On nomenclature and synonymy of Trichius rosaceus, T. gallicus, and T. zonatus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Trichiini)
Author
Krell, Frank-Thorsten
text
Zootaxa
2012
3278
61
68
journal article
44956
10.5281/zenodo.280850
f97fe3e2-5d5b-4b24-8a96-592412c6ac59
1175-5326
280850
Trichius gallicus
Dejean, 1821
(valid species name)
The oldest available name for the species called
Trichius rosaceus
Voet
by the authors listed above and others is
Trichius gallicus
Dejean, 1821
. Dejean (1821: 61) introduced
Trichius gallicus
as the valid name of
Trichius fasciatus
sensu Olivier. The
type
locality is Paris. Since no description was given, Dejean's name has long been considered a nomen nudum (
Sherborn 1926
: 2628; but see
Hoeven 1856
: 510) and therefore has been credited to
Heer (1841)
, who supposedly was the first to publish a description of
Trichius gallicus
. However, Dejean’s (1821) reference to "
Fasciatus
. Ol." fulfils the requirements of Article 12.2.1 (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999) for availability by indication: "a bibliographic reference to a previously published description or definition". The reference to Olivier's description of
Trichius fasciatus
, even if not fulfilling modern standards for bibliographic references, unambiguously refers to Olivier's (1789: Cétoine 61) description of
Cetonia fasciata
. However, the identity of Olivier's species cannot be determined from the description as it fits any of the European
Trichius
species. The abdomen is described as black, which is true for the females of all European species and also for the males of
T. fasciatus
. In his references, he refers to Voet's description, but also to Linnaeus's
Trichius fasciatus
. Olivier certainly subsumed at least two species under the name
Cetonia fasciata
. However, we can unequivocally determine the identity of
Trichius gallicus
Dejean, 1821
, since later, Dejean (1829) himself, in a so far overlooked paper, described in detail the three
Trichius
species he mentioned in his catalogue. “
Trichius abdominalis
. Dej.” from
Austria
is the species that we currently know as
Trichius sexualis
Bedel, 1906
(see
Krell 2010
) since Dejean (1829) describes the male abdomen of this species "dont les taches jaunes de l'avant-dernier segment sont plus grandes [in comparison to
T. gallicus
], et dont les segments antérieurs sont marqués d'une bande transversal, jaune, un peu écrancrée postérieurement dans son milieu." Dejean's
T. fasciatus
is, without doubt,
Trichius fasciatus
(
Linnaeus, 1758
)
as this is the only species occurring in
Sweden
(
Smetana 2006
) and, as Dejean (1829) describes "Le dessous de l'abdomen du male n'a aucune tache jaune."
Trichius gallicus
(=
Trichius rosaceus
Kraatz
) occurs in the former Swedish territories in Pomerania (
Köhler & Klausnitzer 1998
), but they were no longer Swedish at the time of publication of Dejean’s catalogue (
Hacker & Hardenberg 2003
), and Dejean (1829) did not know this species from northern
Germany
. The third species,
T. gallicus
, is identical to the species we currently know as
T. rosaceus
or
T. zonatus
, because the male abdomen of
T. gallicus
"présente les taches jaunes indiquées par MM. Serville et comte de St.-Fargeau." Le Peletier de
Saint-Fargeau & Serville (1828: 703)
described under “Trichie fascié,
T. fasciatus
”, which they misinterpreted, the abdomen of
T gallicus
: “Le mâle a l’avant-dernier segment de l’abdomen en dessous […] chargé à sa base de deux sections de cercle garnies d’écailles serrées, jaunâtres.” Dejean had distinguished the three central European species correctly.
Heer (1841)
interpreted Dejean’s
Trichius gallicus
correctly.
Trichius gallicus
Dejean, 1821
is the valid name for the species that is currently known as
T. rosaceus
and
T. zonatus
. Until the mid 1900s,
Trichius gallicus
had been in use as valid name mainly in western Europe and North Africa, e.g., by
Houlbert & Monnot (1910)
,
Bedel (1911)
, Martínez de la
Escalera (1914)
,
Doflein (1921)
,
Abot (1928; “
T. zonatus
Germ.
var.
gallicus
Heer
”)
,
Sainte-Claire
Deville (1935
; “[
zonatus
Germ.
]
var.
gallicus
Heer
”), and
Paulian (1941
,
1959
; “
Trichius zonatus
subsp.
gallicus
Heer
”), until it was synonymized with
T. rosaceus
by
Janssens (1960: 353)
. After Janssens,
T. gallicus
has rarely been used, but was not completely forgotten (see
Bobîrnac
et al.
1999
: "
Trichius zonatus
Germ.
, ab.
gallicus
Herr
";
Ádám 2003
: “
Trichius zonatus
var.
gallicus
Heer, 1841
”;
Davidts 2006
: "
Trichius gallicus
"). The name was used on a French postage due stamp in 1982 (see
Lucht 1987
). Its reinstatement, even with the different author Dejean, reviving the former use after a gap of 70 years, is unlikely to cause major confusion.