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[Photo: Cicada barbara Lusitanica]

Whilst for the last 160 years, the cicada inhabiting the Maltese Islands was assigned to the widespread European species Cicada orni Linnaeus, analysis of their calling song reveals with certainty that this taxon is in fact, the sibling species Cicada barbara Stal.

This type of insect is one that almost everyone is familiar with, and is widely recognised due to it being the most frequently mentioned on newspapers, magazines, and on social media. 

"Notwithstanding the major progress we have made in the study of Entomology in Malta in the last decade, we are very far away from having the complete picture of the biodiversity of these creatures", said  Prof. David Mifsud, Associate Professor at the Department of Rural Sciences & Food Systems within the Institute of Earth Systems and Director of the Centre for the Liberal Arts and Sciences.

This is just one of the many revelations found in the ’s latest Bulletin, aimed at sharing the experience and knowledge with scientists and the general public from all over the World to further studies of insects and related organisms.

Volume 11, edited by Prof. David Mifsud, brings together 26 peer-reviewed papers written by 22 scientists from all over Europe. Almost all papers deal with insects occurring in the natural habitats of the Maltese Islands. ����������� is provided on 130 different insects found in Malta and Gozo and of these 54 species are here recorded for the very first time.

This bulletin became the most important platform where studies related to insects found in Malta are published. In all 11 volumes published so far by this NGO, information was provided on more than 1,900 insects of which more than 550 represented new records for the Maltese Islands and 3 were also described as new to science.  

“All this research could not have been possible without the help of the editorial board – who all shared the same level of enthusiasm on promulgating knowledge about insects”, said Prof. Mifsud.

Volume 11 of the Bulletin may be obtained from Prof. David Mifsud.