrestrial organisms (Vigna et al. 1992 and 1999). Another general paper was dedicated by AVT (in collaboration with M.A. Bologna) to the cave fauna of the Ligurian Alps, including all the Metazoan taxa, the first step for a future review of the cave fauna of the Western Alps.

Several valuable manuscripts written by AVT still remain in the drawers of his Laboratory and/or in the directories of his computer. It deals with taxonomic works (especially on Trechini), checklists of carabid beetles of important geographic areas (Greece, Turkey, Namibia etc.), and ecological studies on Italian communities of ground beetles. Some of these scripts are almost complete but remained unpublished because he has never had time to draw up a final version. The reasons of this delay in publishing are the intense academic, managerial and political activities that have greatly reduced the time available for scientific research, especially for the taxonomic studies that require a great mental concentration and a phase of continuous work without interruptions.

The deep knowledge of Italian biodiversity that AVT achieved through his field experience led him to a continuous activity of scientific advice for the conservation of wildlife and the management of natural resources. This meant an active presence in working groups, commissions, round tables, institutional meetings, presentations of projects and Environmental Impact Assessment procedures, hard meetings with associations of hunters and environmentalists, always invited by management authorities such as the Ministry of Environment, Regions, Provinces, ISPRA (Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), WWF, National Parks and Nature reserves directors, WWF oasis and Habitats Directive site managers.

Another area in which he gave a great contribution is museology. Member of the Italian National Association of Scientific Museums, he held very close relations with Italian museums of zoology or natural history, especially the Natural History Museum of Verona, the Regional Museum of Natural Sciences of Turin and the Civic Museum of Natural History “Giacomo Doria” of Genoa, to whom his important entomological collection was donated by his explicit testamentary will. From 1976 to 2013 he was Director of the Museum of Zoology of the Sapienza University of Rome. From 1988 to 2009 he was delegated of the Sapienza University to the Museum Commission of the Conference of Rectors of Italian Universities.

Finally, due to his extensive zoological skills and being a member of the Journalists’ Register, he was the Director of some scientific journals: Fragmenta entomologica (1983-2013), Bollettino dell’Associazione Romana di Entomologia (1980-2019), Hystrix (The Italian Journal of Mammalogy) (1989-2003), Rendiconti dell’Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze detta dei XL (2009-2018). He also was member of the scientific and/or editorial board of other journals: Bollettino della Società Entomologica Italiana, International Journal of Speleology, Elytron, Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona, Mémoires de Biospéologie (from 2003: Subterranean Biology) and Alula - Rivista di Ornitologia.

In his native land, AVT was strongly influenced by the local narrations of the historical events that affected the Cuneo province in the final phase of the Second World War, with the birth of the first nucleus of the Italian partisan brigade “Italia Libera” (founded in the Cuneo Valleys by Tancredi “Duccio” Galimberti and Dante Livio Bianco), that played an important role in the Italian Liberation War. He had a perfect knowledge of all the places of the first actions of the Resistance War, like Valle Stura, Valle Gesso, Valle Vermenagna and Valle Maira, told by the protagonist elders to him. So strong was his idealistic link to the local context that he bought and restored a house in a very small village of the Occitan region (namely Sambuco). In this idyllic place he spent many summers becoming a friend of all people and a charismatic promoter of the cultural life in those valleys. In fact, Occitan culture has strongly involved him, born at the confluence of three valleys of that territory. Attending these places since childhood and staying for long periods in Val Stura, had made him even closer to this alpine culture until he was “adopted” by the local population: he learnt to speak the Occitan language correctly (besides the Piedmontese) and was able to dance the local rhythmic dances, like courente and balet. Moreover, he knew all aspects of pastoral and peasant history and culture. Last but not least, as a naturalist, he was a deep expert of local fauna, vegetation and geology. As a token of this deep knowledge, he left a delightful book entitled “Fauna d’Oc” (2000), with nice color pictures of the animals inhabiting the Occitan valleys of the Piedmont, where scientific observation and educational enthusiasm made up a perfect synthesis of his love for those lands and their nature.

List of the new taxa described by Augusto Vigna Taglianti (according to their original description, regardless of their present-day taxonomic rank and status)