Coptocephala plagiocephala ( Fabricius, 1792 )

Bezděk, Jan, 2016, Identity of taxa proposed inClythra (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cryptocephalinae) by Carl Peter Forsberg (1821), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 56 (2), pp. 769-784 : 779

Coptocephala plagiocephala ( Fabricius, 1792)

( Figs 12–16 )

Cryptocephalus plagiocephalus Fabricius, 1792: 60 (original description). Clythra bipunctata Forsberg, 1821a: 262 , 277 (original description), syn. nov.

Type localities. Cryptocephalus plagiocephalus : ‘Gallia meridionali’ [= southern France]. Clythra bipunctata : not stated.

Type material examined. Cryptocephalus plagiocephalus : not examined. The photographs of 1 ♀ syntype were provided by ZMUC: ‘plagiocep- / halus [w, h] // plagioce / phalus [w, h]’.

Clythra bipunctata : HOLOTYPE: ♀, ‘ Uppsala Univ. Zool. Mus. / Thunbergsaml. nr. 8195 / Typsaml. nr. 1755a / Clythra bipunctata Forsberg 1821 [r, p] // bipunctata. / 11 [box label, w, h]’ ( UUZM).

Distribution. Algeria, Italy (Sicily), Morocco, Tunisia ( REGALIN & MEDVEDEV 2010).

Comments. LACORDAIRE (1848) listed Clythra bipunctata among the species not known to him and mistakenly reported it from ‘Promont. Bonae Spei’ [= Cape of Good Hope] although FORSBERG (1821a) did not provide any type locality. This mistake probably led subsequent authors to assign this taxon in the predominantly South African genus Miopristis Lacordaire, 1848 ( GEMMINGER & HAROLD 1874, JACOBY & CLAVAREAU 1906, CLAVAREAU 1913). However, it is in fact conspecific with West-Palaearctic Coptocephala plagiocephala and their synonymy is proposed.

WALLIN (2001) listed two syntypes of Clythra bipunctata (under the catalogue numbers, 1755a and 1755b). However, the specimen No. 1775b does not match the original description, having the pronotum and scutellum completely black and elytra with a black humeral spot only while pronotum and scutellum are red and each elytron is provided with two black spots in C. bipunctata . The specimen No. 1775b should not be treated as the syntype of Clythra bipunctata anymore. On the other hand, specimen No. 1775a fits perfectly the original description and should be treated as holotype.

Figures

Figs 7–16. 7–11 – Clytra duodecimmaculata duodecimmaculata (Fabricius, 1775) (holotype of Clythra gigas Forsberg, 1821, J, 11.5 mm): 7 – dorsal habitus; 8 – lateral habitus; 9 – frontal habitus; 10 – box label; 11 – label of holotype. 12–16 – Coptocephala plagiocephala (Fabricius, 1792) (holotype of Clythra bipunctata Forsberg, 1821, ♀, 7.5 mm): 12 – dorsal habitus; 13 – lateral habitus; 14 – frontal habitus; 15 – box label; 16 – label of holotype.