Page 8 - Berni_1997

benazzii of north-west Sicily should really be considered species in every respect. In
accordance with the interpretation given in the recent "Checklist delle specie della fauna
italiana" (Failla et al., 1994: 19-20)- probably the most authoritative reference among those
cited - authors are inclined to assign the status of species, at least temporarily (these hybrids
are in course of study), although these populations seem to be unable to maintain themselves
without continuous crosses with the progenitor taxa. In fact in zoology a species is the basic
unit: an individuai entity of a population, the members of which show the same chromosome
complement; they are able to reproduce themselves, giving origin to fertile progeny; such
progeny must be able to maintain themselves. (See Figure 5 for a generai view of the
Sicilian taxa' s distribution).

• 7,~\ ':::;:-'

·. ·JB:',

,

Figure 4. What is now Italy, as it was in the Pliocene era; after Blanc in La Greca
(1996a: 24).

Notes on two preliminary excursions to Sicily - October 1996
In October 1996, in collaboration with the Ente Fauna Siciliana, some adult specimens of B.
whitei (see Figure 6) were found, at night, near Isola Coco, alongside the old Syracuse-
Vizzini-Ragusa railway, on some bramble plants (Rubus spp.). The plants were in the
undergrowth, near the river Anapo. Although very common in the Iblean region, B. whitei

Phasmid Studi es, 6( l): 6