Xanthonia decemnotata, (SaY, 1824)

Bezděk, Jan, Riley, Edward G. & Walker, Ken, 2022, Detective Stories from Historical Collections: The Case of Eumolpus hobsoni Curtis, 1840 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Eumolpinae), The Coleopterists Bulletin 76 (2), pp. 206-208 : 207-208

XaNtHONIa deceMNOtata (SaY, 1824) ( Figs. 1–4 )

Colaspis decemnotata Say 1824: 445 (original description).

Eumolpus? hobsoni Curtis 1840: 281 (original description), new sYnonYm.

TYPe Material Examined: Neotype of Colaspis decemnotata [ USNM] ( Figs. 1–2 ), bearing following labels: “PlummersI / Oct.4, 14 Md [white label] // WLMcAtee / Collector [white label] // Specimen / No. 296 [white label] // NEOTYPE / Xanthonia / decemnotata (Say) / des. C. L. Staines 1999 [red label] // BLNO / 002562 [pale blue label] / USNM ENT / [ QR code] / 00871342 [white label]”. The neotype was designated by Staines and Weisman (2001a).

208 Holotype of Eumolpus hobsoni [ MVMA] (Figs. Alexey G. Moseyko (Zoological Institute of the 3–4), bearing the following label: “A7 [white label]” Russian Academy of Sciences , St. Petersburg, and box label: “3 Hobsoni Curt. [white label]”. Russia) and Stefano Zoia (Milano, Italy) gave us

Identification: The images of the holotype spec- valuable information in the initial stage of the imen of E. hobsoni from the Curtis Collection are manuscript.

sufficient to determine that his species is a junior synonym of X. decemnotata . Staines and Weisman

REFERENCES CITED

(2001a) designated a neotype for Say’s species con-

sistent with the details of the original description. Curtis, J. 1840. Descriptions, &c. of some rare or inter- The dark brown color of the body, the elytral mac- esting indigenous insects. Annals of Natural Hisulation and punctation, and dorsal pubescence are tory 5: 274–282.

distinctive. The origin of Curtis’ specimen could be Kimoto, S., and J. L. Gressitt. 1982. Chrysomelidae

( Coleoptera ) of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and from anywhere in the northeastern quadrant of the Vietnam. III. Eumolpinae . Esakia 18: 1–141.

United States or adjacent Canada, where it is a fairly MoseYko, A. G., and E. SPrecher-Uebersax. 2010. common, forest-inhabiting species and the only Subfamily Eumolpinae [pp. 619–643]. In: Cata- Xanthonia species of this general appearance logue of Palaearctic Coleoptera . Volume 6. (Staines and Weisman 2001a). Chrysomeloidea (I. Löbl and A. Smetana, edi- Xanthonia picturata Weisman and Riley (in Riley tors). Apollo Books, Stenstrup, 924 pp.

et al. 2019) might be confused with X. decemnotata , RileY, E. G., D. M. Weisman, and M. A. Quinn. 2019.

as it is of similar size and color but with slightly A taxonomic review of the Xanthonia species different maculation and punctation. This species is occurring in Texas ( Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae ,

Eumolpinae ). Zootaxa 4668(1): 1–29. doi.org/ restricted to Texas, with one record from Oklahoma 10.11646/zootaxa.4668.1.1.

near the Texas border, and can be definitively sep- SaY, T. 1824. Descriptions of coleopterous insects arated by having a moderate-sized profemoral tooth collected in the late expedition to the Rocky Moun- (this tooth is minute or absent in X. decemnotata ) tains, performed by order of Mr. Calhoun, Secretary and completely different male genitalia (Riley et al. of War, under the command of Major Long. Journal 2019). While these definitive characters are not vis- of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia ible in the images of the Curtis specimen, we are 3[1823–1824]: 403–462.

confident of the proposed synonymy from what is Staines, C. L., and D. M. Weisman. 2001a. The species visible. Furthermore, it is unlikely that insect spec- of Xanthonia Baly 1863 ( Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae : Eumolpinae ) in North America east of the imens from the geographical range of X. picturata Mississippi River. Proceedings of the Entomologwould have reached England as early as 1840. ical Society of Washington 103(1): 157–183.

Remarks: We are not aware of additional evi- Staines, C. L., and D. M. Weisman. 2001b. Two new dence documenting the temporary establishment of species of Xanthonia ( Coleoptera : Chrysomeli- X. decemnotata in England or elsewhere in the dae: Eumolpinae ) from the southwestern United Palearctic Region. If this American leaf beetle were States. Journal of the New York Entomological temporarily established in England, it probably did not Society 109(3): 354–359. doi.org/10.1664/0028- persist for very long.The more likely possibility is that 7199(2001)109[0354:TNSOXC]2.0.CO;2.

Curtis received the specimen with incorrect informa- Walker, K. 2001. The John Curtis British insect collec -

tion [pp. 60–63]. In: A Museum for the People:A tion about its origin. Xanthonia decemnotata should History of Museum Victoria and its Predecessors not be considered part of the Palearctic fauna. (C. Rasmussen, editor). Museums Victoria, xiv +

423 pp.

Wilson, M. R., and K. Walker. 2001. John Curtis and his

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS leafhoppers with nomenclatural notes on some species ( Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha , Cicadellidae ) We would like to thank to Alexander S.

with special reference to the status of Eupteryx Konstantinov (USNM) for the photographs of the solani Curtis 1846. Acta Entomologica Slovenica neotype of X. decemnotata . Maxwell V. L. Barclay 15: 161–170.

and Michael Geiser (Natural History Museum,

London , UK) kindly helped us with the search for (Received 21 February 2022; accepted 1 April 2022. historical specimens in Great Britain institutions. Publication date 21 June 2022.)

Figures

Figs. 1–4. Xanthonia decemnotata: 1) Neotype; 2) Labels of neotype. Eumolpus hobsoni: 3) Holotype; 4) Label of holotype.