Annotated review of the Cantharidae and Malachiidae (Coleoptera) of the Maltese Islands
Author
Švihla, Vladimír
Department of Entomology, National Museum, Kunratice 1, CZ- 148 00 Praha 4, Czech Republic; e-mail: vladimir _ svihla @ nm. cz
Author
Mifsud, David
Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Agricultural Research and Development Centre, Ghammieri, Marsa, Malta; e-mail: david. a. mifsud @ gov. mt
text
Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae
2006
2006-11-06
46
89
105
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.5176714
0374-1036
5176714
Attalus sicanus
Erichson, 1840
Attalus sicanus
Erichson, 1840: 91
.
Attalus melitensis
var.
testaceipes
Pic, 1903b: 169
,
syn. nov.
Attalus melitensis
var.
testaceipes
:
CAMERON & CARUANA GATTO (1907)
: 397
.
Attalus
var.
testaceipes
: TONNA- BARTHET (1931): 7.
Attalus melitensis testaceipes
:
CILIA (1989)
: 119
.
Material examined.
MALTA
:
1 ex.
(
BMNH
): 7337 [=
June 1902
,
A. dalmatinus, Jniena
] // M. Cameron Coll. B.M. 1936-555 //
var. testaceipes
[Pic’s handwriting], [?
Syntype
];
15 exs.
(
BMNH
): M. Cameron Coll. B.M. 1936-555.
Distribution.
Tunisia
,
Algeria
, Balearics, Sardinia, Sicily,
Austria
,
Croatia
,
Greece
and
Turkey
(
GREINER 1937
,
PLATA & SANTIAGO 1990
) and
Malta
.
Comments.
Attalus sicanus
represents a new record for the Maltese Islands. This species is now known with certainty from Sicily and
Malta
, and its occurrence in the Balearics and Sardinia is possible. However, the occurrence in all the other countries mentioned by
PLATA & SANTIAGO (1990)
is very unlikely and possibly refers to other species such as
A. dalmatinus
Erichson, 1840
.
PIC (1903b)
described
A. melitensis
var.
testaceipes
on the basis of Cameron’s material, which was at least partly available for examination. This material is identical to specimens of
A. sicanus
from Sicily; hence the above synonymy is established.