Psalidognathus sallei Thomson, 1859

Santos-Silva, Antonio & Spooner, Amoret, 2021, On some species of Psalidognathus Gray, especially those of the group “ superbus ” (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae), Zootaxa 5023 (3), pp. 389-404 : 399-402

On Psalidognathus sallei Thomson, 1859

(Figs 20–25)

Psalidognathus Sallei Thomson, 1859a : ccxlvi.

Remarks. Psalidognathus sallei has been reported as published in 1858 (e.g. Monné 2021). However, the number 4 of the Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (pages 602–911, and ccvii-cccxxvi) was published in 1859.

Thomson (1859a) described the species based on a single male from Venezuela (translated): “Country: Venezuela. Length, 74 mm, width, 22 mm.—Male. Shiny green, metallic, granulose dorsally; antennae spinose; mandible bidentate; head longitudinally very excavate and canaliculated centrally; thorax transverse, quadridentate, posterior spine small, acute, apex bispinose. Brown metallic, shiny, glabrous ventrally. It differs from P. friendii especially by the elytral granulations less coarse.”

Thomson (1877a) considered the syntype female of P. mygaloides Thomson, 1859 as being a female of P. sallei (translated): “It is the current species [ P. sallei ], and not P. friendii as we said in error, that Mr. Sallé captured in the Galipans Mountains [Galipán], near the city of Caracas [According to M. Sallé, this species is commonly found in June, in the forests that cover the high Galiparet [Galipán] mountains, near the city of Caracas ( Venezuela), especially in the evening in the light as well as at the beginning of the rains ( Thomson 1859b)]. We have of the same species a blackish blue male, and an almost black female, which we had wrongly described as being that of P. mygaloides . It is to the experienced look of Mr. Henry Deyrolle that we are indebted to the observation of this last fact.”

Lameere (1910) followed the statements by Thomson (1877a), considered P. sallei as distinct from P. friendii , and kept the syntype female of P. mygaloides as P. friendii : “ Psalidognathus mygaloides Thoms., Arcan. Nat., 1859, p. 41 (la ♀ seulement, le ♂ étant P. modestus ).”

Later, Quentin & Villiers (1983) considered P. sallei as a subspecies of P. friendii , accepted the synonymy of the syntype female of P. mygaloides with P. friendii , and reported: “a. sallei Thomson, 1858 . Nous désignons comme lectotype mâle un exemplaire de 60 mm de longueur portant les étiquettes suivantes: «Th., Type», «Ex. Musaeo James Thomson», «Muséum Paris, Coll. J. Thomson, 1952», «Sallei, Type, Thoms. Caracas» et comme lectotype femelle un exemplaire de 38 mm de longueur portant les étiquettes suivantes: «Caracas», «Ex Musaeo James Thomson», «Muséum Paris, Coll. J. Thomson, 1952». Deux paralectotypes femelles”; and, “b. mygaloides femelle Thomson, 1859. Lectotype femalle de 40 mm de longueur portant les étiquettes suivantes: «Th., Type», «Ex Musaeo James Thomson», «Muséum Paris, ex coll. J.Thomson,1952»; «Id. Var. Noire, Mygaloides femelle Type, Thomson.,Carac.?». Still according to them (translated): “This subspecies presents all of the characteristics of friendi [sic], but the jugular teeth are large and curved forward as in superbus . It seems specific to Venezuela.”

These statements by Quentin & Villiers (1983) encompass many mistakes:

1. Psalidognathus friendii was described based on a single male; accordingly, it has a holotype, and the designation of a lectotype makes no sense;

2. According to the original description of P. sallei , the holotype has 74 mm length, and not 60 mm as reported by Quentin & Villiers (1983). Therefore, the specimen designated as lectotype would not be the true holotype. However, apparently it was a mistake because the specimen figured as “ lectotype ” in Pirkl (2021) has the labels indicated by them, and measures 75 mm;

3. As there was no female specimen in the original description, the “ lectotype ” female does not belong to the type series. Furthermore, it is not possible to designate two specimens as lectotypes of the same species;

4. As the species was described based on a single specimen, there can be no “ paralectotypes ”;

5. In the same work they designated the syntype male of P. mygaloides Thomson, 1859 as lectotype (synonym of P. modestus Fries, 1834 ), and the syntype female of P. mygaloides as lectotype (synonym of P. friendii sallei ). Accordingly, the designations of lectotypes to P. mygaloides are not available;

6. The reasoning used by Quentin & Villiers (1983) to consider P. sallei as a subspecies of P. friendii makes no sense [“This subspecies presents all of the characteristics of friendi [sic], but the jugular teeth are large and curved forward as in superbus ”]. It is much more evident that there is no difference between the genal processes in the holotype of P. friendii and the holotype of P. sallei (see Pirkl 2021).

Curiously, seeing the photographs of the syntype (paralectotype) female of P. mygaloides ( Pirkl 2021) , it is evident that it is not P. sallei . We agree that it is not a female of P. modestus (= P. mygaloides male) because the antennomeres are distinctly spiniform at apex, and the genal apex is also very spiniform. On the other hand, the “ lectotype ” female of P. sallei agrees very well with the holotype.

