Amillarus apicalis THOMS. ssp. nigroampliatus, Santos-Silva & Galileo, 1857

Santos-Silva, Antonio & Galileo, Maria Helena M., 1857, OnAmillarusThomson, 1857 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae): Types, Variation, and a New Synonym, The Coleopterists Bulletin 1857 (4), pp. 805-811 : 805-811

Amillarus apicalis Thomson, 1857 ( Figs. 1–9 )

Amillarus apicalis Thomson 1857: 312 . Amillarus erythroderus Chevrolat 1861: 189 . Amillarus mutabilis Bates 1866: 432 .

Amillarus apicalis has the widest distribution of any species in the genus ( Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Brazil (Pará). Currently, two names are considered synonyms: A. erythroderus Chevrolat, 1861 , and A. mutabilis Bates, 1866 . Seeing photographs of the types, reading the original descriptions, and examining specimens deposited in MZSP, we agree with these synonymies. However, Breuning (1974) described a subspecies, A. apicalis nigroampliatus , that it is not listed in Monné (2016). In Bezark (2016), this subspecies appears as Amillarus apicalis m. nigroampliatus. However, it was described as a subspecies and not as morph: “ Amillarus apicalis THOMS. ssp. nigroampliatus n. ssp. ” This subspecies was never formally mentioned after the original description and, consequently, remains as different from A. apicalis apicalis . It is probable that it is just another chromatic variation of A. apicalis . However, without examining the holotype, at least through photographs, we maintain it as a distinct subspecies.

Amillarus apicalis shows considerable variation in color and some morphological features. In the specimens deposited in MZSP, we found the following variations: scape black or dark reddish brown, or dark reddish brown with apex blackish; pronotum entirely orange or with basal area from reddish brown to dark brown; sides and ventral surface of prothorax from entirely orange to black; mesosternum entirely orange, or entirely black, or orange with irregular dark areas; metasternum entirely orange, or entirely black, or orange laterally with central region black; spicule of elytral sutural angle from distinct to almost absent; elytral apex from almost straight to distinctly oblique; elytral color very variable: orange, slightly darkened on distal area; orange with distal fifth grayish black; orange on basal half, grayish black on distal half, with orange region projected along suture on grayish black region, or with grayish black region projected along suture on orange region; base orange with remaining surface grayish black; entirely grayish black.

According to Chevrolat (1861) (at that time, Cerambycidae from the former Dejean collection belonged to Chevrolat (Horn and Kahle 1935)), Aphies erythrodera sensu Dejean (1835) was a different species (translated): “The Aphies erythrodera, Dej. , ( Figs. 3, 6 ) that Mr. Thomson reported as variety, seems to me distinct; here is the description: - Silky grayish black. Head, antennae, except for black scape, prothorax apex of profemora and protibiae silky yellow-ochraceous. Elytra obliquely truncate from outer angle to suture, with outer angle slightly more acute and a sulcus at sutural edge; with fine punctures, almost aligned; ventral side of the body silky gray.” However, the elytral apex in the syntypes (now lectotype and paralectotype) is somewhat different: distinctly oblique in one of them ( Fig. 1 ); straighter ( Fig. 2 ) in the other (very similar to the holotype of A. apicalis ( Figs. 7, 8 )). Furthermore, the elytral sculpture is practically identical in the syntypes of A. erythroderus and the holotype of A. apicalis (the same in the specimen identified as A. lebasii by Dejean). After examining photographs of the syntypes of A. erythroderus , we conclud that Bates (1881) was right when synonymizing this species and A. mutabilis Bates, 1866 ( Fig. 9 ) with Amillarus apicalis . Chevrolat (1861) affirmed that A. erythroderus is from “Nouvelle Granade et Venezuela ”.

We do not know how many syntypes there were originally when Chevrolat (1861) described A. erythroderus , but the syntypes currently deposited in BMNH are not from Venezuela. Dejean (1835) recorded Aphies erythrodera from “Carthagena” [Cartagena, Colombia]. However, the labels show that one syntype (now lectotype) is from this place ( Fig. 5 ), but the other is from “Nouvelle Granade” ( Fig. 4 ). It is a very frequent mistake to consider “Nouvelle Granade” as being Colombia. According to Cardona-Duque et al. (2010) (translated): “Until 1810 the territory that today corresponds to Colombia included Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, part of Colombia, and the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua. Between 1810 and 1816, it was named New Granada and mainly comprised the Colombian West, North (Sucre, Córdoba and Bolivar) and east (Tolima, Huila, Santander, Llano and Cundinamarca). Between 1816 and 1819 occurred the Spanish reconquest and apparently from 1819 always encompassed the territories of Panama and Colombia, receiving different names: Colombia (between 1819 and 1830), Republic of New Granada (between 1830 and 1858), Granadina Confederation (between 1858 and 1861), United States of New Granada (between 1861 and 1863), United States of Colombia (between 1863 and 1886), Republic of Colombia (between 1886 and 1903), and finally Panama became independent in 1903 (Montoya-Guzmán com. pers.). Palacios and Safford (2002) affirmed that Venezuela became independent in 1830, thus Venezuela is not part of the territory at least since 1830.” Therefore, in 1861 Cartagena was part of Grenadina Confederation or United States of New Granada. Thus, it is necessary to infer that Chevrolat had, at least, four specimens, since two specimens deposited in BMNH are from the country currently known as Colombia and the other is from Colombia or Panama, and that this (these) specimen(s) was (were) not listed in Dejean’ s catalogues.

We designate herein as the lectotype of Amillarus erythroderus the specimen ( Fig. 1 ) with the following labels ( Fig. 5 ):

1. Green (handwritten by Dejean): Aphies erythrodera / mihi / h. Carthagena / D. Lebas

2. White (printed): Bowr. Chevr. / 63-47*

3. Green (handwritten): n gren / [illegible] / j gaudot.

4. Red (printed) (added by us): LECTOTYPE

Consequently, the type locality of A. erythroderus is Cartagena in Colombia .

Geographic Distribution. Amillarus apicalis apicalis is known from Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador,

and Brazil (Pará). Amillarus apicalis nigroampliatus is in Ecuador.

Figures

Figs. 1–6. 1) Lectotype of Amillarus erythroderus; 2) Paralectotype of A. erythroderus; 3) “Aphies lebasii” sensu Dejean (1835) and Chevrolat (1861); 4) Labels for paralectotype of A. erythroderus; 5) Labels for lectotype of A. erythroderus; 6) Labels for “Aphies lebasii ”.

Figs. 7–14. 7) Amillarus apicalis, holotype; 8) Labels for holotype of A. apicalis; 9) Amillarus mutabilis, syntype; 10) Didymonycha secunda, holotype male, elytral apices; 11) D. secunda ab. infuscata, “holotype” male, elytral apices; 12) D. secunda, holotype male, elytral apex, drawing by Tippmann (1951); 13) D. secunda ab. infuscata, “holotype” male, elytral apex, drawing by Tippmann (1951); 14) Trichogrammopsis ruficollis, holotype male.