Hoplopelidnota metallica (Laporte, 1840)

Moore, Matthew R., Jameson, Mary L., Garner, Beulah H., Audibert, Cedric, Smith, Andrew B. T. & Seidel, Matthias, 2017, Synopsis of the pelidnotine scarabs (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Rutelinae, Rutelini) and annotated catalog of the species and subspecies, ZooKeys 666, pp. 1-349 : 1

Hoplopelidnota metallica (Laporte, 1840)

Pelidnota metallica Laporte, 1840: 122 [original combination].

Hoplopelidnota candezei F. Bates [syn. by Machatschke 1972: 12].

Hoplopelidnota metallica (Laporte) [revised species status by Soula 2008: 17].

Hoplopelidnota armata Ohaus, 1912 synonym.

Hoplopelidnota armata Ohaus, 1912: 309 [original combination; sometimes erroneously referred to as H. armata F. Bates].

Hoplopelidnota metallica (Laporte) [syn. by Moore and Jameson 2013: 381].

Hoplopelidnota candezei F. Bates, 1904 synonym.

Hoplopelidnota candezei F. Bates, 1904: 274-275 [original combination].

Hoplopelidnota metallica (Laporte) [syn. by Soula 2008: 17].

Distribution.

BRAZIL: Territorio de Amapa (Serra Navia). FRENCH GUIANA: Cayenne ( Laporte 1840, F. Bates 1904, Ohaus 1912, 1918, 1934b, Blackwelder 1944, Machatschke 1972, Soula 2008, 2010c). GUYANA: Essequibo River, Moraballi Creek. VENEZUELA: Amazonas (Rio Negro).

Types.

The following specimen is deposited at CCECL. 1 invalid ♂ neotype (Fig. 36 ): "pk 23 p. de Belizon G. F. 8/91 coll. - SOULA [obverse] pk 23// Néotype 2007 Pelidnota metallica Lap. Soula det.// Hoplopelidnota metallica (Lap.) M. SOULA 19 2007" (47031033). Genitalia card-mounted underneath the invalid neotype. Box 4618690 SOULA.

Remarks.

The classification of Hoplopelidnota metallica (Figs 36 , 37 ) has been tumultuous ( Moore and Jameson 2013). Laporte (1840) named P. metallica , clearly indicating the unusual form of the elytral apex. Bates’s (1904) description of Hoplopelidnota candezei overlooked the conspecific P. metallica . Hoplopelidnota candezei was based on a single male specimen that was labeled " Pelidnota armata " by Candèze. The name " H. armata ", however, had not been validly described and therefore was not available. However, Ohaus (1912) provided a description of the female, he used the name " Hoplopelidnota armata " (rather than H. candezei ). This act made the name H. armata an available name and a junior synonym of H. metallica . Most recently, Krajcik (2012, 2013) considered H. candezei to be a subspecies of H. metallica .

Soula (2008: 17-18) attempted to designate a neotype specimen for Hoplopelidnota metallica . Soula stated that the neotype is in "Collection Soula", but Article 75.3.7 (ICZN 1999) requires a statement that the "neotype is, or immediately upon publication has become, the property of a recognized scientific or educational institution, cited by name, that maintains a research collection, with proper facilities for preserving name-bearing types, and that makes them accessible for study". Because Soula’s collection was private at the time of designation, Soula’s neotype is invalid.

Hoplopelidnota metallica is distributed in northern South America. Prior to this work, H. metallica was only recorded from French Guiana. In addition to French Guiana, we record the species from Guyana (Moraballi Creek, Essequibo River), Venezuela (Amazonas Dept., Rio Negro) and Brazil (Territorio de Amapa, Serra Navia). The species is rare in collections, and is apparently much more wide spread in northern South America than previous data would indicate. Specimens are recorded from 140 m elevation in March, April, July, August, and November.

Figures

Figure 36. Hoplopelidnota metallica (Laporte) invalid neotype male from CCECL. A Dorsal habitus B Male parameres, caudal view C Specimen labels.

Figure 37. Hoplopelidnota metallica (Laporte) male from MSPC. A Dorsal habitus B Lateral habitus C Male genitalia, lateral view D Male parameres, caudal view.