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Twenty-four new records of Auchenorrhyncha are reported from the Maltese Islands. Up to now 71 species are known from the territory. Among the new recorded species, 1 belongs to Cixiidae, 5 to Delphacidae, 2 to Tettigometridae, 1 to Issidae and 15 to Cicadellidae., peer-reviewed

The faunistic knowledge of the Auchenorrhyncha of the Maltese Islands is still incomplete. Studies on this insect group from the Maltese Islands were mostly neglected and it was only in recent years that some collecting efforts were carried out resulting in a published check-list of 46 species., peer-reviewed

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), peer-reviewed

Past works on scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) from the Maltese Archipelago are reviewed. Based on the literature and contemporary collections, a total of 93 species of scale insects belonging to 12 scale insect families are here reported (Aclerdidae 1 species; Asterolecaniidae 4; Coccidae 17; Diaspididae 46; Eriococcidae 5; Kermesidae 1; Margarodidae 1; Micrococcidae 1; Monophlebidae 2; Pseudoccocidae 11; Putoidae 2 and Rhizoecidae 2). Of these, 17 species represent new distribution records. Ten species are excluded from the scale insect fauna of the Maltese Islands. Of the 93 species present, only 29 (31.18%) are probably indigenous and the rest (68.82%) represent established introductions from elsewhere. More than 65% of the indigenous species are typical Mediterranean in distribution, with a few species having a mainly European chorotype. A quarter of the established aliens originate from Eurasia, followed by an East Asian/ Oriental component (20.31%); European (14.06%); Neotropical (14.06%); cryptogenic (14.06%); African (7.81%) and Australasian (4.70%). Movement of live fruit trees and ornamental plants into the Maltese Archipelago from nearby countries is probably the main route for entry of alien scale insects into the country. Some possible future introductions are discussed., peer-reviewed

The aphidofauna of the Maltese archipelago is currently composed of some one hundred recorded species (Mifsud & Pérez Hidalgo, 2011; Mifsud et al. 2011) of which only six species are associated with conifers. Of these, three species belong to the genus Cinara: C. maghrebica, C. palaestinensis (both recorded on Pinus halepensis) and C. cupressi (recorded on Cupressus sempervirens). Identification of a recently captured single alate viviparous female of Cinara, based on Binazzi & Scheurer (2009) and Nieto Nafría et al., (2003), proved to be Cinara (Cupressobium) tujafilina (del Guercio, 1909), a species not previously recorded from Malta., peer-reviewed

Four species of aphid parasitoids, namely Aphidius colemani, Binodoxys angelicae, Lysiphlebus fabarum and Lysiphlebus testaceipes were reared from Aphis nerii on Nerium oleander and/or Stephanotis floribunda in Malta. Aphidius colemani was the most abundant, occurring in different habitat types. Binodoxys angelicae represents a confirmation of a doubtful past record, while Lysiphlebus testaceipes is a new record for Malta. Aphis nerii is evaluated as a refugium of several aphid parasitoids in Malta. Praon yomenae, another new record for Malta is also included in the present work., peer-reviewed

In recent years, the aphid fauna of the Maltese Islands has received considerable attention. miFSud et al. (2011) reviewed earlier works on the subject and provided information on previously reported species and on several new records. An updated list of aphids provided therein included 98 Aphididae and a single species of Phylloxeridae. The only other family currently included with aphids, the Adelgidae was not represented in the list. Samples of young shoots of Pinus halepensis Mill. were observed infested with a whitish flocculent material in several localities in Malta and examination of this material proved it to belong to an adelgid which we report here under, peer-reviewed

The whiteflies (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae) of the Maltese Archipelago are reviewed, including two Asian species, Aleuroclava jasmini and Dialeurodes kirkaldyi that are recorded from Malta for the first time. Forty percent of the whitefly species recorded from Malta are of non-European origin. A dichotomous key for the identification of the puparial stage of the 17 species of whitefly now known to occur in Malta is presented., peer-reviewed

A total of 46 species of Auchenorrhyncha are reported from the Maltese Islands. They belong to the following families: Cixiidae (3 species), Delphacidae (7 species), Meenoplidae (1 species), Dictyopharidae (1 species), Tettigometridae (2 species), Issidae (2 species), Cicadidae (1 species), Aphrophoridae (2 species) and Cicadellidae (27 species). Since the Auchenorrhyncha fauna of Malta was never studied as such, 40 species reported in this work represent new records for this country and of these, Tamaricella complicata, an eastern Mediterranean species, is confirmed for the European territory. One species, Balclutha brevis is an established alien associated with the invasive ontain rass, Pennisetum setaceum. From a biogeographical perspective, the most interesting species are represented by Falcidius ebejeri which is endemic to Malta and Tachycixius remanei, a sub-endemic species so far known only from Italy and Malta. Three species recorded from Malta in the Fauna Europaea database were not found during the present study., peer-reviewed

A survey of the aphids associated with Maltese shrubs, herbaceous plants and crops was carried out. Sixty six aphid species were recorded from more than 90 species of host plants. Forty eight aphids were recorded from the Maltese islands for the fi rst time bringing the total number of aphid species known from these islands to 99. New records include: Acyrthosiphon lactucae, A. pisum, Anoecia vagans, Aphis alienus, A. euphorbiae, A. hederae, A. lambersi, A. multifl orae, A. nasturtii, A. parietariae, A. picridicola, A. ruborum, A. sedi, Aulacorthum solani, Brachycaudus helichrysi, Capitophorus sp. nr. similis, Clypeoaphis suaedae, Cryptomyzus korschelti, Dysaphis apiifolia, D. foeniculus, D. pyri, D. tulipae, Hyadaphis coriandri, H. foeniculi, H. passerinii, Hyperomyzus lactucae, Idiopterus nephrelepidis, Macrosiphoniella absinthii, M. artemisiae, M. sanborni, Macrosiphum euphorbiae, Ma. rosae, Melanaphis donacis, Metopolophium dirhodum, Pterochloroides persicae, Rectinasus buxtoni, Rhopalosiphum maidis, R. padi, R. rufi abdominale, Schizaphis graminum, Semiaphis dauci, Sipha maydis, Sitobion avenae, S. fragariae, Therioaphis alatina, Uroleucon inulae, U. hypochoeridis and U. sonchi. Of these 99 aphid species, 58 are of economic importance and 16 are alien introductions. For 15 of the aphid species, a total of 22 new host-plant records are made. Ten species of ants were found attending 18 aphid species., peer-reviewed

