New record of Acrotylus longipes (Acridoidea Oedipodinae) for Malta with additional notes on records of the genus Acrotylus

Abstract

Occasional strong southerly winds in the Mediterranean are known for the fine Saharan dust that they transport across the Basin (and often beyond). On occasion, these gales also facilitate longhaul passage of biota from the North African mainland to the southern shores of Europe. Such winds were dominant during a significant portion of the month of March and initial half of April 2025, which seemed to have aided the dispersal of a host of insect species observed in various locations across Malta. Among these was a single specimen of Acrotylus longipes (Charpentier, 1845), which transpires to be the first known record for Malta, collected from within the inner Grand Harbour area. In addition to marking this new record, this contribution also discusses other species of the genus Acrotylus in the Maltese Islands.