Musca lateralis, Macquart, 1834

Pont, Adrian C., 2012, Muscoidea (Fanniidae, Anthomyiidae, Muscidae) described by P. J. M. Macquart (Insecta, Diptera), Zoosystema 34 (1), pp. 39-111 : 68

lateralis Macquart, 1834 , Musca

Musca lateralis Macquart, 1834a: 22 ( 1834b: 158) (junior primary homonym of Musca lateralis Linnaeus, 1758 ). Lectotype ♀, “environs de Lille” ( France, Lille area), by present designation, in MHNL (also described as a new species in Macquart 1835: 266, “du nord de la France ”).

MATERIAL. — In box G.21 of the Macquart collection in MHNL, I found three specimens over the label “ M. lateralis / L.” (Lille). One of these is a headless calliphorid and is not a syntype. The other two are ♀♀, and are extremely mouldy. One has the right hind leg missing and has obvious yellow patches on the sides of the abdomen: I have labelled this ♀ and designate it herewith as lectotype. The other ♀ has been labelled as paralectotype.

CURRENT IDENTITY. — Musca lateralis has always been treated as a junior synonym of Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758 ( Bezzi & Stein 1907: 603; Hennig 1964a: 999; Pont 1986b: 90). Although the proepisternal depression is not visible in either lectotype or paralectotype, other characters, such as the buff sides to the abdominal tergites, indicate that this synonymy is correct.