Agenysa caedemadens ( Lichtenstein, 1796 )

Sekerka, Lukáš, 2016, Taxonomic and nomenclatural changes in Cassidinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 56 (1), pp. 275-344 : 301-302

Agenysa caedemadens ( Lichtenstein, 1796)

Cassida caedemadens Lichtenstein, 1796: 65 (original description).

Calaspidea guianiensis Boheman, 1857: 36 (original description), syn. nov.

Calaspidea signaticollis Boheman, 1857: 36 (original description), syn. nov.

Type localities. Cassida caedemadens : not given; Calaspidea guianiensis : ‘Guyana’; C. signaticollis : not given.

Type material examined. Cassida caedemadens : type material unknown.

Calaspidea guianiensis : LECTOTYPE (designated by BOROWIEC 1997): ♀, pinned, ‘Br.Guya | na.[w, hw by Boheman, s] || M. Berl [w, hw, s] || Type. [w, p, s] || TYPUS [r, p, cb, bf] || 422 | 64 [hw] [p, p, s] || C. guyanensis [w, hw, cb] || Riksmuseum | Stockholm [g, p, s] || Agenysa | guianiensis | Det.M.Viana (Boh.) [w, hw by Viana, cb] | I – 1965 [hw on reverse of previous label] || LECTOTYPE | des. L. Borowiec [r, p, cb] || NHRS-JLKB | 000020858 [w, p, cb]’ ( NHRS). PARALECTOTYPE: ♀, pinned, ‘Br. Guya | na. [w, hw by Boheman, s] || M. Berl [w, hw, s] || 443 | 64 [hw] [p, p, s] || Riksmuseum | Stockholm [g, p, s] || PARATYPUS [pale orange, p, cb] || Agenysa | guianiensis | Det.M.Viana (Boh.) [w, hw by Viana, cb] | I – 1965 [hw on reverse of previous label] || PARALECTOTYPE | des. L. Borowiec [r, p, cb] || NHRS-JLKB | 000020866 [w, p, cb]’ ( NHRS).

Calaspidea signaticollis : SYNTYPES: ♀, pinned, ‘Type [w, p, s, c, rf] || 48 | 24 [b, hw, s; specimen presented to BMNH by E. Janson in 1848] || signaticollis | Bhn. n. sp. [b, hw by Boheman, s] || Calaspidea | signaticollis | Type | Boh. [w, hw by Gahan, cb]’ ( BMNH); ♂, pinned, ‘Brit. | Mus. [w, hw by Boheman, s] || Type. [w, p, s] || TYPUS [r, p, cb, bf] || 447 | 64 [hw] [p, p, s] || Riksmuseum | Stockholm [g, p, s] || C. signaticollis [w, hw, cb] || Agenysa | signaticollis | Det.M.Viana (Boh.) [w, hw by Viana, cb] | I – 1965 [hw on reverse of previous label] || NHRS-JLKB | 000020859 [w, p, cb]’ ( NHRS).

Remarks. The species was consistently identified in the collections as Calaspidea discors Olivier, 1808 , later changed by BOHEMAN (1857) to Cassida caedemadens due to misinterpretation of C. discors Fabricius, 1801 not Olivier, 1808. However, the original Lichtensteinʼs specimen(s) of Cassida caedemadens is unknown, but the concept of Boheman was adopted by subsequent authors and I follow it here as well. SPAETH (1905) erected the genus Agenysa for this and several other related species. Specimens considered as ‘typical’ A. caedemadens are green, with small red reticulate spot on explanate margin of elytra comming from the Lower Amazon Basin, mainly the three Guyanas and states Amapá and Pará of Brazil. However, the species was also recorded from Bolivia, interior Brazil and Peru (see BOROWIEC & ŚWIĘTOJAŃSKA 2016) but these populations probably belong to different taxa and I do not include these countries in its distribution.

From the same region, A. guianiensis and probably also A. signaticollis were described, both differing from A. caedemadens in uniformly green dorsum. BOROWIEC (1997) synonymized A. signaticollis with A. guianiensis . I have examined types of both taxa and in my opinion they are conspecific with A. caedemadens as they differ only in colour. The size of the red reticulate spots is very variable and in some green specimens it is only indicated as a few slightly brownish patches with metallic tint or completely reduced. Therefore I consider A. signaticollis and A. guianiensis junior subjective synonyms of A. caedemadens .

Distribution. Brazil (Amapá, Pará), French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela ( BOROWIEC & ŚWIĘTOJAŃSKA 2016).