Gomphocerinae, Fieber, 1853

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

Subfamily: Gomphocerinae

Dociostaurus genei (Ocskay, 1832)

Listed as “fairly common” by Valletta (1955), while Baccetti (1973) notes its presence, although it is not clear whether the latter merely relisted the species on the basis of previous publications or if he actually encountered it during his Malta fieldwork in 1972. Given that the species does not occur in Sicily or on the circum-Sicilian islands, further field investigations may prove useful in order to verify its precise status or its possible misidentification.

Distribution. Widespread on the northern shores of the Mediterranean and parts of the Middle Eastern region, where it is mostly but not exclusively coastal; absent from North Africa and the central Mediterranean area.

Dociostaurus maroccanus (Thunberg, 1815)

Listed by Borg (1939) as a migrant visitor, while Valletta (1954) and Baccetti (1973) merely include it in their respective lists without discussing its status. In view of the foregoing, further field research is warranted.

Distribution. Widely distributed in the Palaearctic region and particularly common in the central Mediterranean area.

[ Omocestus petraeus (Brisout de Barneville, 1856) ]

Valletta (1954) listed this species on the basis of two specimens’ determination by Lucien Chopard, which Baccetti (1973) considered misidentifications. This species is not present in Sicily nor on the circum-Sicilian islands or any other part of the Pelagian Block.

Chorthippus brunneus (Thunberg, 1815)

Can be very common in xeric, sparsely vegetated habitats. Bioacoustic analysis may be useful in establishing this species’ precise status in view of evident taxonomic confusion in the historic past.

Distribution. C. b. brunneus is widespread across the Palaearctic region, while C. brunneus raggei (La Greca, Di Mauro, Viglianisi & Monello, 2000) is, to-date, only known from Sicily, from where it was described.

[ Chorthippus mollis (Charpentier, 1825) ]

Listed by Valletta (1955), on the basis of a single specimen determined by Lucien Chopard, but apparently considered a misidentification by La Greca [pers. corr. La Greca-Valletta, 1971] and Baccetti (1973). This species is not known from the central Mediterranean area.