Charidotis circulifera Boheman, 1862

Sekerka, Lukáš, 2016, Taxonomic and nomenclatural changes in Cassidinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 56 (1), pp. 275-344 : 290-291

Charidotis circulifera Boheman, 1862

Charidotis circulifera Boheman, 1862: 370 (original description).

Charidotis exornata Weise, 1921: 203 (original description), syn. nov.

Type localities. Charidotis circulifera : ‘ Brasilia (Ega)’ [= Tefé in the State of Amazonas]; C. exornata : ‘[ Brazil, Amazonas] Rio Autáz : Cururuzinho’.

Type material examined. Charidotis circulifera : SYNTYPES: 1 spec., pinned, ‘ Brasil. | Ega [hw] [w, p, s] || Baly. [w, p, s] || Type. [w, p, s] || NHRS-SRAH | 000000546 [w, p, cb]’ ( NHRS); 1 spec., pinned, ‘ Type [w, p, s, c, rf] || Ega [hw] | Baly Coll. | 1905—54. [w, p, cb] || Charidotis | circulifera | Boh | Ega [w, hw by Baly, cb] || Coll | Bates | Stevens | Named by | Boheman | Type [hw by Baly on underside of the preceding label]’ ( BMNH) ; 1 spec., pinned, ‘ Ega [hw] | Baly Coll. | 1905—54. [w, p, cb]’ ( BMNH) .

Charidotis exornata : HOLOTYPE: pinned, ‘ Rio | Autaz [w, p, cb] || Amazon | Roman [w, p, cb] || sept. [w, p, s] || Autaz, Sa. Amelia 12/9 14. | Pa blad i skogem [= on leaf in forest] A. Rm[oman] [w, hw by Roman, cb] || Type. [w, p, s] || exornata | m. [w, hw by Weise, cb] || exornata W. | cognata ab. [w, hw by Spaeth, cb] || NHRS-JLKB | 000021800 [w, p, cb] ’ ( NHRS).

Remarks. Charidotis exornata was described explicitly from a single specimen ( WEISE 1921). SPAETH (1931b, 1936) considered it as an aberrant specimen of C. cognata Boheman, 1855 . Based on the labels Spaeth cited, it is unclear why he considered it as a peculiar form of the latter species, as it is very different in size and morphological features. Charidotis exornata is distinct by the very broadly elliptical pronotum presented only in certain species, i.e. theses 261–266 in SPAETH (1936), while C. cognata has a narrower pronotum and coarser punctation of elytra. In my opinion C. exornata is conspecific with C. circulifera Boheman, 1862 as both taxa are morphologically similar, differing only in colouration. The latter has a dorsum with two concentric rings, black and red, and a yellow central spot, while in C. exornata the red inner ring is expanded and forms a large central spot without a yellow marking. For these reasons I synonymize C. exornata with C. circulifera .

Distribution. Brazil: Amazonas ( BOHEMAN 1862, WEISE 1921).