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TH E A LT ICINI (COLEO PT ERA: CHRYSOMEL IDA E, GALERUC INAE) OF SIC ILY ... A2-45

WPA

WME

TUM

TUE • AST

TEM • LAM
D BOR
D BRA

SIE

SEU

:e"o~:-' PAL
ti NAF

MED

EUR

EUM

CEM

CAM

CAE 234 6
number of leaf beetle specìes
ASE

o

FIGURE 5. Number of Sicilian flea beetle species per chorotype and most signifì-
cant host plant families (see Sec. 2 for abbreviations)

(28%), which evidences the high trophic specialization of this group of Chrysomelidae.
Sicilian flea beetle species are globally associated with 44 different vascular plant families,
with the exception of M. muscorum (Koch) which develops on mosses. Moreover, it is
interesting to note that 50.6% of the Alticini species in Sicily are associated with only four
plant families: Brassicaceae (21.9%), used as host plants mainly by Mediten-anean flea
beetle species (MED and WME); Lamiaceae (10,6%), Asteraceae (9.4%), and Boraginaceae
(8.7%) (see Figs. 4 and 5).

We can conclude by affirming that, even if the number of flea beetle taxa is already rather
high, it is very lik:ely that future researches will significantly increase our knowledge of this
speciose group of chrysomelids in Sicily.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to our friend Carlo Leonardi , former curator of the Entomology Section
of the Natura! History Museum of Milan, expert in taxonomy of the flea beetles, for his
precious suggestions during the writing of this paper. A special thank also to Cesare Bello
for his great help in researches.

References

Aslan, E. G. and Ayvaz, Y. (2009). "Diversity of Alticinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) in Kasnak
Oak Forest Nature Reserve, lsparta, Turkey". Turkish Journal of Zoology 33, 25 1- 262. DOI:
10.3906/zoo-0806-2.

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