Caenis varicauda F.-J. Pictet, 1843

Sartori, Michel & Bauernfeind, Ernst, 2020, Mayfly types and additional material (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) examined by F. - J. Pictet and A. - E. Pictet, housed in the Museums of Natural History of Geneva and Vienna, Revue suisse de Zoologie 127 (2), pp. 315-339 : 329-330

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.35929/RSZ.0022
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7004654
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/FE1887BE-3938-FFCC-EF9E-FBA310C8FDBF
treatment provided by	Carolina
scientific name	Caenis varicauda F.-J. Pictet, 1843
status

Treatment

Ephemera sp. – Savigny, 1817: 194, pl. 2, figs 6-7.

Caenis varicauda F.-J. Pictet, 1843 -1845: 281-282, pl. 43, fig. 5.

Tricorythus varicauda View in CoL . – Eaton, 1868: 82 (transfer).

Accepted name: Tricorythus varicauda View in CoL (F.-J. Pictet, 1843).

Locus typicus: “… se trouve dans les partie supérieures de l’Egypte”.

Type material: NMW; syntype, ♂ imago; KOTS 1 [= Kotschy leg.] / Pictet vidit / Typus [Ulmer’s handwriting] . – NMW; syntype, ♂ imago; KOTS 2 / Pictet vid . – NMW; syntype, ♂ imago; KOTS 3 / Pictet vid .

Remarks: Theodor Kotschy (1813-1866) travelled the White and Blue Nile (Cairo to Torra, El Obeid, Torra, Karthum, Beni Shanqul) during 1836-1839. Material from this expedition was acquired by the NMW in 1839.

In his redescriptions Ulmer (1916: 14; 1921: 248) quoted “vier Typen [four types]” misreading the collector’s acronym for “No. 21”. The fourth specimen, however, does not represent type material and actually originates from a series collected by Josef Franz Natterer (1819-1862) in “ Egypt ” [Karthoum], acquired by the NMW in 1858 and not seen by F.-J. Pictet.

Beside this material, and as F.-J. Pictet mentioned “… et je la possède aussi dans ma collection”, four specimens are located in the MHNG. They were found under the name Caenis lactella Eaton, 1884 (a synonym of C. horaria ) and all bear the same label: 620 48 Europe centr[ale] coll. Pictet. As no Tricorythus species has ever been reported from Europe, we can conclude that this is an example of the poor care the collection has suffered. These specimens fit the description given by F.- J. Pictet and may well constitute part of the original type series. This material is currently in ethanol.

Eaton (1868) based his genus Tricorythus on Caenis varicauda F.-J. Pictet, 1843 which was recently redescribed by Kluge (2010).