Degree in Forest Science and PhD in Plant Protection, University of Bari.

Postdoctoral researcher and visiting researcher in several national and international researcher centers.

October 2001, firm position as researcher at the University of Foggia.

Main research interests:

The main research topics focus on the anatomy, ultrastructure, and functional morphology of mites (Acari) and insects.

Using light and electron microscopy techniques, different morphological adaptations of the mouthparts have been studied and correlated to the damage and different feeding behaviors in mites; the reproductive biology of various groups of mites and the functional adaptations of their reproductive system, with emphasis on gametogenesis, sperm morphology and accessory structures involved in reproduction, have been clarified offering different overview of the taxa and of their possible relationships, with important implications on the bio-ecology, taxonomy, evolutionary biology and reproductive strategies; the morphological identification and functional characterization of antennal sensilla has been analyzed to help clarify the involvement of the antennae in sex recognition and the pre-copulatory or post-copulatory behavior in some insect groups; the ultrastructural organization of the sensilla in different  groups of mites have been described to infer their function.

Honors and Awards:

• Poster Award Siena 2000, 4^th Symposium of the European Association of Acarologists.

Five most significative papers:

1. Di Palma A., Alberti G., Nuzzaci G., Krantz G. W. 2006 – Fine structure and functional morphology of the mouthparts of a male Veigaia sp (Gamasida: Veigaiidae) with remarks on the spermatodactyl and related sensory structures. Journal of Morphology, 267(2): 208 – 220.
2. Di Palma A., Alberti G., Wegener A. 2009 – On the ultrastructure and functional morphology of the male chelicerae (gonopods) in Parasitina and Dermanyssina mites (Acari: Gamasida). Arthropod Structure & Development 38: 329–338.
3. Di Palma A., de Moraes G.J., Gerdeman B.S., Huber S., Kitajima E.W., Alberti G. 2015. Ultrastructural and functional adaptations of the female reproductive system in the family Heterozerconidae (Acari, Anactinotrichida, Gamasida, Heterozerconina) and implications for the systematic position of the group. Arthropod Structure & Development 44(6): 639-655
4. Di Palma A., Pistillo M., Griffo R., Garonna A.P., Germinara G.S. 2019. Scanning electron microscopy of the antennal sensilla and their secretion analysis in adults of Aromia bungii (Faldermann, 1835) (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae). Insects 10(4), art. 88.
5. Di Palma, A., Beard, J.J., Bauchan, G.R., Ochoa, R., Seeman, O.D., Kitajima, E.W. 2021. Dorsal setae in Raoiella (Acari: Tenuipalpidae): their functional morphology and implication in fluid secretion. Arthropod Structure & Development, 60, art. No. 101023.