Prionus (Prionellus) Casey, 1924

Santos-Silva, Antonio, Nearns, Eugenio H. & Swift, Ian P., 2016, Revision of the American species of the genus Prionus Geoffroy, 1762 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae, Prionini), Zootaxa 4134 (1), pp. 1-103 : 7-8

On Prionus (Prionellus) Casey, 1924

Prionellus Casey, 1924 is a junior homonym of Prionellus Kieffer, 1895 ( Diptera , Cecidomyiidae ). Thus, although we agree that Prionus (Prionellus) is a synonym of Prionus , as indicated by Linsley (1962), the name must be replaced.

Linsley (1962) designated Prionus pocularis Dalman, 1817 as the type species of Prionus (Prionellus) , and considered the genus as a synonym of Prionus (Prionus) . Linsley (1962) gave no explanation as to the reason for the synonymy. The designation of Prionus pocularis as the type species of Prionus (Prionellus) was a mistake.

Prionus pocularis was not included in Prionus (Prionellus) by Casey (1924): it was included in Prionus (Prionus) . Thus, it cannot be the type species of the subgenus (ICZN, 1999: Article 67.2).

To solve these nomenclatural issues, we designate:

1. Hypoprionus as a replacement name for Prionellus Casey, 1924 , masculine gender. Etymology: Hypo, a prefix from Greek, meaning “sub”, “under”; relative to the “small” size of the species commented on by Casey (1924) in the description of Prionellus .

2. We choose as the type species of Prionus (Prionellus) , and consequently for Hypoprionus nom. nov., Cerambyx laticollis Drury, 1773 , the first species listed by Casey (1924) in his subgenus Prionus (Prionellus) .