Laparocerus susicus ( Escalera, 1914 )

Machado, Antonio, 2006, The type material of the species of Laparocerus Schönherr, 1834 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae), Journal of Natural History 40 (35 - 37), pp. 2001-2055 : 2038-2039

Laparocerus susicus ( Escalera, 1914)

Cyclobarus susicus Escalera 1914, p 424 .

Type locality. Agadir, Morocco.

Lectotype: 1„ [ Marruecos /Añadir/Escalera] [ MNCN Madrid], MNCN (Coll. Escalera), Madrid. Paralectotype: 1„ [ Marruecos / Agadir /Escalera] [Cotype/Escalera] [ Cyclobarus / susicus Esc. ] [ Laparocerus susicus Esc. ] [Muséum Paris/1980/Coll. G. Ruter]. MNHN (Coll. Ruter), Paris. Excluded paralectotype: 1♀ [ Agadir /( Maroc)/Escalera] [‘‘Agadir’’] [ Cyclobarus / susicus /Escal. 1914] [Cotype] [Museum Paris/1968/Col. A. Hoffmann]. MNHN (Coll. Hoffmann), Paris. It is a female of Cyclobarus mskalicus Escalera, 1914 .

Remarks. According to Escalera (1914), the original description of susicus was based at least on two specimens (‘‘length. 5–7 mm’’) from Agadir, and deposited in the MNCN, Madrid. In the Collection Escalera there are two specimens (damaged by Anthrenus ) of Laparocerus from Mogador collected in 1906, a different locality, hence not syntypes, and one male specimen in good conditions, with a printed locality label reading ‘‘Agadir’’, but no further identification label. This specimen was located misplaced in the Collection with other curculionids. Moreover, some of Escalera’s specimens went to Paris, apparently in the years 1968 and 1980. In the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle there are two specimens labelled as ‘‘cotypes’’ of Cyclobarus susicus , both from Agadir, but with different sets of labels and mounted on different types of cards. One of the syntypes ( Figure 6A ), kept in Coll. Ruter (Muséum Paris, 1980), is a male of a Laparocerus and was studied by Ruter, who consequently transferred the species to that genus and provided a line drawing of its habitus ( Ruter 1945). The second syntype ( Figure 6B ), kept in Coll. Hoffmann (Muséum Paris, 1968) is a Cyclobarus . It seems that Escalera described susicus based on specimens pertaining to different species and genera. The textual description applies exactly to the Laparocerus , but the only syntype that bears at least one handwritten label of Escalera [‘‘Agadir’’] is the Cyclobarus ( Figure 6B , second label from top). To designate this latter specimen as the name-bearing type (lectotype) would have rather cumbersome implications: firstly, a redescription of susicus would be necessary; secondly, Cyclobarus susicus would enter in synonymy with Cyclobarus mskalicus Escalera, 1914 (J. Pelletier, personal communication); thirdly, a new name would be needed for the Laparocerus species , despite the fact that it has been described as Cyclomaurus tessellatus Hustache, 1932 (as Laparocerus it enters in secondary homonymy with Laparocerus tessellatus (Brulle´, 1839). A more practical solution for stability is to exclude the Cyclobarus specimen, and to designate the Laparocerus male from Agadir kept in Madrid as lectotype of susicus Escalera, 1914 .

Figures

Figure 6. Type series of Cyclobarus susicus Escalera, 1914. (A) Paralectotype, with labels; (B) excluded paralectotype, with labels. Second label from the top is in Escalera’s handwriting.