Thomson (1877a) redescribed P. sallei as follows (translated): “Shiny metallic green dorsally; antennae and mandibles dark greenish blue; palpi brown; fairly dark reddish brown, with greenish metallic reflections ventrally. Head fairly large, strongly unispinose on each of the lateral edges, the lateral spines acute; strongly granulated and very deeply canaliculated longitudinally in middle, between two smooth and shiny carinae, starting at the upper edge of the eyes, and ending at the anterior edge of the prothorax; each gena prolonged in a rather large spine, a little curved forward, subacute at apex. Antennae not reaching the apex of the body; scape strongly granulated, antennomeres III–V finely granulated. Mandibles very large, curved bellow, quadrispinose, granulated. Prothorax transverse, quadrispinose on each of the lateral edges, granulated; lateral spines acute; strongly sinuate on the anterior and posterior edges, with two very wide longitudinal depressions in the middle, reaching the two aforementioned edges. Scutellum lunulate, granulated. Elytra about five and a half times the width of the prothorax, dehiscent toward the humeri, each of which is armed with a small acute tooth parallel to the posterior edge of the prothorax or barely turned back, slightly convex to the anterior third, granulated, the granulation stronger anteriorly, where it is spaced, slightly protruding and coarse, which gives them a shiny appearance, then decreasing to the apex; slightly vermiculate in the middle; lateral edges slightly dilated in the anterior third; no vestiges of longitudinal carinae; apex bispinose [each sutural angle with a single spine]. Meso-and metaventrite very finely punctate, punctuation very dense; mesoventral process and abdomen smooth. Legs very finely and obsolete punctate, except the anterior tibiae and tarsi, which are smooth; profemora not dentate; protibiae fairly swollen and strongly pubescent ventrally. Female. Head with much less deep and wider median longitudinal canaliculation than in male; prothorax longer, with lateral teeth longer. Elytra with subequal granulation on the whole disc, or barely stronger in front; lateral edges markedly dilated in the anterior third. Eight individuals of this species which I have been able to examine are all of a very brilliant metallic green. Therefore, it seems to be much less prone to variation than P. Friendii , which, as we know, has individuals of different colors. Similar to P. Friendii , is distinguished by the shorter length of the antennae; the depth of the median cephalic canaliculation; the scutellum more transverse; the granulation of the elytra much more widely spaced, less prominent and coarser, which gives them a much shiny appearance; the absence of longitudinal carina on the latter; the smooth prosternal process; the legs less strongly punctate, and the protibia less swollen and smooth.”

It is evident that the information by Thomson (1877a) about the differences between P. friendii and P. sallei are not true. Although the antennae appear to be slightly shorter in the holotype of P. sallei than that of the holotype of P. friendii , they have similar length; the sulcus on dorsal surface of the head is similar in both species; and the protibiae in P. friendii is distinctly slender than in P. sallei . This appears to confirm the suspects by White (1845) (see above), about P. friendii sensu French authors (including Thomson, born in the USA).

Beebe (1951) reported: “ Psalidognathus sallei Thomson. Giant Green Crook-jaw; 1946–April16 (1, 461098). 1948–July 16 (2 at pass, 3 at Rancho Grande Bridge, all flying south). Seen several times migrating in 1948.” It is not possible to be sure about the species identified as P. sallei by this author.

Rosales (1966) provided a long and very detailed redescription of P. sallei . Nevertheless, some details of the redescription and the male illustrated (the protibiae, apparently, are distinctly less tumid than in the holotype of P. sallei ) indicate that the species described by him is P.friendii . However, it is important to provide the comment pointed out by him (translated): “In view of all these observations [he commented about the fragility of the descriptions and redescriptions by Thomson, Lameere, and Vivas-Berthier; and also the color as a differential feature, as pointed out by Thomson in the redescription of P. sallei ], we can conclude that the separation of this material into species is difficult and that there is a high possibility that the previous species correspond to a single species: Psalidognathus sallei , which would be intermediate between P. friendi [sic] and P. superbus .” The key provided by him to separate these three species does not allow the separation. Most notably because the general appearance of the elytra in P. friendii and P. superbus are not different as suggested by him: elytra more or less opaque in P. superbus , and shiny in P. friendii and P. sallei .

The elytral sculpturing of the holotype of P. sallei , and the specimen wrongly considered by Quentin & Villiers (1983) as a “ lectotype ” female of this species, both from Venezuela (Caracas), is noticeably different from all other specimens examined by us. In fact, it is shinier and distinctly more vermiculate than in the other specimens on the posterior 2/3. Additionally, apparently, the longitudinal carinae are at least almost absent. Therefore, we prefer to consider it, at least provisionally, as a species different from P. friendii .

Material examined. VENEZUELA: 1 male, no more data, former Baden-Sommer collection ( OUMNH) .