Oedipodinae, Walker, 1871

Massa, Bruno, 2020, Annotated checklist of Orthoptera of the Maltese Islands, Zootaxa 4885 (1), pp. 107-124 : 117-119

Subfamily: Oedipodinae

Locusta migratoria cinerascens Fabricius, 1781

Known from a number of localities, principally in the solitary phase in small population densities, typically in xeric grasslands and taller andropogonid grass steppe habitats.

Distribution. Locusta migratoria is widespread in the Palaearctic and Afrotropical regions, while the subspecies L. m. cinerascens appears to be restricted to the Mediterranean and the Sahara (Benfekih et al. 2011).

Oedaleus decorus (Germar, 1825)

Probably extinct. Known from the coastal localities of Bahar ic-Caghaq, Ghallis and Salina. The last published record was of a male taken at Salina in 1983 by one of the authors [LFC] ( Cassar 1990a).

Distribution. Palaearctic.

Oedipoda caerulescens caerulescens (Linnaeus, 1767)

Mentioned by Borg (1939) as a ‘migrant’ species but it was not recorded again until 2004, when five specimens were taken from three localities between July and November ( Sciberras 2010).

Distribution. Widespread across the Palaearctic and in parts of the Middle Eastern region. It is particularly common in Sicily and the circum-Sicilian islands.

[ Oedipoda charpentieri Fieber, 1853 ]

Listed by Lanfranco (1957), wherein a single male specimen is said to have been taken near Mdina in 1955. There is no trace of the specimen in question in the Lanfranco collection; nor have there been any other records of the species to-date. Moreover, following a recent revision of the genus Oedipoda ( Fontana et al. 2019) , it was established that O. charpentieri is not present in Italy. It is therefore highly likely that the 1955 specimen has been misidentified.

Oedipoda miniata mauritanica Lucas, 1849

Relatively common. It typically colonizes open xeric biotopes on karst, with relatively sparse vegetation and where bare rock and ground armour predominate.

Distribution. This subspecies is known from North Africa, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta and Balearic Islands.

Sphingonotus caerulans caerulans (Linnaeus, 1767)

A very common species of semi-arid, open karstland, where vegetation is typically low and sparse.

Distribution. Mostly confined to the Western Palaearctic.

Sphingonotus obscuratus lameerei Finot, 1902

This taxon is known to have occurred at least twice. It was collected for the first time in September 1995 from Balzan by one of the authors [MJE] and again in July 2009 from the Valletta Waterfront ( Sciberras 2010). The specimen from Balzan (hind wing only) is in the private collection of one of the authors [MJE] .

Distribution. This subspecies is restricted to the Maghrebian segment of northern Africa.

Sphingonotus savignyi savignyi Saussure, 1884

Known from a single record of a female taken at Buskett, a sclerophyll woodland with adjacent cultivated areas, in 1979 ( Cassar 1990a). The specimen is stored in the private collection of one of the authors [LFC].

Distribution. Occurs across northern and sub-Saharan Africa, the Macaronesian islands, the Middle Eastern region and parts of the Eastern Palaearctic and Oriental regions.

[ Acrotylus insubricus (Scopoli, 1786) ]

Lanfranco (1957) claimed to have taken a nymph and an adult male at Bingemma Heights in June and August 1955, respectively. There is no trace of the specimens in question in the Lanfranco collection; nor have there been any other records of this species to-date. It is likely that the 1955 specimens were misidentified.

Acrotylus patruelis (Herrich-Schäffer, 1838)

A common species with a preference for barren ground, such as areas with bare rock, ground armour and sandy substrates, typically devoid of vegetation.

Distribution. Widespread in the Mediterranean and in the Middle Eastern region. It also has a strong but patchy presence across the Afrotropical region, including Madagascar.

Aiolopus strepens (Latreille, 1804)

Rather common within a range of habitats, varying from sparsely vegetated areas to grassy field margins, where it often occurs in fairly high densities.

Distribution. Widespread across the southern segment of the Western Palaearctic region. Particularly common within the Mediterranean Basin.

Aiolopus thalassinus thalassinus (Fabricius, 1781)

Not a rare species but somewhat localized due to its preference for consolidated dunes and mesic environments within dry river valleys.

Distribution. A fairly broad and global distribution, comprising the Palaearctic, Middle Eastern, Oriental, Afrotropical and Australasian regions.