Onthophagus semichalcites d’Orbigny 1902

Rossini, M., Vaz-De-Mello, F. Z. & Zunino, M., 2016, More transcontinental mislabeling in the genus Onthophagus: d’Orbigny’s “ African ” Group 27 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), Zootaxa 4175 (5), pp. 494-500 : 496

Onthophagus semichalcites d’Orbigny 1902 ( Fig. 1 C, H)

Described from “ Benin ” and reported by d’Orbigny (1913: 428) from “ Nigeria: Benin ” (incorrect provenance).

On examining the type specimens of O. semichalcites (2 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀ MNHN), we could confirm that this species name actually refers to O. bidentatus , a well-known species of Central and South America . In order to maintain the stability of the zoological nomenclature, a major male belonging to the syntypic series of O. semichalcites is selected and designated as lectotype ( ICZN, 1999: recommendation 73F, Art. 74). The name-bearing type will provide objective continuity in the application of this species name. Six paralectotypes have also been identified and properly labelled. Hence, according to the Art. 23 of the ICZN (1999), we establish the following new synonymy:

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dorsal habitus and labels of the primary types. A, F: O. bidentatus and O. bicornis. B, G: O. striatulus. C, H: O. semichalcites. D, I: O. gibber. E, L: O. gibberosus. Scale bar: 1 mm.