CURRICULUM VITAE

Personal data

 Name: Antonio Belcari

Date of birth: 26 October 1952

Nationality: Italian

Office phone number: 00390552755548

Mobile phone: 3207981882

E-mail: antonio.belcari@unifi.it

Passport number: A459067

Knowledge of foreign languages: English, French (good)

Position:

 2005-2018 - Full Professor of Agricultural Entomology at the Department of Agrifood Production and Environmental Sciences, Section of Plant Pathology and Entomology, University of Florence.

 1992-2005 - Associate Professor of Agricultural Entomology at the Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, University of Florence.

 1985-1991 - Researcher at the Department of the Cultivation and Protection of Woody Species (CDSL), Agricultural Entomology section, University of Pisa.

 1981-1985 - Researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Entomology, University of Pisa.

 1979-1981 - Three-year scholarship from the Italian National Research Council (CNR) to investigate the biology and integrated control of the olive fly (Bactrocera oleae).

 1977 - Degree in Agricultural Sciences (thesis on the biology and control of the citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri), University of Pisa.

Teaching experience:

 1992-2016 - Teacher of Zoology, Tropical and Subtropical Entomology and General and Applied Entomology at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Florence.

1981-1991 - Curator of the entomological collection and entomology lab and field     exercises assistant for students at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Pisa.

Professor Antonio Belcari is Full Professor of Agricultural Entomology at the University of Florence. He has published about 120 papers in national and international journals. Prof. Belcari has carried out research into the biology, morphology and ecology of pests in a number of agroecosystems and studied several aspects of Tefritid and Pipunculid flies, dealing with their taxonomy, biology and morphology. He has long been interested in issues relating to the integrated protection of olive groves, and studied the population dynamics, monitoring techniques and forecasting models for the development of the olive fly. Recently he has focused in particular on the influence of symbiotic bacteria on the biology and behaviour of the olive fly. He has been a referee for various national and international projects and journals. He has directed several Italian projects and a joint project promoted by the Italian National Research Council and the Slovak Academy of Sciences dealing with behavioural aspects of irradiated medflies in Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) applications, and the biotaxonomy and morphology of Diptera Tephritoidea and Pipunculidae. In the past he carried out some researches on insects pests in tropical areas (Ghana, Ecuador) participating in projects financed by European Community. Prof. Belcari belong to a working group supported by IAEA focused on improvement of mass rearing of the olive fly for Sterile Insect Techiques purposes. Since 1994 he has been a member of the Editorial Board of Entomological Problems, published in Bratislava.

Special fields of interest:

 Integrated Pest Management in fruit crops, citrus, vineyards and olive groves, with special reference to Bactrocera oleae management.

 Biological control of insect pests of agroecosystems, with special reference to cocoa pests and Fruit Flies (genus: Bactrocera, Rhagoletis and Anastrepha).

 Biology, morphology and taxonomy of Diptera Tephritidae and Pipunculidae, biotaxonomy of Dipterans.

 Work experience:

Italy (biology and control of insect pests of several agroecosystems, with special reference to olive orchard pests - more than 20 years of experience -); Ecuador (control of the Guava fruit fly, Anastrepha striata; biodiversity of entomofauna in Otonga Forest; biology and control of the ivory palm bruchid, Caryoborus chiriquensis); Ghana (biological control of cocoa mealybugs; biology and control of cocoa capsids). Extensive experience in the evaluation of research projects.

Recent selected publications:

GRANCHIETTI A., SACCHETTI P., ROSI M. C., BELCARI A., 2012 - Fruit fly larval trail acts as a cue in the host location process of the pupal parasitoid Coptera occidentalis. Biological Control, 61 (1): 7-14.

 ESTES A. M., NESTEL D., BELCARI A., JESSUP A., REMPOULAKIS P., ECONOMOPOULOS A. P., 2012 - A basis for the renewal of sterile insect technique for the olive fly, Bactrocera oleae (Rossi). J. Appl. Ent., 136 (1-2): 1-16.

 LISCIA A., ANGIONI P., SACCHETTI P., PODDIGHE S., GRANCHIETTI A., SETZU M. D., BELCARI A.. 2013 - Characterization of olfactory sensilla of the olive fly: Behavioral and electrophysiological responses to volatile organic compounds from the host plant and bacterial filtrate. Journal of Insect Physiology, 59: 705-716.

 SACCHETTI P., GHIARDI B., GRANCHIETTI A., STEFANINI F.M., BELCARI A., 2014 - Development of probiotic diets for the olive fly: evaluation of their effects on fly longevity and fecundity. Annals of Applied Biology, 164: 138–150.

 DE ROSE F., CORDA V., SOLARI P., SACCHETTI P., BELCARI A., PODDIGHE S., KASTURE S., SOLLA P., MARROSU F., LISCIA A., 2016 - Drosophila mutant model of Parkinson’s Disease revealed an unexpected olfactory performance: morphofunctional evidences. Parkinson's Disease: 1-10.

 GARBATI PEGNA, F., SACCHETTI, P., CANUTI V., TRAPANI S., BERGESIO, C. BELCARI, A., ZANONI B., MEGGIOLARO F., 2017 - Radio frequency irradiation treatment of dates in a single layer to control Carpophilus hemipterus. Biosystems Engineering, 155: 1-11.