Erotylini, Latreille, 1802

Skelley, Paul E., 2020, Nomenclatural notes for the Erotylinae (Coleoptera: Erotylidae), Insecta Mundi 2020 (767), pp. 1-35 : 22-23

VII. Erotylini : Erotylus Fabricius and Pseudochrysomela Voet

Concern discovered. With Pseudochrysomela Voet, 1806 , being unavailable for nomenclatural purposes (ICZN 1999, Article 11.4), the synonymy with Erotylus Fabricius, 1775 , needs updating and the actions of Alvarenga (1970, 1977) regarding the included species need correction.

Discussion and results. Alvarenga (1970: 45) designated P. paramariboensis Voet, 1806 , as the type species of Pseudochrysomela Voet, 1806 , incorrectly citing the publication date for both as 1778. Alvarenga then noted the synonymy of the type species with Coccinella gigantea Linnaeus, 1758: 386 (= Pseudochrysomela paramariboensis Voet 1806: 44 ) by Olivier (1792: 432), and that C. giganteus is the type species of Erotylus Fabricius 1775: 123 , making Erotylus and Pseudochrysomela synonyms. The fact that Pseudochrysomela and P. paramariboensis are unavailable does not alter the status of Erotylus or E. giganteus (Linnaeus) .

However, Olivier (1792) listed only Voet’s plate and figure number, not a species name nor a year. Information provided by Bousquet (2016) and NHMUK (2019) show that Voet’s Tome II plates were printed before 1806, probably by 1778, and would have been available for Olivier to cite the image before the description was published naming the species. Because of details discussed in the following paragraph regarding Panzer (1798), I must restrict credit for synonymies to authors who cite the name being synonymized, not the images. Thus, Alvarenga (1970) crediting Olivier (1792) for the synonymy of Voet’s image is considered invalid.

Regarding the remaining species of Pseudochrysomela , Voet’s plate was first used by Panzer (1798; see Figure 8 ; see Bousquet 2016: 404), who named the illustrated species, and is credited with describing some of the species prior to Voet (1806). Voet’s (1806) publication must have used the original manuscript names, circa 1778, for the species and figures. Thus, for some species, these figures are cited with two names, one by Panzer (1798), the other by Voet (1806). In many early synonymies these figures were cited as “Voet. Col. II. Panz. IV”, followed by the figure number, with no species names mentioned. This implies a reference to Panzer (1798) not Voet (1806).

Most of Panzer’s names were synonymized by subsequent workers, none of Voet’s (1806) names were mentioned until Gemminger and Harold (1876). It is unclear if the early workers were aware of Voet (1806) or not. With credit for synonymies restricted to authors citing the names synonymized, various authors are credited for synonymizing Panzer’s names. The first reference to use Voet’s names was Gemminger and Harold (1876), who are credited for those synonymies.

The names Erotylus rufipennis Panzer (1798) and Pseudochysomela exotica Voet (1806) have both been proposed for Voet’s plate XXXIII, figure II. However, neither name appears in any catalog or revisionary work. Only Alvarenga (1977, 1994) mentions P. exotica [as Iphiclus (Brachymerus) exoticus (Voet) ]. In some ways, the figure appears similar to the type of Erotylus rufipennis Fabricius [ Iphiclus (Neomorphoides) rufipennis (Fabricius) in Alvarenga 1994], according to Italo Pecci-Maddalena (pers. comm.) who has a photograph of the type deposited in ZMUC. It is possible that Fabricius (1801) either knowingly used Panzer’s name without giving credit or was not aware of Panzer (1798) and accidentally created a homonym when proposing the species name. Only revisionary study of both types can resolve these identity questions. Until then, current nomenclature places them in different subgenera and as homonyms of distinct species, Panzer’s name has priority. To correct all of these issues, Panzer’s species is here resurrected, and a new name is proposed for Fabricius’s species.

All of these issues require some form of correction. Corrected synonymies for all effected species are presented below. Although Voet’s names and subsequent apparent nomenclatural acts are place in these synonymies, they have no nomenclatural status and are presented in quote marks “ ”.

Figures

Figure 8. Plate XXXIII used by Panzer (1798) and Voet (1806), present identifications. I) Barytopus gronovii (Herbst). II) Iphiclus (Neobarytopus) rufipennis (Panzer). III) Aegithus punctatissimus (Fabricius). IV) Erotylus giganteus (Linnaeus). V) Erotylus variegatus Fabricius. VI) Prepopharus notatus (Olivier).VII) Iphiclus (Iphiclus) sedecimguttatus (Olivier). Image c/o Biodiversity Heritage Library.