About Larinus numidicus Desbrochers, 1892

Larinus numidicus Desbrochers, 1892: 89

In the description, Desbrochers indicates “ɗ. Long. 8 (rostro excluso); lat. 4,2 mill.”, “Algẻrie, Constantine”.

Material. There is only one female in Desbrochers’ collection fitting the description of this species. It bears the handwritten labels “Philippeville”, “ numidicus ”, and “ type ”, and has been labelled “ numidicus Desbr. D ẻcrit de Constantine, cet ex n’est pas le type, H. Perrin det. 2005”.

Remarks. In Desbrochers’ publication, L. numidicus is described from a single male collected in Constantine, whereas Philippeville (now Skikda) is a town on the Algerian coast, 70 km distant from Constantine. The female specimen in Desbrochers’ collection is a Larinus maurus (Olivier, 1807), with the white spots on elytra indistinct. In addition, Larinus numidicus Desbrochers, 1892 is a junior primary homonym of Larinus onopordi (F.) ssp. numidicus Capiomont, 1874, described as a “var.” (Capiomont 1874: 56). For the specimen found in the collection, we add a label “ Larinus maurus (Olivier, 1807), Gültekin det. 2005”.