Paracantha Coquillett , 1899j: 264

Evenhuis, Neal L., 2018, Nomenclatural studies toward a World List of Diptera genus-group names. Part VI: Daniel William Coquillett, Zootaxa 4381 (1), pp. 1-95 : 42

87. Paracantha Coquillett, 1899j: 264 .

ORIGINALLY INCLUDED SPECIES: Trypeta culta Wiedemann, 1830 (as “ Carphotriche culta ”).

TYPE SPECIES: Trypeta culta Wiedemann, 1830 (as “ Carphotriche culta ”), by original designation.

CURRENT STATUS: Valid genus [ teste Norrbom et al. (1999: 180) ]. Nomen protectum [ teste this work].

FAMILY: TEPHRITIDAE .

REMARKS: In a discussion of thistle insects of Colorado, Cockerell (1889a: 1) published the name Scriptotricha culta , which had been interpreted by some workers to be a new nominal genus with Trypeta culta Wiedemann, 1830 as the type species by monotypy. Scriptotricha appears in two other places in the non-recording literature ( Cockerell 1889b, and 1893, both in checklists of insects), otherwise it has not been treated since as a valid genus and it is conspicuously absent from Coquillett’s (1910c) list of North American Diptera genera. If found to be an available name, Cockerell’s genus would have priority over Paracantha Coquillett, 1899 , but Norrbom et al. (1999: 180) rejected Cockerell’s name in the interest of stability. Cockerell (1900) explained the history of Scriptotricha after corresponding with Coquillett who investigated the matter. It seems clear from the information supplied in Cockerell (1900) that Cockerell perpetuated a lapsus by Theodore Pergande of “ Scriptotricha ” culta for “ Carphotricha ” culta , the former name of which was given to Cockerell by Pergande as the name of a specimen Cockerell had sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for identification. As it is clear that Cockerell had no intention of proposing a new genus, I therefore treat all occurrences of “ Scriptotricha ” in Cockerell (1889 a, 1889b, and 1893) as incorrect subsequent spellings of Carphotricha . However, in case Scriptotricha is still viewed as an available name, I here invoke ICZN Code Art. 23.9 (reversal of precedence) since (1) Scriptotricha has not been used as a valid name since 1899, and (2) Paracantha has been used as a valid name in at least 25 works by 10 authors in the last 50 years in a span of more than 10 years and treat Paracantha Coquillett, 1899 as a nomen protectum and Scriptotricha Cockerell, 1889 as a nomen oblitum. See Appendix III for a list of works citing Paracantha as a valid taxon to comply with point (2) above.