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BiogeOgraphia vo{ XXX- 2011
                                                                      (Pubblicato i/23 dicembre 2011)
                                                                          La Biogeografia della Sicilia



                Gli Ortotteri di Sicilia: check-list commentata




                                                                               BRUNO MASSA
                   Dipartimento DEMETRA (Sezione Entomologia, Acarologia, Zoologia) Ed. 4,
                                                                V.le delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo
                                                                    e-mail: bruno. massa@unipa. it







             Key words: grasshoppers, annotateci check-list, endemisms, species richness, Sicily

          SUMMARY


             The author analyses ali the bibliographic references on Sicilian Orthoptera and many unpublished data, with
          which he carries out an annotateci check-list of species so far known in the island. O n the whole, 127 species of Or-
          thoptera are currencly known in Sicily (including small islands surrounding i t), belonging to 83 genera (on aver-
          age, 1.5 species per genus).
             The biogeographic ori gin is very wide and includes euro-asia tic, as well as mediterranean and african genera.
          The following species are the sole italian representatives of related genera: Ephippigerida nigromarginata (Lucas,
          1849) (the genus is ibero-maghrebian), Grylloderes bnmneri (Riggio, 1888) (the genus covers Africa and tropicaJ
          Asia), Ocneridia nigroptmctata (Lucas, 1849) (North african genus) an d Brachycrotaphus tryxalicems (Fischer, 1854)
          (genus widespread in Africa and uopicaJ Asia). Additionally, a recencly discovered species, bzcertana drepanensis
          (Massa, Fontana et Buz.z.etti, 2006) could be included within exclusive italian representative genera; in fact, the
          genus includes species covering lberian peninsula, North Africa and Middle East (plus a hymalaian species). Also
          in this case, Sicily is the only italian region holding this taxon.
             20 species (15.7%) represent the endemism; they, together with taxa above cited, are important evidences of
          very peculiar biogeographic connections, which involved Sicily. T o preserve them and their habitats, they could be
          listed within the Annexes II and IV ofHabitat Directive.


          I..:ESPLORAZIONE ORTOTTEROLOGICA IN SICILIA

             Si può dire che l'ortotterologia siciliana sia nata quando Cupani (1657-1710)
          disegnò le tavole del suo Panphyton Siculum, ove, secondo Riggio (1893-94),
          erano raffigurate 71 specie di Artropodi, 2 Mammiferi, 223 Uccelli, 7 Rettili,
          44 Pesci e vari Molluschi, Echinodermi, ecc. Tra le Tavole, rese pubbliche nel
          1713, sono riconoscibili i seguenti Ortotteri:  Truxalis nasuta, Acridide siculo-
          maghrebino, definito, secondo la sistematica pre-linneana del Cupani '' Gryl-

          lus viridis cornibus arrectis Lepore imitani'; Uromenus painoi, specie descritta da
          Ramme ( 1927), successivamente considerata sottospecie di Uromenus bonneti

          da Nadig (1994); Conocephalus conocephalus, Ortottero legato ai canneti ed agli
          ambienti umidi, che generalmente passa inosservato. Sono ancora ben ricono-
          scibili una Gryllotalpa ed il Gryllus bimaculatus. Per tutte queste specie, la fon-
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