Tituboea octopunctata ( Fabricius, 1787 )

Bezděk, Jan, 2016, Identity of taxa proposed inClythra (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cryptocephalinae) by Carl Peter Forsberg (1821), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 56 (2), pp. 769-784 : 782

Tituboea octopunctata ( Fabricius, 1787)

( Figs 45–49 )

Cryptocephalus octopunctatus Fabricius, 1787: 79 (original description). Clythra quadrisignata Forsberg, 1821a: 266 , 283 (original description), syn. nov.

Type localities. Cryptocephalus octopunctatus : ‘Barbaria’ [= North African coast from Morocco to Libya]. Clythra quadrisignata : not stated.

Type material examined. Cryptocephalus octopunctatus : not examined. The photos of dissected J syntype were sent from ZMUC: ‘C: 8 punctata / e Barbar: Vahl / e Tanger: Schousbo [partly illegible, w, h] // TYPE [r, p] // zmuc / 00031183 [w, p] // ANTIPA [p] / 8-punctata F. [h] / ERBER [p] vid. [h] 19 [p] 97 [w, h]’.

Clythra quadrisignata : HOLOTYPE: ♀, ‘ Uppsala Univ. Zool. Mus. / Thunbergsaml. nr. 8216 / Typsaml. nr. 1760 / Clythra quadrisignata Forsberg 1821 [r, p] // 4-signata. / 27 [box label, w, h]’ ( UUZM).

Distribution. Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia ( REGALIN & MEDVEDEV 2010).

Comments. LACORDAIRE (1848) placed Clythra quadrisignata among the species not known to him. Although the type locality was not mentioned in the original description, Lacordaire mistakenly proposed its origin from ‘Cap de Bonne Espérance’ [= Cape of Good Hope]. As in the case of Clythra coalita , this mistake was repeated in subsequent catalogues where it is classified in the genus Clytra ( GEMMINGER & HAROLD 1874, JACOBY & CLAVAREAU 1906, CLAVAREAU 1913). I have no doubt that the holotype of Clythra quadrisignata belongs to Tituboea Lacordaire, 1848 and originates from North Africa.

As mentioned by BEZDĚK & REGALIN (2015), the females of T. mecheriensis Pic, 1895 and T. octopunctata are morphologically very similar. Identification of both species based on females can be supported by the colouration of basal antennomeres. In females of T. octopunctata these are always pale orange, while in females of T. mecheriensis they are dark brown, usually antennomere I is darkened, sometimes all basal antennomeres black. Because the holotype of Clythra quadrisignata has pale orange basal antennomeres, I propose Clythra quadrisignata as a new synonym of Tituboea octopunctata .

Figures

Figs 45–49. Tituboea biguttata (Olivier, 1791) (holotype of Clythra quadrisignata Forsberg, 1821, ♀, 6.2 mm): 45 – dorsal habitus; 46 – lateral habitus; 47 – frontal habitus; 48 – box label; 49 – label of holotype.