Ornithomyia gestroi Rondani, 1878

Sforzi, Alessandra & Sommaggio, Daniele, 2021, Catalog of the Diptera types described by Camillo Rondani, Zootaxa 4989 (1), pp. 1-438 : 127

Ornithomyia gestroi Rondani, 1878

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: 1878a: 156.

TYPE LOCALITY: “ ad Insulam Galitam in mare tunetano [La Galite Island in Tunisian Sea]”.

TYPE MATERIAL: 1 ♀, lectotype ( MSNG): Galita, Agosto 1877, Violante / Falco eleonorae / Typus / gestroi Rndn. , ♀ / Lectotype gestroi Rndn. , ♀, T.C. Maa, [19]62.

PARALECTOTYPE EXAMINED: 1 ♀ (mis-sexed as a male) ( MSNG): Galita, Agosto 1877, Violante / Falco eleonorae / Typus / Ornithomyia gestroi Rndn. , ♂ ♀, typus! / Paratype gestroi Rndn. , ♀, T.C. Maa, [19]62; 1 ♀ ( MSNG): Tunisia, Galita, VIII 1877, Violante / Ornitheza gestroi Rond. / Paratype gestroi Rndn. , ♀, T.C. Maa, [19]62; 1 ♂ ( MZUF: Box 66): Ornithomyia Latr. / gestroi m. in Falcone eleonorae Rnd. / Galita, Agosto 1877, Violante / Falco eleonorae / Paratype gestroi Rndn., M, T.C. Maa , [19]62 / 3399.

CURRENT STATUS: valid species, as Ornithophila gestroi ( Soós & Hůrka 1986: 216, Pape et al. 1995: 8).

REMARKS: Rondani (1878a: 156) described Ornithomyia gestroi without specifying the exact number of specimens, giving a range of lengths and providing specific characters for the male and the female: “ Specimina aliqua … lecta fuerunt a Doct. Gestro [Some specimens … collected by Dr. Gestro]”. Rondani did not select a holotype in his original description. Guiglia (1957: 196) reported “ ♀ ♂. Tipo e 1 cotipo [Type and 1 cotype]” of Ornithomyia gestroi in the MSNG whereas the MSNG type series consists of three females (one mis-sexed as a male by Guiglia). Guiglia did not unambiguously indicate a single specimen as type, therefore she did not designate a lectotype (I.C.Z.N. 1999: Article 74.5). Maa (1963: 36) reported the type series as consisting of one MSNG female (gravid), which he incorrectly considered as the lectotype designated by Guiglia, one MSNG female (incorrectly considered as a male), one MSNG female, one MZUF male and one HMNH female (not included in the database of the Museum: https://mcz.harvard.edu/entomology-research-collection). Maa unambiguously identified the type (the MSNG gravid female), which therefore must be considered as the lectotype (I.C.Z.N. 1999: Article 74.5). The two additional females in the MSNG and the male in the MZUF are paralectotypes. Rondani described this nominal species under the generic name “ Ornithomyia ”, which is an “incorrect subsequent spelling of Ornithomya Latreille, 1804 or subsequent usage of Ornithomyia Agassiz, 1846 ” ( O’Hara et al. 2011: 133).