Anoplognathus olivieri (Schönherr & Dalman 1817)

Seidel, Matthias & Reid, Chris A. M., 2021, Taxonomic changes resulting from a review of the types of Australian Anoplognathini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae) housed in Swedish natural history collections, Zootaxa 4908 (2), pp. 225-238 : 228

Anoplognathus olivieri (Schönherr & Dalman 1817)

Rutela olivieri Schönherr & Dalman, 1817 (in Schönherr 1817: 60)

Rutela lacunosa Thunberg, 1822: 311 ; new synonym

Anoplognathus impressus Boisduval, 1835: 173 ; Ohaus 1918: 171 (synonymy)

Anoplognathus duponti Boisduval, 1835: 174 ; Carne 1957: 105 (synonymy)

Types. Rutela olivieri Schönherr & Dalman, 1817 : lectotype (present designation): ♀: “N. Holland / D. Hooker. // NHRS-JLKB / 000029804” (NHRS); Rutela lacunosa Thunberg, 1822 : lectotype (present designation): ♀: “Uppsala Univ. Zool. Mus. / Thunbergsaml. nr. 3137 / Rutela lacunosa / Jamaica. Swartz. TYP // LECTOTYPE / Rutela lacunosa / Thunberg, 1822 / des. Seidel + Reid 2019 // Anoplognathus / olivieri / (Schönherr + Dalman / 1817) / det. M. Seidel 2019 // WORLD / SCARAB. / DATABASE / WSD00344320” (UUZM).

Remarks. Lectotypes are hereby designated for Rutela olivieri ( Fig. 3 A–D) and Rutela lacunosa ( Fig. 3 E–H) to fix their identities. Rutela olivieri was described by Schönherr and Gyllenhal, not Dalman alone ( Schönherr 1817: 61). Boisduval (1835), while transferring R. olivierii to Anoplognathus , misspelled the species epithet as “ olivieri ” eliding an “ i ”. This is an incorrect subsequent spelling but has been used by all later authors (for example, Burmeister 1844; Ohaus 1904; Carne 1957; Smith 2003). The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1999) Article 33.3.1. states that “when an incorrect subsequent spelling is in prevailing usage and is attributed to the publication of the original spelling, the subsequent spelling and attribution are to be preserved and the spelling is deemed to be a correct original spelling”. Since A. olivieri (Schönherr & Dalman, 1817) is in prevailing usage and has been consistently attributed to the original publication it is deemed to be a correct original spelling.

Type material of Anoplognathus olivieri was not examined by Carne (1957) but his interpretation of the species was correct. Rutela lacunosa is conspecific with Anoplognathus olivieri and therefore placed in synonymy. The validity of the synonymization of A. impressus and A. duponti with A. olivieri as proposed by Ohaus (1918) and Carne (1957), respectively, was not examined in this work.

Anoplognathus olivieri occurs from Victoria to central Queensland and is a common species around Sydney (AMS). It is distinguished by laterally expanded female elytra, smooth mostly impunctate ventrites and shiny pygidium with apical tuft of setae ( Reid & Smith 2016; Burleigh & Reid 2017).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Lectotype females of Rutela olivieri Schönherr & Dalman, 1817 (A–D), Rutela lacunosa Thunberg, 1822 (E–H), and Rutela porosus Dalman, 1817 (I–L). A, E, I, Dorsal habitus; B, F, J, ventral habitus; C, G, K, lateral habitus; D, H, L, frontal view.