Aplonis grandis malaitae Mayr

Aplonis grandis malaitae Mayr, 1931b: 22 (Malaita Island, British Solomon Islands).

Now Aplonis grandis malaitae Mayr, 1931 . See Amadon, 1962a: 81; Mayr and Diamond, 2001: 400; Dickinson, 2003: 652; and Craig and Feare, 2009: 719.

HOLOTYPE: AMNH 227576, adult male, collected on Malaita Island, Solomon Islands (= British Solomon Islands), on 26 February 1930, by Hannibal Hamlin, William Coultas, and Walter Eyerdam on the Whitney South Sea Expedition (no. 39347).

COMMENTS: Mayr cited the AMNH number of the holotype in the original description. Paratypes are: AMNH 227559–227575, 227577–227600, 24 males, 17 females, 28 January–8 April 1930. Of these, AMNH 227577 was exchanged to ANSP. On 28 February 1930, the expedition ship France was anchored at Su’u, 09.10S, 150.55E (Times Atlas).

Mayr and Diamond (2001: 400) considered that A. grandis formed a superspecies with A. dichroa and that A.g. malaitae, listed as a megasubspecies, had distinctive characteristics. Craig and Feare (2009: 719) noted that malaitae may constitute a separate species.