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A2-2 C. BAVIERA ANO M. BIONDI

host plants in both agricultural and forest areas, but also because of their huge population
densities (Aslan and Ayvaz 2009). Hence, even from a biogeographic and conservation
management point of view, a high value assumes the presence and distribution of species.
Despite the high number of species and the strong interests arising from economie ento-
mology, the knowledge of Alticini of Sicily was based so far only on generai catalogues
of ltalian Coleoptera like Bertolini (1872), Luigioni (1929), and Porta (1934) or on Italian
Alticini (Biondi 1990). In addition, the first (and only) catalogue of Sicilian Chrysomelidae
compiled by Vitale (1932, 1935) just reported the species presence but not its distribution.
More data on the presence of flea beetles in Sicily were also reported mainly by Biondi
(1982, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1996) and Leonardi (1970, 1972b,a, 1976, 1978, 2007).
Some data are scattered in papers concerning beetle fauna of the Island (Vitale 1920; Gulli
1961), or Sicilian Islets (Daccordi and Ruffo 1975; Ratti 1987; Lo Cascio et al. 2006). The
"Checklist and distribution of Italian fauna" (Biondi 2006), which brings together all the
published data and those found in many Itali an collections, reports, for the first ti me, on the
distribution of aB the Italian and Sicilian species. This paper gives us also the opportunity
to observe that only for 112 species data were available about the distribution in Sicily, and
often very few localities were reported for widespread, often common, species. The Fauna
Europaea Database lists 150 species (and subspecies) of Alticini from Sicily, out of the
351 species globa11y reported from Italy (Biondi 2005-2013). In Italy nine species and one
subspecies are exclusively reported in Sicily, whereas the subendernic species are four, all
of them also present in Calabria ("Sicilian-South Apennine Endemie" as in Biondi, Urbani,
and D'Alessandro (2013)).

2. Materials and methods

The aim of this work is to previde an updated account of the presence and distribution
of the flea beetle species (Alticini) in Sicily. The listed taxa are based on bibliographical
data and on the results of researches airning at a better knowledge of the Sicilian Coleoptera
(Baviera 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015; Baviera and Sparacio 2002; Baviera
and Liberti 2010; Baviera and Magnano 2010; Be116 and Baviera 2011; Caldara, Casalini,
and Baviera 2012; Magrini and Baviera 2011; Baviera and Audisio 2014; Tosevski et al.
2011, 2014, 2015). The sampling was carried out in the whole Sicily, mainly in open or
forest habitats, with the aid of sweep netting or leaf-Iitter sifting using sieves with meshes
IO to 3 millimeters large, pitfall traps, and window traps. These data were integrated with
ali available literawre records of regional presence. Severa} additional detailed localities in
Sicily were added from lesser known Sicilian species, chiefly based on unpublished data
from the second author's collection (MB). The systematic nomenclatural order from the
Alticini follows Biondi (1990) integrated with Biondi (2005-2013). The collected specimens
were glued on entomological1abel paper. If extracted, the genital apparatus was soaked in
diluted KOH and mounted in Euparal resine. The lists of species referto the Fauna Europaea
Database (Biondi 2005-2013), updated with the nomenclature presented in the Pa1aeartic
Coleoptera Catalogue (Doberl2010). For each species we provide the nomenclatural com-
binations, the chorotype according to the categories of Vigna Taglianti et al. (1993, 1999)
and the distributions provided by Biondi et al. (1995), Biondi (1990, 2006, 2005-2013), and
Biondi, Urbani, and D'Alessandro (2013), the host plant following Biondi (1990, 1996),

Atti Accad. Pelorit. Pericol. Cl. Sci. Fis. Mat. Nat., Vol. 93, No. 2, A2 (2015) [50 pages]