Metochus uniguttatus ( Thunberg, 1822 )

Rédei, Dávid, Zhu, Xudong & Kondorosy, Előd, 2016, The identity of Orthaea maculifera, with proposal of a new synonymy (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Rhyparochromidae), Zootaxa 4107 (1), pp. 98-100 : 98-99

Metochus uniguttatus ( Thunberg, 1822)

Pendulinus uniguttatus Thunberg, 1822: 6 . Lectotype ( Kondorosy et al. 2014: 571): ♂, Cap[ut bonae spei] [= South Africa: Cape of Good Hope] (in error); UPSZ!

Pendulinus guttatus Thunberg, 1825: 5 . Neotype ( Kondorosy et al. 2014: 571): the lectotype of P. uniguttatus . Junior objective synonym of P. uniguttatus .

Rhyparochromus bengalensis Dallas, 1852: 572 . Lectotype ( Scudder 1967: 259): ♂, India, N. Bengal; BMNH! Synonymized by Stål (1874: 162).

Dieuches yeh Dohrn, 1860: 160 . Syntype (s): China: Hong Kong; lost ( Péricart 2001: 200, Kondorosy et al. 2014: 573). Synonymized by Distant (1903: 82).

Orthoea [without specific epithet]: Uhler, 1860: 228. Unavailable name.

Orthaea maculifera Uhler, 1861: 286 . Syntype (s): ♀, China: Hong Kong ( Uhler 1860: 229); USNM! New subjective synonym.

Orthaea maculifera: Stål 1874: 167 ( catalogue , distribution, as of unknown identity), Lethierry & Severin 1894: 232 ( catalogue , distribution, as of unknown identity).

Pachybrachius maculiferus: Slater 1964: 1131 ( catalogue , distribution), Zheng & Zou 1981: 161 (distribution, as of unknown identity), Péricart 2001: 175 ( catalogue , distribution).

Bibliographies for M. uniguttatus were provided by Slater (1964: 1241) and Kondorosy et al. (2014: 571).

Type material examined. Lectotype (present designation): female, “ Orthaea \ maculifera \ Hong Kong ” [handwritten], “ Orthaea \ maculifera \ Hong \ Kong [handwritten] det UHLER [printed]” [with printed black frame], “PRUhler \ Collection” [printed], “TypeNo. [printed] \ 25749 [handwritten] \ U.S. N.M. [printed]” [red]; pinned, segments II–IV of both antennae, left fore, left mid, both hind legs, and tarsi of the remaining legs lacking, wings slightly damaged and distorted by pin; deposited in USNM ( Figs. 1–3 ).

Discussion. The identity of Metochus uniguttatus has been clarified by Kondorosy et al. (2014). This species was recorded from several localities in India (including the Andaman Islands), Sri Lanka, Burma ( Myanmar), Macau and Hong Kong of southern China, Indochina, Taiwan, the Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan, the Philippines, Malay Peninsula, and the Malay Archipelago, but all previous records are in need of verification ( Kondorosy et al. 2014).

The name Orthaea maculifera was validly proposed by Uhler (1861) by a bibliographic reference (indication) to his earlier description ( Uhler 1860) of this biological species without proposing an available name due to an inadvertent error ( ICZN 1999, Articles 12.1–12.2). A single specimen of O. maculifera , undoubtedly belonging to the type series, was found in the USNM ( Figs. 1–3 ). The original description does not make it unambiguously clear that it was based on a single specimen, therefore, disagreeing with the interpretation of Péricart (2001) and following ICZN (1999, Recommendation 73F) we explicitly designate the studied specimen as the lectotype. Reexamination of the specimen leaves no doubt that it is conspecific with the lectotype of Metochus uniguttatus ( Kondorosy et al. 2014) therefore the subjective synonymy of the two names is hereby proposed.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Lectotype of Orthaea maculifera Uhler, 1861 and its labels. Fig. 1, dorsal view; Fig. 2, lateral view; Fig. 3, labels. Scales in mm, Fig. 3 not to scale. © USNM; Fig. 3: T. J. Henry.