Gromphas inermis, HAROLD, 1869

Cupello, Mario, 2024, The genus Gromphas Dejean, 1836 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeinae): nomenclature, distribution, and conservation, including a contribution to the debate on electronic publications in zoology, Zoosystema 46 (2), pp. 23-59 : 36

THE TYPE SERIES OF GROMPHAS INERMIS HAROLD, 1869

Cupello & Vaz-de-Mello (2013) designated the lectotype of G. inermis from the only syntype found by them in the MNHN, but failed to illustrate it. I take the opportunity to do this here in Figure 6 . Since then, I have located one of the missing paralectotypes. It belongs to the MNHN, but has been on loan to my colleague Federico Ocampo, in Argentina, since the 2000s. Many are the aspects that confirm that this specimen is indeed part of Harold’s type series. Harold (1869 b) described G. inermis in a work dealing specifically with the material that he had seen during a visit to the MNHN (see Cupello 2020), and the specimen bears a label identifying it in Harold’s handwriting as G. inermis ( Fig. 7 ). Another label borne by the specimen, a rectangular, green one typical of South American specimens collected by Alcide d’Orbigny housed in the MNHN, reads ‘ G. aeneus , / Blanch. / Corrientes / M. D’Orbigny.’. This nomen in litteris was curiously never mentioned by Blanchard (1846) in his study of the d’Orbigny South American material or anyone else in the literature except for Harold (1869 b), who cited it as one of the (to use modern jargon) rejected unavailable synonyms of G. inermis along with ‘ G. larcordairei Dejean’. The only way that Harold could have learnt of the existence of this name was from this label, thus making clear that he did examine this d’Orbigny specimen for the description of G. inermis .

TYPE MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Lectotype • ♂; MNHN (ex Edgar von Harold and René Oberthür collections); designated by Cupello & Vaz-de-Mello (2013: 464): “ Buen. Aires ” [Harold’s handwriting], “ inermis / Harold. ” [Harold’s handwriting], “Ex-Musaeo / E.Harold”, “LECTOTYPE”, “MNHN, Paris / EC12059 / [QR code]”, “HOLO LECTO TYPE / Gromphas / inermis / Har. / F.Z. Vaz-de-Mello 2013 ” [Fernando Z. Vaz-de-Mello’s handwriting] ( Fig. 6 ).

Paralectotype • unsexed; MNHN: green disk [obverse] / not seen, but probably aged white, stating an accession number, likely from 1834 given that it is a d’Orbigny specimen [reverse], “ G. ae neus, / Blanch / Corrientes. / M. D’Orbigny. ” [unknown handwriting], “ 558 ” [unknown handwriting], “ Gromphas / inermis / Harold ” [Harold’s handwriting] ( Fig. 7 ) .

Figures

FIG. 6. — The lectotype of Gromphas inermis Harold, 1869, a junior subjective synonym of G. lacordairii (Oken, 1834): A, dorsal view; B, ventral view; C, lateral view; D, labels, note that the ‘Buen. Aires’ and ‘inermis / Harold’ labels are in Harold’s handwriting; E, posterior view; F, dorsal view of the head and protibiae. Photographs courtesy of Christophe Rivier (MNHN). Scale bars: A-C: 5 mm; E, F, 2 mm.

FIG. 7. — The labels of the only known (and newly found) paralectotype of Gromphas inermis Harold, 1869. Notice that it is a d’Orbigny specimen from Corrientes (Argentina) and bears Blanchard’s nomen in litteris ‘G.aeneus’, which was only mentioned in the literature by Harold (1869b). The label at the top bearing the identification ‘Gromphas / inermis / Harold’ is in Harold’s handwriting. Courtesy of Federico Ocampo.