Hansarsia, Shaw, 2023

Shaw, Josh Jenkins, 2023, Hansarsia nom. nov., a replacement name for Nematoscelis G. O. Sars, 1883 (Crustacea: Euphausiidae), a junior homonym of Nematoscelis Wollaston, 1867 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Zootaxa 5256 (1), pp. 84-86 : 84-85

Hansarsia nom. nov.

Nematoscelis Sars, 1883: 27 [Type species: Nematoscelis megalops G.O. Sars, 1883 , by present designation in accordance with Recommendation 69A.10 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999): All other things being equal, preference should be given to the nominal species cited first in the work, page or line (“position precedence”).] [Preoccupied by Nematoscelis filipes Wollaston, 1867 ( Coleoptera Staphylinidae ).]

Type species. Nematoscelis megalops G.O. Sars, 1883 , automatic.

Etymology. Hansarsia nom. nov. to honour the contributions of Norwegian biologist Georg Ossian Sars and Danish biologist Hans Jacob Hansen. It is to be treated as feminine in gender.

Composition.

Hansarsia atlantica ( Hansen, 1916) comb. nov.

Hansarsia difficilis ( Hansen, 1911) comb. nov.

Hansarsia gracilis ( Hansen, 1910) comb. nov.

Hansarsia lobata ( Hansen, 1916) comb. nov.

Hansarsia megalops (G.O. Sars, 1883) comb. nov.

Hansarsia microps (G.O. Sars, 1883) comb. nov.

Hansarsia tenella (G.O. Sars, 1883) comb. nov.

Notes on Nematoscelis filipes Wollaston, 1867 ( Coleoptera : Staphylinidae )

In the original description, Wollaston (1867) noted the affinity of N. filipes with the genus Oligota Mannerheim, 1830 based on the ten-segmented antennae and four-segmented tarsi. He noted that N. filipes was different from Oligota due to it having a longer apical [maxillary?] palpomere, shorter ligula and longer legs, among other characters. Based on examination of photos of the type series housed at the Natural History Museum, London ( Fig. 1 ), N. filipes does indeed have ten-segmented antennae and four-segmented tarsi. These characters support its placement in the tribe Hypocyphtini Laporte de Castelnau, 1835 ( Ashe 2001; Orlov et al. 2021). All specimens of N. filipes were collected by Mr. Gray. In all cases, specimens were collected by “beating the plants of an eatable Bean (the Lablabia vulgaris —known locally under the name of “Feij„o) in cultivated spots of intermediate altitudes” ( Wollaston 1867: 232). Such a method of collecting N. filipes certainly agrees with the biology of some other Hypocyphtini , which are active predators of mites on foliage. Whether N. filipes deserves its status as a monotypic genus or may in fact be congeneric with some other described genus of Hypocyphtini remains to be explored, but this issue has no impact on the homonymy.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Syntype of Nematoscelis filipes Wollaston, 1867 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) and associated labels.