Report of the Pyriform scale from Malta, peer-reviewed

Two new records of species of Hemiptera Coreidae, Leptoglossus occidentalis (Heidemann, 1910) and Gonocerus insidiator (Fabricius, 1787) from the Maltese islands (Central Mediterranean ) are hereby reported., peer-reviewed

Thirty-four species of Heteroptera were found from the Maltese islands during a sampling period of a week in April of 2009. Of these, seven represent new records for this territory and include the seed bugs Artheneis foveolata, Emblethis duplicatus, Engistus boops boops and Oxycarenus hyalinipennis and the plant bugs Megalodactylus macularubra, Mimocoris sp. and Phytocoris sp. The integration of the records from the last Catalogue of Maltese Heteroptera, the Catalogue of the Heteroptera of the Palaeartic Region and the present data raised the heteroptera known from the Maltese islands to 223 species accommodated in 161 genera and 26 families., peer-reviewed

In the present study 25 aphid species which are known to be associated with trees in the Maltese Islands are recorded. Of these, 18 species represent new records; these include Aphis craccivora, Brachyunguis tamaricis, Cavariella aegopodii, Chaitophorus capreae, C. populialbae, Cinara cupressi, C. maghrebica, C. palaestinensis, Essigella californica, Eulachnus rileyi, E. tuberculostemmatus, Hoplocallis picta, Lachnus roboris, Myzocallis schreiberi, Tetraneura nigriabdominalis, Thelaxes suberi, Tinocallis takachihoensis and Tuberolachnus salignus. A number of the above mentioned species alternate hosts between the primary host, being the tree species, and secondary hosts being mainly roots of grasses. The record of Tetraneura ulmi could be incorrect and could possibly be referred to T. nigriabdominalis. Most of the aphid species recorded in the present study have restricted distribution in the Maltese Islands due to the rarity of their host trees. This is particularly so for those aphids associated with Populus, Quercus, Salix and Ulmus whose conservation should be addressed., peer-reviewed

Greenidea ficicola is recorded for the first time from the Maltese Islands. Distributional, ecological and taxonomic notes are included for this species, peer-reviewed

GATT, P.A. - Syntectonic deposition of an oligo-miocene phosphorite conglomerate bed in Malta -- DANDRIA, D., FALZON, V. & HENWOOD J. - The current knowledge of the spider fauna of the Maltese Islands, with the addition of some new records (Arachnida: Araneae) -- MIFSUD, C. - On the occurrence of the Buoy Barnacle Dosirna fascicularis Ellis & Solander, 1786 (Cirripedia: Lepadidae) in Maltese waters with new records of other species of Thoracica -- SHORT COMMUNICATIONS -- Seguna, A. - Recent records of uncommon butterflies from the Maltese Islands -- Sciberras, A. & Schembri, S. - The presence of Aglais urticae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in the Maltese islands -- Deidun, A. & Schembri, P.J. - A report of nesting on a Maltese beach by the Loggerhead Turtle Caretta caretta (Linnaeus 1758) (Reptilia: Cheloniidae) -- Mifsud, D & Porta-Puglia, A. - First record of A leuro 10 bus olivinus (Silvestri) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in Malta -- Mifsud, D. & Borg-Barthet, H. - The jewel beetle (Coleoptera, Buprestidae) fauna of Malta - Remarks and Additions -- Mifsud, C. - On the occurrence of Schedophilus ovalis (Cuvier, 1833) and S. rnedusophagus Cocco, 1839 (Perciformes, Centrolophidae) in Maltese waters., non peer-reviewed

In recent years there have been a number of faunistic studies on the whitefly fauna of the Mediterranean Basin. A total of 56 species accommodated within 25 genera were recorded from Europe and countries bordering the Mediterranean Basin (Martin et al., 2000). The whitefly fauna of the Maltese Islands was thoroughly investigated with 13 species recorded (Mifsud, 1995; Mifsud & Palmieri, 1996). Mifsud (1995) suggested that other whitefly species could eventually be found in Malta mainly due to their typical Mediterranean distribution and availability of their host plant/so One such species, Aleurolobus olivinus (Silvestri), was recently collected in Malta and it thus represents a new record for this country., peer-reviewed

Sap-feeding insects within Hemiptera and Thysanoptera are some of the most important crop pests world-wide. Apart from the loss of yield they cause by sap depletion, saliva toxicity and soiling of the leaves, some species transmit serious plant virus diseases. Important sap-feeding species that have been introduced to the Maltese Islands include the whitefly Bemisia tabaci; the scale insects Pseudo coccus !ongispinus, Planococcus citri and lcerya purchasi; the aphids Aphis gossypii, Aphis spiraecola, Myzus persicae and Viteus viti/oliae; and the thrips Frankliniella occidentalis and Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis. For each of these pests information is provided on area of origin, present distribution, host-plant range and virus disease transmission. Control strategies undertaken in the Maltese Islands are described where relevant. Some general considerations on quarantine measures are discussed., peer-reviewed