Pelidnota alliacea (Germar, 1824)

Moore, Matthew R., Jameson, Mary L., Garner, Beulah H., Audibert, Cedric, Smith, Andrew B. T. & Seidel, Matthias, 2017, Synopsis of the pelidnotine scarabs (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Rutelinae, Rutelini) and annotated catalog of the species and subspecies, ZooKeys 666, pp. 1-349 : 1

Pelidnota alliacea (Germar, 1824)

Rutela alliacea Germar, 1824: 117 [original combination].

Pelidnota glauca (Olivier) [syn. by Burmeister 1844: 401].

Pelidnota aeruginosa L. [syn. by Harold 1869b: 1221].

Pelidnota alliacea (Germar) [revised species status and new combination by Ohaus 1908a: 250].

Pelidnota (Pelidnota) alliacea (Germar) [new subgeneric combination by Ohaus 1918: 22].

Pelidnota alliacea (Germar) [revised combination by Soula 2009: 74].

Melolontha americana Herbst, 1790 synonym.

Melolontha americana Herbst, 1790: 66 [original combination].

Pelidnota glauca (Olivier) [syn. by Burmeister 1844: 402].

Pelidnota aeruginosa (Linnaeus) [syn. by Harold 1869b: 1221].

Pelidnota alliacea (Germar) [syn. by Soula 2009: 74].

Melolontha glauca Olivier, 1789 synonym.

Melolontha glauca Olivier, 1789: 21 [original combination].

Pelidnota glauca (Olivier) [new combination by Laporte 1840: 122].

Pelidnota aeruginosa (Linnaeus) [syn. by Harold 1869b: 1221].

Pelidnota alliacea (Germar) [syn. by Soula 2009: 74].

Rutela prasina Germar, 1824 synonym.

Rutela prasina Germar, 1824: 117-118 [original combination].

Pelidnota glauca (Olivier) [syn. by Burmeister 1844: 402].

Pelidnota aeruginosa (Linnaeus) [syn. by Harold 1869b: 1221].

Pelidnota alliacea (Germar) [syn. by Soula 2009: 74].

Distribution.

BRAZIL: Espírito Santo, Santa Catarina ( Olivier 1789, 1802, Laporte 1840, Burmeister 1844, Blanchard 1851, Ohaus 1908a, 1918, 1934b, Blackwelder 1944, Machatschke 1972, Krajcik 2008, Soula 2009). SURINAME ( Herbst 1790).

Types.

1 ♂ lectotype and 3 paralectotypes of Rutela alliacea at ZMHB ( Soula 2009).

Remarks.

The species Melolontha americana Herbst, Melolontha glauca Olivier, and Rutela prasina Germar were previously treated as synonyms of Pelidnota aeruginosa (Linnaeus) (nomen dubium) in catalogs of Rutelini ( Ohaus 1918, 1934b, Machatschke 1972). Krell et al. (2012) noted that the nomen dubium status of P. aeruginosa (Linnaeus) necessitates the re-examination of the primary type material, where possible, of several species to resolve issues of identity, nomenclatural priority, and proper synonymy of species previously compared to P. aeruginosa (Linnaeus). We agree with this strategy. Melolontha glauca would appear to have nomenclatural priority based on the publication year (1789), however the species associated with this name may be an anomaline rather than a pelidnotine ( Krell et al. 2012). The following species are in need of evaluation to resolve this issue: Pelidnota rioensis Soula, P. semiaurata semiaurata Burmeister, P. semiaurata citripennis Ohaus, Rutela alliacea Germar, R. prasina Germar, R. caesarea Gistel, Melolontha glauca Olivier, and M. americana Herbst.

Pelidnota aeruginosa (Linnaeus) was designated as a " nomen nullum " by Soula (2009), but he did not clearly address all of the names listed in synonymy under this species. Instead, Soula (2009) considered Melolontha glauca and M. americana as synonyms of P. alliacea (Germar). Rutela prasina Germar was listed in synonymy with two species simultaneously: Pelidnota arnaudi arnaudi Soula (an unavailable name) and P. alliacea (Germar) ( Soula 2009). The discussions of P. alliacea and P. arnaudi arnaudi included identical language that is not helpful for resolving what Soula (2009: 73, 74) meant by this double synonymy: " Rutela prasina Germar, 1824, Ins. spec. nov., p. 117. Burmeister la place en synonymie avec aeruginosa en 1844. Cette fois, il doit bien s’agir de notre arnaudi , puisque c’est lui qui a décrit les deux autres!". Due to this confusing language, we cautiously list Rutela prasina Germar as a junior synonym of Pelidnota alliacea (Germar).