Xenochalepus (Neochalepus) nigriceps (Blanchard, 1843)

Odontota nigriceps Blanchard, 1843:pl.24, Fig. 9 (original illustration); BLANCHARD (1847):211 (original description). Chalepus aeneiceps Pic, 1937: 16 (original description), syn. nov.

Type localities. Odontota nigriceps: ‘Santa-Cruz (Bolivia)’; Chalepus aeneiceps: ‘ Brésil: Uberaba’.

Type material examined. Chalepus aeneiceps: SYNTYPE: glued, ‘Uberaba | Brésil [w, hw by Pic, s] || Chalepus [w, hw by Pic, s] || Chalepus | aeneiceps | n sp [w, hw by Pic, s] || TYPE [r, p, cb] || Museum Paris | Coll. M.Pic [w, p, cb] || SYNTYPE [r, p, cb] || MNHN | EC2895 [w, p, cb]’ (MNHN).

Remarks. Odontota nigriceps first appeared as figure on plate published in 1843 while the text description appeared in 1847 (BLANCHARD 1843, 1847). Its type material is presumably deposited in the MNHN but I was unable to find it during my visit. WEISE (1913) studied additional specimens and transferred it to Xenochalepus Weise, 1910 and this is the generally accepted placement (UHMANN 1957a, STAINES & RILEY 1994).

During my stay in the MNHN I examined the syntype of Chalepus aeneiceps and found it has a scutellar row of punctures, which is absent in Chalepus Thunberg, 1805 and in fact belongs to Xenochalepus . Moreover, it is identical to additional specimens identified and published as X. nigriceps and also agrees with the original illustration of that species, and I therefore synonymize C. aeneiceps with X. nigriceps .

Distribution. Bolivia: Santa Cruz (BLANCHARD 1847, WEISE 1913, UHMANN 1957b), Brazil: Minas Gerais (PIC 1937), Paraguay (UHMANN 1938).