The Bostrichidae of the Maltese Islands (Coleoptera) Nardi, Gianluca Mifsud, David ZooKeys 2015 481 69 108 CZMJ A. G. Olivier, 1790 A. G. Olivier 1790 Insecta Bostrichidae Amphicerus CoL Animalia Amphicerus bimaculatus Coleoptera 7 76 Arthropoda species bimaculatus  Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Bostrichidae  Material examined. Malta: Girgenti, 9.XII.2002, DM, 3 ♂♂ 4 ♀♀ (CMM; CNI); Zabbar, 29.IX.1995, DM, 1 ♀ (CMM); Zejtun, 29.V.1991, DM, 1 ♂ (CMM).  Other material examined. [Azerbaijan:] Caucase, Elisabetpol [= Ganja], [no date], Babadjanides [leg.], 1 ♂ 1 ♀ (MCSVD).  Chorotype. Turanic-Mediterranean except for Libya and Egypt, with extension into Portugal, Hungary, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (cf. Borowski 2007, as Amphicerus (Caenophrada) bimaculata[sic!]). The occurrence of this species in Azerbaijan ( Lesne 1899, 1905, Clermont 1909, Khalilov 1972, in all cases as Schistoceros bimaculatus, Ciampolini et al. 1989) is here confirmed. In fact, the distributional record of this species by Borowski (2007: 321), as "E [= Europe]: AF [= Afghanistan]") is incorrect and should be "E: AB [=Azerbaijan]" (cf. Borowski and Wegrzynowicz2007, as Amphicerus (Caenophrada) bimaculatus). A record from Iraq ( Derwesh 1965, as Schistoceros bimaculatus) was later overlooked, while those from Germany (cf. Soro 1964, Zocchi 1971, in both cases as Schistoceros bimaculatus, Ciampolini et al. 1989, Pollini 1998) were never confirmed (cf. Lucht 1987,  Koehlerand Klausnitzer 1998, Geis 2002, Nardi 2004b, as Schistoceros bimaculatus, Borowski 2007, Borowski and Wegrzynowicz2007). Amphicerus bimaculatuswas intercepted at US ports, but it is not an established species in North America ( Fisher 1950, as Amphicerus (Schistoceros) bimaculatus, Ivie 2002, Borowski and Wegrzynowicz2007), while its establishment in Uruguay (cf. Soro 1964, Zocchi 1971, Pollini 1998), was not reported in recent publications ( Borowski 2007, Borowski and Wegrzynowicz2007, Barriga and Cepeda 2009).   Ecology. Larval development of this species takes place mainly in dead wood of Vitisspp. and Tamarixspp., but other host plants are also recorded including: Acaciasp., Annona cherimola, Cerasussp., Citrussp., Delonix regia, Ficus carica, Lyciumsp., Malus communis, Olea europea, Prunus amygdalus, Punica granatum, Pyrus malusand Tamarindus indica(cf. Lesne 1901b, as Schistoceros bimaculatus, Fisher 1950, Novak 1952, Caillol 1954, in both cases as Schistoceros bimaculatus,  Espanol1955, Kocher 1956, as Schistoceros bimaculatus, Soro 1964, Zocchi 1971, Halperin and Damoiseau 1980, Lundberg et al. 1987, in both cases as Schistoceros bimaculatus, Moleas 1988, Ciampolini et al. 1989, Ragusa and Russo 1989, fig. 8, as [sic!] Apate monachus, Pollini 1998,  Aksitet al. 2005, Liberto and Audisio 2005, in both cases as Schistoceros bimaculatus, Bahillo de la Puebla et al. 2007, as Amphicerus (Caenophrada) bimaculata[sic!], Tezcan 2008, as Schistoceros bimaculatus). Notes. First record for Malta. Amphicerus bimaculatusis not recorded from the neigbouring Sicilian islands (Tab. 1), but is known from mainland Sicily (cf. Audisio et al. 1995, Sparacio 1997, Nardi 2004b, in all cases as Schistoceros bimaculatus) and Tunisia ( Borowski 2007). It is recorded also from two circumsardinian islands ( Piras and Pisano 1972, as Schistoceros bimaculatus). Its aedeagus was figured by Iablokoff-Khnzorian (1976: 232, fig. 5, as Schistoceros bimaculatus).  Table 1. Bostrichidaerecorded from Maltese Archipelago and neigbouring islands with respective chorotype codes. Abbreviations: A = Aitken 1975; AFM = Afrotropical-Mediterranean; C = Cameron and Caruana Gatto 1907; CEM = Centralasiatic-European-Mediterranean; COS = Cosmopolitan; D = Denux and Zagatti 2010; EUR = European; F = Falzon et al. 2012; G = Goggi 2004; H = Hyde and Daubney 1960; L = Luigioni 1929; LAMP. = Lampedusa; LINO. = Linosa; MED = Mediterranean; Na = Nardi 2004a; Nb = Nardi 2004b; NR = Nardi and Ratti 1995; PANTEL. = Pantelleria; SEU = S-European; TEM = Turanic-European-Mediterranean; TUM = Turanic-Mediterranean; WME = W-Mediterranean; ZGG = Chorotype;! = this paper; () = misinterpretation.    Species PANTEL. LINO. GOZO MALTA LAMP. ZGG   Lyctus brunneus   Trogoxylon impressum   Rhyzopertha dominica   Amphicerus bimaculatus   Bostrichus capucinus   Heterobostrychus aequalis   Scobicia chevrieri   Sinoxylon sexdentatum   Sinoxylon unidentatum   Xylopertha praeusta   Xyloperthella picea   Apate monachus The above specimens collected during 2002 are almost entirely black, probably for a post mortem colouration. The correct grammatical gender for the specific name of this taxon is bimaculatus, since it was described as Bostrichus bimaculatusfrom "Provence"(southern France) ( Olivier 1790: 109) and the above mentioned usage of bimaculata ( Bahillo de la Puebla et al. 2007, Borowski 2007) is a subsequent incorrect spelling of this taxon (cf. Borowski 2013: 3). The nomenclatorial problems for SchistocerosLesne, 1899 were discussed by Ivie (2010).