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. Associate Professor of General and Applied Entomology (AGR 11).
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 to different feeding behaviors; the reproductive biology of different 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 in the pre-copulatory or post-copulatory behavior.
Honors and Awards: Poster Award Siena 2000, 4th Symposium of the European Association of Acarologists.

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.

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.

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

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. No. 88.

Di Palma A., Mul M.F. 2019. How can Dermanyssus gallinae (De Geer 1778) (Acari: Anactinotrichida: Dermanyssidae) walk upwards on slippery surfaces? Avian Pathology 48(sup1): S10-S16. DOI: 10.1080/03079457.2019.1608909.