Halictus consobrinus Pérez, a new species for the Italian fauna (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

The colonization of the European continent by North African taxa primarily occurs through two main routes: the Strait of Gibraltar and the Strait of Sicily. Sicily serves as a key gateway for the dispersal of African species into Europe, as evidenced by the substantial number of North African taxa recorded on the island (Habel et al., 2010; Sparacio et al., 2023). This pattern is especially common in insects, and particularly in flying species like bees (Habel et al., 2010; Sparacio et al., 2023). Several North African species exhibit marginal distributions in Europe, such as *Halictus consobrinus* Pérez, *Halictus senilis* (Eversmann), *Seladonia pici* Pérez or *Melitta schmiedeknechti* Friese, which are thought to have crossed via the Strait of Gibraltar and/or the Strait of Sicily (Baldock et al., 2018; Ortiz-Sanchez & Pauly, 2017; Flaminio et al., 2023). We report here for the first time the occurrence of *Halictus consobrinus* Pérez, 1895, in Sicily. The species is not listed in the check lists of Comba 2019 and Reverté et al. 2023.