Interpretation of Achille Costa's data on Neuropterida

Achille Costa was one of the very few Italian entomologists to study Neuropterida in the XIX century. His data were of fundamental importance for knowledge of this group of insects in southern Italy and the Italian islands. Unfortunately, his publications are not well known and his collection remained inaccessible for a long time. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to study the collection, which allowed me to interpret, as far as was possible, all the data Achille Costa published on Neuropterida. I was able to use three sources: his works, his collection and the publications of Navas (who had been given the Neuropterida from Achille Costa's collection to examine at the beginning of the last century). The present work presents a main list showing all the European species in the collection seen either by myself or Navas. Two minor lists contain the "dubious" reports of Achille Costa and a list of non-European species reported by Costa or Navas and the very few still in the collection. Finally, some details are given about the present state of the Achille Costa Collection and the toponymy Costa used, as well as an updated list of his publications on Neuropterida.