Canthecona marmorata, (Canthecona)

Roell, Talita, Lemaître, Valérie A., Webb, Michael D. & Campos, Luiz A., 2023, An annotated and illustrated Type Catalogue of the predacious Shieldbugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Asopinae) in the Collection of the Natural History Museum, London, Zootaxa 5232 (1), pp. 1-105 : 55

marmorata (Canthecona) Dallas 1851: 90. [ Fig. 108 ]

Original data: “ ♁”; “a. S. Africa. Presented by the Earl of Derby.” [syntype (s)]

SYNTYPE ♁: blue-margined syntype disc; red-margined type disc; “Int. S. Africa / 43 19”; “3. CANTHECONA MARMORATA ,”; “a”; “NHMUK 010592164”. Right middle and posterior legs missing ( Fig. 108 ).

Current status: Afrius purpureus (Westwood, 1837) (synonymised by Roell et al. 2019: 25).

Notes: Walker (1867a: 130) listed only one specimen from the same provenance ( South Africa, Earl of Derby ); it is likely that Dallas described the species from this unique specimen but we cannot be totally sure, we therefore consider the specimen a syntype . Strangely , Thomas (1994: 151) wrote “the Holotype female of Canthecona marmorata Dallas was located in the BM(NH)”. Dallas described the species from one (or more) male, and we have also found a male in the collection; Thomas may have misread his notes. Because of the doubt he introduced as to the sex of the specimen, we cannot consider this as a valid lectotype designation by inference of the holotype.

Figures

FIGURES 105–112. Type specimens deposited in NHMUK. 105–107, Zicrona marginella; 108, Canthecona marmorata; 109, Mecosoma marshalli; 110, Strachia megaspila; 111, Hoploxys megaspilus; 112, Asopus micans. Scale bars: 4 mm.