Spilogaster quadrivittata, Macquart, 1843

Pont, Adrian C., 2012, Muscoidea (Fanniidae, Anthomyiidae, Muscidae) described by P. J. M. Macquart (Insecta, Diptera), Zoosystema 34 (1), pp. 39-111 : 82-83

quadrivittata Macquart, 1843 , Spilogaster

Spilogaster quadrivittata Macquart, 1843: 163 ( 1844: 320) . Lectotype ♂, Europe (not “de l’île Bourbon [ La Réunion]. M. Bréon. Muséum.” as stated by Macquart), by present designation, in MNHN.

MATERIAL. — Described from material collected by Bréon on La Réunion, there are 2 ♂♂ syntypes under no. 988 of the Macquart collection in MNHN. One is labelled “292”, and “quadrivittata” by Macquart ; the other has no labels. Both are somewhat defective. I have labelled and designate herewith the ♂ with Macquart’s label as lectotype, and the second (unlabelled) ♂ as paralectotype. The lectotype has some mould and lacks left foreleg.

CURRENT IDENTITY. — These 2 ♂♂ belong to the genus Helina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 , and are quite unlike any known Malagasy or even Afrotropical species. In fact, the lectotype has proved to be Helina reversio (Harris, 1780) and the paralectotype Helina trivittata (Zetterstedt, 1860) , both of which are widespread European species. The locality given by Macquart is incorrect, and the name S. quadrivittata is now treated as a junior synonym of H. reversio ( Pont 1986b: 149) .

It should be noted that in the same box of the Macquart collection, under no. 991, there is a ♂ identified as Spilogaster duplicata (Meigen, 1826) , i.e. what is now known as Helina reversio . It has the accession no. 4112.33, and the relevant entry in the MNHN register states that this collection came from île Bourbon ( La Réunion), collected by Bréon. Beneath this, there is a note by the coleopterist E. J. B. Fleutiaux (1858-1951), that three Elateridae collected on La Réunion by Bréon are in fact European species. Evidently, a whole batch of European insect material was mislabelled as being from La Réunion.