Atholus siculus (Tournier)

Penati, Fabio, 2009, An updated catalogue of the Histeridae (Coleoptera) of Sardinia, with faunistic, zoogeographical, ecological and conservation remarks *, Zootaxa 2318, pp. 197-280 : 260

Atholus siculus (Tournier)

Hister siculus Tourn. : Stein & Weise 1877: 64; Heyden et al. 1883: 91, 1891: 174; Porta 1926: 369; Barajon 1966

Hister (Hister) siculus Tourn. : Winkler 1925: 482

Hister (Atholus) siculus Tourn. : Heyden et al. 1906: 264

Literature data. “ Sardinia ” ( Stein & Weise 1877; Heyden et al. 1883, 1891, 1906; Winkler 1925; Porta 1926; Luigioni 1929; Barajon 1966; Vienna 1980; Mazur 1984; Audisio et al. 1995; Mazur 1997, 2004; Yélamos & Lackner 2004; Penati & Vienna 2005, 2006a).

Notes. The first record of this Turano-European species for Sardinia seems to be that of Stein and Weise (1877), subsequently reported in a number of works despite never having been confirmed by any finding. Its presence on the island, already “ doubtful and in need of confirmation ” according to Penati and Vienna (2002), was not confirmed even after checking the numerous collections examined during the present work, and the single record from Spain is equally considered doubtful ( Yélamos 2002: 166).

Recently, the study of the Baudi di Selve collection allowed me to discover a Sardinian specimen of this species misidentified as “ Hister siculus Tourn. ” (see notes under A. debeauxi ); in my opinion, this proves that the supposed presence of A. siculus in Sardinia was originally due to a misidentification (of this or of another specimen). In conclusion, Atholus siculus should not be included in the histerid fauna of Sardinia.