Scalmus Zang, 1905

Hielkema, Auke J., 2017, Some corrections and remarks regarding the nomenclature of Neotropical Athyreini, Passalini, Phanaeini, Rutelini, Cyclocephalini, Dynastini and Oryctini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea), Insecta Mundi 2017 (561), pp. 1-18 : 3-4

Replacement of Scalmus Zang, 1905 with its senior synonym Neleuops Kuwert, 1891 , nec Neleurops Kuwert, 1891 ( Passalidae : Passsalinae: Passalini)

As part of his extensive and ongoing overhaul of the Neotropical Passalidae, Boucher (2015: 116) revives the genus Scalmus Zang, 1905 (p. 154) to accommodate several species previously placed in Passalus Fabricius, 1792 (p. 240). While doing this, he also places the genus Neleuops Kuwert, 1891 (p. 179) (spelled by him as Neleurops ) in synonymy with Scalmus . According to Boucher (personal communication, 2015), this latter action is taken because Zang explicitly created Scalmus as a substitute name for Ninus Kaup, 1871 (p. 89), nec Ninus Stål, 1859 (p. 252) ( Hemiptera ). However, as Boucher (2015) considers Neleuops and Scalmus synonymous, ICZN (2012) Article 60.2 requires that the senior synonym, in this case Neleuops , takes priority, regardless of the fact that the junior synonym, here Scalmus , is created with the explicit goal to serve as a substitute name.

Regarding the spelling variant Neleurops , it should be stated that the original spelling of the genus in Kuwert (1891) is Neleuops and that there are no indications that Kuwert intended a different spelling. The spelling Neleuops is subsequently used as a valid genus name in Kuwert (1896: 222, 1898a: 142) and as a synonym of Passalus in Gravely (1918: 51) and Luederwaldt (1931: 79). The later authors Hincks and Dibb (1935: 39), Blackwelder (1944: 192) and Fonseca and Reyes-Castillo (2004: 14) use the spelling Neleurops as a synonym of Passalus . I am unaware of the use or the mentioning of this genus in any other publication. Given the very limited number of authors who have used the genus in either spelling, it is not possible to speak of a prevalent use of the subsequent incorrect spelling. Thus, according to Article 32.2, Neleuops is the correct original spelling. There is no compelling reason to preserve the incorrect subsequent spelling as per Article 33.3.1.

Because Scalmus is synonymized with Neleuops , the following four species, all transferred from Passalus to Scalmus in Boucher (2015), change from genus accordingly: Scalmus interstitialis ( Eschscholtz, 1829) (p. 18) becomes Neleuops interstitialis ( Eschscholtz, 1829) , Scalmus huebneri (Kuwert, 1898) (1898b: 277) becomes Neleuops huebneri (Kuwert, 1898) , Scalmus kaupi ( Boucher, 2004) (p. 113) becomes Neleuops kaupi ( Boucher, 2004) , and Scalmus rhodocanthopoides ( Kuwert, 1891) (p. 179) returns to the genus it was originally described in and becomes Neleuops rhodocanthopoides Kuwert, 1891 .