New records of true bugs (Hemiptera, Heteroptera) from the Maltese Islands

Abstract

A list of 133 species of heteropteran bugs collected from the Maltese Islands is presented; 21 of them are new records for the Maltese archipelago whereas an additional 15 represent new records for individual islands of this archipelago. The new records are of native origin in the Maltese Islands with the exception of Corythauma ayyari which is an Oriental species rapidly expanding its distribution range in Europe and Saudi Arabia. Earlier records of Capsodes gothicus and Gonocerus insidiator from Malta are incorrect and should refer to C. vittiventris and G. imitator respectively. The presence of Tuponia brevirostris in Malta is confirmed since this record was previously based only on the catalogue of Palaearctic Heteroptera without original data. A total of 15 species previously reported from the Maltese Islands are considered as doubtful. Considering the results of the present paper with additions and corrections made to the checklist of Maltese Heteroptera, the total number of confirmed records is augmented to 232 (221 in Malta, 74 on Gozo and 38 on Comino)