Page 1 - Massa_2011

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The author analyses ali the bibliographic references on Sicilian Orthoptera and many unpublished data, with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-