Chrysobothris vulcanica LeConte, 1861

Westcott, Richard L., 2023, New host and distribution records plus additional notes for North American species of Chrysobothris Eschscholtz (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), with designation of a lectotype for Chrysobothris vulcanica LeConte, 1861, Insecta Mundi 2023 (967), pp. 1-10 : 8

Chrysobothris vulcanica LeConte, 1861

LeConte’s (1861) description of this species was brief and in Latin. He gave the length to be 0.6–0.63 inches, thus it is clear that more than one specimen was before him. He gave the locality as “East of Fort Colville.” Subsequent workers seem to have overlooked that LeConte (1861) provided a range of measurements in his description of C. vulcanica . Horn (1886) simply “united” this species with C. californica . Fall (1910) discussed the seven specimens placed under C. californica in the LeConte Collection (MCZC), stating that the fourth specimen is the type of C. vulcanica and that the fifth specimen was probably that species. He stated both to be from Oregon, not providing a specific locality. However, he did not overturn Horn’s (1886) synonymy. Fisher (1942) redescribed the species from “…the female type, No. 2699…”, the aforementioned fourth specimen which Fall (1910) said was the only one that could be considered as this species. He stated that the fifth specimen “seems to be canadensis .”( Chrysobothris canadensis Chamberlin is a synonym of C. vulcanica [ Barr 1971]). Quoting LeConte (1861), Fisher (1942) gave the type locality of C. vulcanica as “East of Fort Colville,” but added “Oreg., type simply labeled with a dark-blue disk.” That type (MCZbase 2022a) curatorially had been labeled as a holotype, then was changed to a syntype. I identified the fifth specimen mentioned by Fall (1910), which also bears a blue disk, to represent C. vulcanica , thus it became a syntype (No. 727538) (MCZbase 2022b). Small colored disks were used by LeConte to indicate the provenance of his specimens. The dark blue disks on C. vulcanica (they have faded with time) indicate Oregon or Washington ( Bosquet 2012). Thus, the type locality for C. vulcanica, Fort Coville , a historical site, is not in Oregon; rather, it is located near Coville in far northeastern Washington.

Given the considerably convoluted history of C. vulcanica and my clarification that LeConte described it from more than one specimen, in my opinion the designation of a lectotype is necessary. For that I choose the aforementioned specimen (MCZ No. 2699) that was used by Fisher (1942) for his redescription and bears LeConte’s handwritten species label.

Chrysobothris vulcanica is reliably recorded from British Columbia and Alberta south to Oregon and Wyoming. It was listed from California (no definite locality; Bowditch Collection) under its synonym C. canadensis by Fisher (1942) based on specimen No. 731879 in MCZC (MCZbase 2022c). I have esamined that escellent image of the specimen, including the aedeagus, and clearly it is C. vulcanica . In my opinion, the specimen was mislabeled, as I know of no other specimen of C. vulcanica from California, and its nearest localities to that state that I am aware of are in the Blue/Wallowa Mountain region of northeastern Oregon. I esamined a specimen determined as this species by J. N. Knull, from Crystal Lake, Los Angeles Co., California (UCDC), which proved to be C. californica . These species have been highly confused in collections and in the literature, but they are clearly distinct. Under C. vulcanica, Nelson et al. (2008) listed “adults on Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco (Pinaceae) ,” but provided no indication that it is a larval host, which was made clear by me ( Westcott 1990).