Platynopus conspersus, 1843

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 : 32

conspersus (Platynopus) Walker 1867a: 123–124 . [ Figs. 41–42 ]

Original data: “ a, b. Orizaba. From M. Sallé’s collection.” [two syntypes]

LECTOTYPE ♁ (designated by Thomas 1992: 58): purple-margined lectotype disc; green-margined type disc; “3. PLATYNOPUS CONSPERSUS .”; “NHMUK 010592398”. Fifth left antennomere, fourth and fifth right antennomeres, right middle leg, and left posterior leg missing ( Fig. 41 ).

PARALECTOTYPE sex unknown: blue-margined paralectotype disc; “Mex / 56.143”; “ Oplomus conspersus Walker’s catal.”; “NHMUK 010592400”. Right antenna, third to fifth left antennomeres, middle and posterior legs, and the abdomen missing (preventing the sex determination) ( Fig. 42 ).

Current status: Oplomus mutabilis Stål, 1862 ( Platynopus conspersus Walker, 1867 was synonymised to Oplomus (Stictocnemus) proteus Stål, 1862 by Stål 1870: 30 [see also Distant 1880: 32, 1900a: 63; Schouteden 1907: 36]; the latter species was synonymised to Oplomus mutabilis Stål, 1862 by Thomas 1992: 58).

Notes: Walker (1867a: 124) had noted: “The spines of the thorax in this species are hardly apparent, and thus it resembles Oplomus .” Indeed, the species was later synonymised to species of Oplomus . Thomas (1992: 58) stated: “The type of Platynopus conspersus , a female, was located in the British Museum (Natural History). It is labeled: (a) “Type,” (b) “ Platynopus conspersus .”” Walker (1867a: 124) had described: “Abdomen blackish blue, except at the tip; under side with a large quadrate spot of whitish tomentum on each side of the hinder disk, which is wholly black”. The “whitish tomentum” mentioned by him is a bristle set which occurs only in males of some species of Asopinae (glandular patches). Therefore, we assume that Thomas made a mistake when copying the sex of this specimen from his notes. Even so, as he detailed the labels and called the specimen “the type”, we consider he has “unambiguously selected [this] particular syntype to act as the unique name-bearing type of the taxon” ( ICZN 1999, Art. 74.5).

Figures

FIGURES 41–48. Type and non-type specimens deposited in NHMUK. 41–42, Platynopus conspersus; 43–46, Zicrona cuprea; 47, Macrorhaphis dallasi; 48, Oplomus distinctus. Scale bars: 4 mm.