Apion astragali Thunberg, 1815: 118

Alonso-Zarazaga, Miguel A., 2013, Types of species of Apionidae (Coleoptera) described by Carl Peter Thunberg (1743 - 1828) with description of a new genus, ZooKeys 317, pp. 89-101 : 93

Apion astragali Thunberg, 1815: 118 Fig. 3

Original description.

A. Astragali: caerulescens nitidus, elytris striatis.

Habitat in Vestrogothia Sveciae.

Totus supra nitens, caerulescens; subtus magis niger magnitudine pediculi.

Elytra gibba, striata.

Material studied.

I have received three specimens with red type labels as above, carrying the numbers 1206, 1289 and 1290. Only specimen nr. 1289 has an additional label reading “Vestrog.”. This specimen, pinned high on a long pin with head, is a female Pseudoprotapion astragali (Paykull, 1800) and is here designated as lectotype. This allows establishment of the following new synonymy: Pseudoprotapion astragali (Paykull, 1800) = Apion astragali Thunberg, 1815. Specimen 1206 is a male of the same species and is designated as paralectotype. However, specimen 1290 does not fit the original description and is not considered to represent a syntype, not being bright bluish as the others but dull bronze-black. It is a female of Aspidapion radiolus (Marsham, 1802). Thunberg’s original species label of this specimen carries a question mark and the letter β, in contrast with the other two, which carry the letter α.