Sphixosoma punctitarsis Rondani, 1865

Sforzi, Alessandra & Sommaggio, Daniele, 2021, Catalog of the Diptera types described by Camillo Rondani, Zootaxa 4989 (1), pp. 1-438 : 97

Sphixosoma punctitarsis Rondani, 1865

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: 1865a: 143.

TYPE LOCALITY: “ in collibus subapenninis [sub-Apennine hills ( Italy)]”.

TYPE MATERIAL: 1 ♂, lectotype ( MZUF: Box 8): Sphixosoma Rndn. / punctitarsis Rnd. , ♂ / 381 / Lectotypus Sphixosoma punctitarsis Rondani, 1865 , ♂, L. Rivosecchi & M. Mei, 1998 / Conops ceriaeformis Meigen, 1824 , ♂, L. Rivosecchi & M. Mei det. 1998.

PARALECTOTYPES NOT EXAMINED: 1 ♂ ( MZUF: Box 8): Sphixosoma Rndn. / punctitarsis Rnd. , ♂ / 381 / Paralectotypus L. Rivos. des.; 1 ♂ ( MZUF: Box 8): Sphixosoma Rndn. / punctitarsis Rnd. , ♂ / 381.

CURRENT STATUS: doubtful species of Conops (Conops) Linnaeus, 1758 ( Chvála & Smith 1988: 252); junior synonym of Conops ceriaeformis Meigen, 1824 ( Rivosecchi & Mei 1998: 274, Stuke 2017: 20).

REMARKS: Rondani (1865a: 143) described Sphixosoma punctitarsis from just the male sex, without specifying either the number or the length of the specimens: “ Raro marem legi [I collected the male rarely]”. Rivosecchi & Mei (1998: 274) designated a lectotype (♂) but did not mention an additional two males numbered “381”, despite having labeled one of them as a paralectotype (both of these additional specimens are paralectotypes). The species was described under the generic name Sphixosoma , which is an “unjustified emendation of Sphyxosoma Rondani, 1856 ” ( O’Hara et al. 2011: 169).