Blapstinus Dejean, 1821

Ivie, Michael A. & Hart, Charles J., 2016, Redefinition ofDiastolinusMulsant and Rey, with a Review of West Indian Blapstinoid Genera (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Opatrini), The Coleopterists Bulletin 70 (3), pp. 447-481 : 447-481

Blapstinus Dejean, 1821

( Figs. 5–11 )

Blapstinus Dejean 1821: 66 , type species: Blaps punctata Fabricius 1792: 109 by monotypy; Sturm 1826:101; Waterhouse 1845: 34; Gebien

1938: 402 [439]; Mulsant and Rey 1859: 116,

1860: 180; Davis 1970: 41; Aalbu et al.

2002: 493; Iwan 2004: 739; Bouchard et al.

2005: 511.

Remarks. Blapstinus has been attributed to a variety of authors over the years, Gebein (1938) listed Waterhouse (1845) as the author and Blapstinus pulverulentus Mannerheim, 1843 as the type species. Davis (1970) listed Sturm (1826) as the author and indicated no type species had been designated. Aalbu et al. (2002) followed Davis in attributing the genus to Sturm, but did not mention a type species. Bouchard et al. (2005) correctly identified Dejean (1821) as the author of Blapstinus , but likewise did not mention a type species. Blaps punctata was the sole valid species included in Dejean’ s list, making it the type species by monotypy.

This genus is widespread, common, and speciose in the New World, ranging from Canada to Argentina. In the West Indian fauna, Blapstinus is the apparently ancestral form of blapstinoids, having a long metaventrite and usually well-developed flight wings. It may be rendered polyphyletic by the other genera treated here. See Aalbu and Triplehorn (1991) for further discussion.

Blapstinus aciculus Blatchley, 1917 Blapstinus aciculus Blatchley 1917: 275 (type locality: Florida); Peck and Thomas 1998: 107 ( Bahamas, no island specified); Steiner 2006a: 21, 2006b: 107 ( Bahamas, no island specified), 2011: 116 ( USA, New Providence).

Distribution. Florida, New Providence ( Bahamas).

Blapstinus cubanus Marcuzzi, 1962 Clapstinus cubanus Marcuzzi 1957: 129 ( nomen nudum).

Blapstinus cubanus ; Marcuzzi 1962: 33 (type locality: Cuba) ; 1977: 26 ( Cuba, Grand Cayman), 1998b: 156; Ardoin 1977: 390 ( Cuba); Peck 2005: 151 ( Cuba, Bahamas); Turnbow and Thomas 2008: 53 ( Bahamas); Thomas et al. 2013: 49.

Blapstinus cubanus cubanus ; Marcuzzi 1984: 80 ( Cuba, Grand Cayman).

Blapstinus humilis Casey, 1890 ; Thomas et al. 2013: 49 (Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac).

Distribution. “ Bahamas,” Cuba, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac.

Remarks. Thomas et al. (2013) used this name for Marcuzzi’ s records from Grand Cayman, but use Blapstinus humilis Casey for those they collected on the same island. This is obviously not tenable as a solution, and all these records surely belong to a single species. We have specimens of B. cubanus from Cuba that match specimens from Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac that lend support to Marcuzzi’ s identification. While it is tempting to synonymize Marcuzzi’ s species with the mainland Casey name, that is beyond the scope of our study and will be left for a future investigation. However, we will move the Thomas et al. (2013) records to B. cubanus .

Figures

Figs. 5–11. Blapstinus punctatus: 5) Dorsal habitus; 6) Humeral angle; 7) Aedeagus, dorsal view; 8) Aedeagus, lateral view; 9) Head and thorax, ventral view; 10) Abdominal ventrites. Blapstinus fortis: 11) Dorsal habitus.