Pelidnota aeruginosa (Linnaeus, 1767), 2017

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

Pelidnota aeruginosa (Linnaeus, 1767) nomen dubium

Scarabaeus aeruginosus Linnaeus, 1767: 558 [original combination].

Pelidnota aeruginosa (Linnaeus) [new combination by Hope 1837: 17].

Remarks.

This name is widely used in collections and the literature, but the identity of the species is uncertain (F. Bates 1904, Krajcik 2008, Soula 2009, Krell et al. 2012, Moore and Jameson 2013). It is likely that the complication originated as a misidentification by Drury (1773). The problem is further complicated by the homonym Pelidnota aeruginosa Sturm, 1843 (= Chrysina peruviana Kirby, 1828 [1827]) ( Hawks 2001 a) and the name Pelidnota aeruginosa var. citripennis Ohaus (= Pelidnota semiaurata citripennis Ohaus) (see Moore and Jameson 2013). The name Pelidnota aeruginosa is currently considered a nomen dubium (uncertain name; see discussion by Krell et al. 2012).