Pygolampis blanda Motschulsky, 1854b

Figs 86–88

Pygolampis blanda Motschulsky, 1854b: 25 .

Type material examined

Syntype HISPANIOLA, probably Domenican Republic • ♂; “blandus,, Motsch” // “S. Domingo” // “ Pygolampis,, blanda M” [E. Olivier handwriting]; ZIN .

Preservation status

Fairly well-preserved, terminalia missing.

Remarks

Pygolampis blanda Motschulsky, 1854b (nec. Photinus blandus Jaquelin Du Val 1857) is currently listed as Lampyridae incertae sedis (McDermott 1966). This species was described from “St. Domingo”, currently Hispaniola. Motschulsky lists Dejean as the author of the species, but the former must be recognized as author, since Dejean’s name is in litteris. Lacordaire (1857) mentions P. blanda Dejean as from Brazil, which probably misled McDermott to list it from this country in his catalogue (McDermott 1966: 123). Based on its brief description and its type locality, P. blanda could be allied to Robopus Motschulsky, 1853, but if transferred, it would cause a homonymy with Robopus blanda (Jaquelin Du Val, 1857), currently a junior synonym of Robopus nefarius (E. Olivier, 1912; see Keller & Branham 2021). Since Robopus is yet to be reviewed, and it is beyond the scope of this work to resolve this matter, we refrain from pursuing nomenclatural acts.

Current status

Pygolampis blanda Motschulsky, 1854b (incertae sedis lampyrid species according to McDermott 1966).