Contribution to the knowledge of Hymenoptera from the Aeolian Archipelago (Sicily), emphasizing Aculeata

Abstract

This study provides the first contribution to the knowledge of the Order Hymenoptera, empha-sizing Aculeata, for the Aeolian archipelago, based on recent field investigations and examinationof several collections. A total of 169 species belonging to 19 families are recorded: Evaniidae (1species), Aulacidae (2 species), Gasteruptiidae (3 species), Ichneumonidae (1 species), Leucosp-idae (1 species), Chrysididae (8 species), Tiphiidae (3 species), Scoliidae (6 species), Mutillidae(13 species), Pompilidae (6 species), Vespidae (14 species), Sphecidae (6 species), Crabronidae(24 species), Formicidae (14 species), Colletidae (4 species), Andrenidae (8 species), Halictidae(29 species), Megachilidae (12 species), Apidae (14 species). Most part of species are newlyrecorded for the Aeolian Archipelago, the following being new records for Sicily: Dryudella es-terinae Pagliano, 2001, Nysson quadriguttatus Spinola, 1808, Miscophus aetoni Saunders, 1903,Miscophus lusitanicus Andrade, 1952, Cerceris circularis dacica Schletterer, 1887 (Crabronidae),and Lasioglossum (Dialictus) semilucens (Alfken, 1914) (Halictidae); Miscophus lusitanicus is also newly recorded for Italy. Combining the available data, a total of 218 species of Hymenopteraare currently known for the Aeolian Archipelago. The Hymenoptera fauna of these islands isdominated by widespread Mediterranean or West Palaearctic species, and most of them are alsofound in the Western Mediterranean Basin. The study briefly highlights some key points regardingbiogeographical and conservation of this group and its significant role in the management ofecosystems in the Aeolian Archipelago.

Ant diversity on the largest Mediterranean islands: on the presence or absence of 28 species in Sicily (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

“…The genus Messor in Southern Italy awaits a proper taxonomic revision, which may be complicated by relatively common hybridization and backcrossing events even between relatively distantly related species (Steiner et al, 2011). However, we do not consider M. minor as present in Sicily, and we consider doubtful the M. minor calabricus records from the nearby Aeolian Islands (Lo Cascio & navarra, 2003;Schär et al, 2020;Turrisi et al, 2020). Krausse 1910 The same argumentation described for M. minor is also valid for M. wasmanni.…”

“…Kutter (1927) recorded M. wasmanni from Eurialo, near Syracuse, and from the Aeolian islands (where the presence of M. bouvieri, M. capitatus, and M. ibericus only was confirmed, see Schär et al 2020). In the Aeolian Islands M. wasmanni was recently incorrectly listed as M. meridionalis (André) by Turrisi et al (2020), who also considered M. structor to be present. Apparently, both names were listed due to a misunderstanding of the relevant literature.…”

Twenty New Records of Bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) for Sardinia (Italy)

“…In the last decade, numerous studies on bees have been conducted in different islands of the Mediterranean Basin, such as Sicily [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ], Malta [ 29 , 30 ], Cyprus [ 31 ], and the Balearic Islands [ 32 ]. However, the bee fauna of Sardinia still remains incomplete.…”

Megascolia (Regiscolia) bidens (Hymenoptera: Scoliidae), a new distributional record for Continental Greece

“…The species' known distribution in the Mediterranean Basin includes Algeria, Egypt, Greece (Dodecanese Islands), Israel, Italy (including Sicily), Iran, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain (including the Balearic Islands), and Tunisia (Guiglia 1940;Pagliano 1987;Osten 2000;Osten 2002;Baldock 2014;Samin et al 2014;Turrisi et al 2020;Al-Azab 2020).…”