identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
084A8782DD70FFCD79BEE6F5CA94C5A4.text	084A8782DD70FFCD79BEE6F5CA94C5A4.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Melolontha pexa Zubkov 1833	<div><p>Identity of the neotype of Melolontha pexa Zubkov, 1833</p><p>The specimen found in the Finnish Museum of Natural History and here designated as the neotype is a female (Fig. 2) belonging to the genus Holochelus Reitter, 1889 . Although the identification of Holochelus species is mainly based on the shape of paramers (e.g., Nonveiller 1965), species identification is not a problem in this particular case. Given the size of the specimen (12.5 mm), the structure of the head (especially the distance between the eyes) and the pronotum, it belongs to the species currently known as Holochelus (Eriotrogus) aschhabadensis (Nonveiller, 1965), which is also the only representative of this genus known from the Bukey Horde area (Shokhin 2007). Holochelus aschhabadensis was originally described from six males from “Aschhabad” [= Ashgabad, Turkmenistan] (Nonveiller 1965). It is widespread in Kazakhstan, occurring along the Caspian Sea and reaching the left bank of the Volga River in the Astrakhan Region of Russia, so encompassing the type locality of M. pexa (Shokhin 2007; Shokhin et al. 2014). Holochelus aschhabadensis is thus synonymized with H. (Eriotrogus) pexus, new combination . It is worth mentioning that Holochelus (Holochelus) heptapotamicus Nikolajev, 2009 was also described from Kazakhstan based on two specimens that differ from H. (Eriotrogus) pexus, new combination in their smaller size and very slightly in the shape of male genitalia. The personal examination of the holotype of this species by one of the authors (IVS) enabled us to synonymize H. heptapotamicus with H. pexus .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/084A8782DD70FFCD79BEE6F5CA94C5A4	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Bezděk, Aleš;Bezděk, Jan;Shokhin, Igor V.	Bezděk, Aleš, Bezděk, Jan, Shokhin, Igor V. (2026): Taxonomic mystery solved: the identity of Melolontha pexa Zubkov, 1833 and the genus Adoretops Kraatz, 1883 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae). Zootaxa 5763 (4): 529-540, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.4, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.4
084A8782DD70FFC779BEE57DCDDBC6C7.text	084A8782DD70FFC779BEE57DCDDBC6C7.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Holochelus (Eriotrogus) pexus (Zubkov 1833) Bezděk & Bezděk & Shokhin 2026	<div><p>Holochelus (Eriotrogus) pexus (Zubkov, 1833), new combination</p><p>(Figs. 1–4)</p><p>Melolontha pexa Zubkov, 1833: 323 (original description, type locality: “steppes des Kirguises”)</p><p>Adoretops pexus: Kraatz 1883: 152 (misidentification of the type species)</p><p>Adoretops pexus (sensu Kraatz): Reitter 1902: 294 (redescription); Zaitzev 1928: 373 (key); Shokhin 2007: 157 (doubtful records); Bezděk 2004: 68 (catalogue); Bezděk 2006: 182 (catalogue); Bezděk 2016a: 214 (catalogue, nomen dubium)</p><p>Adoretops plexus (incorrect subsequent spelling): Dalla Torre 1912: 255 (catalogue); Winkler 1929: 1088 (catalogue); Medvedev 1951: 230 (sensu Kraatz, redescription, distribution); Nikolajev 1987: 146 (sensu Kraatz, redescription, distribution)</p><p>Miltotrogus aschhabadensis Nonveiller, 1965: 54 (original description, type locality: “Aschhabad”), new synonym</p><p>Holochelus (Eriotrogus) aschhabadensis: Shokhin 2007: 157 (distribution); Shokhin 2025: 299 (subgeneric reclassification)</p><p>Holochelus (Holochelus) aschhabadensis: Smetana &amp; Král 2006: 217 (catalogue); Bezděk 2016b: 266 (catalogue)</p><p>Holochelus aschchabadensis (incorrect subsequent spelling): Huang 2005: 34 (distribution); Shokhin et al. 2014: 79 (distribution)</p><p>Holochelus (Holochelus) heptapotamicus Nikolajev, 2009: 122 (original description, type locality: “ КАЗАхстАн, ЧАрын” [= Kazakhstan, Charyn]), new synonym</p><p>Type material examined. Melolontha pexa Zubkov, 1833: neotype (here designated), female, length 12.5 mm, deposited in MZH (Fig. 2): “♀ || Eversm. || Stepp. Kirgiz. [handwritten] || Melolontha pexa | Zubkov, 1833 | NEOTYPE, female | des. Aleš &amp; Jan Bezděk, 2025 [red label, printed]”.</p><p>Miltotrogus aschhabadensis Nonveiller, 1965: none. Holochelus (Holochelus) heptapotamicus Nikolajev, 2009: holotype, male, deposited in ZIN (Fig. 4A–B): “ КАЗАхстАн [= Kazakhstan] | ЧАрын [= Charyn] | 05. [19]94 | Д. Милько [= D. Milʼko] [handwritten] || Holotypus Holochelus | heptapotamicus | Nikolajev 2005 [red label, printed] || Zoological Institute | St. Petersburg | INS_COL_0000148]”.</p><p>Additional material examined (6 specimens). Kazakhstan: 1 male, Mangyshlak [Peninsula], firmed sands near the sea, 4.V.1967, Shevtschenko (ZMUM) ; 2 males (Fig. 3C–E), E Kazakhstan, SW Tarbagatai Mountains, 16.V.2001; V. Taskesken leg. (ISCR) . Russia: 1 male (Fig. 3A–B); Astrakhan Region, Baskunchak, 11.V.1994, Y. Arzanov leg. (ISCR) . Turkmenistan: 1 male, environs Nebit-Dag [= Balkanabat], <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=54.364998&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=39.511944" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 54.364998/lat 39.511944)">gorge Karagidzhak</a> [39°30′43″N, 54°21′54″E], 9.IV.1975, S. Murzin leg. (ISCR) ; 1 male, environs Nebit-Dag [= Balkanabat], <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=54.364998&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=39.511944" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 54.364998/lat 39.511944)">gorge Karagidzhak</a> [39°30′43″N, 54°21′54″E], 15.IV.1975, S. Murzin leg. (ISCR) .</p><p>Designation of the neotype. Being unable to locate the original type material, we designate the neotype of Melolontha pexa Zubkov, 1833, a female specimen from “Stepp. Kirgiz.” deposited in the Finnish Museum of Natural History, Helsinki, Finland. This designation is in agreement with the Article 75 (ICZN 1999), because the original description is insufficient to define the nominal taxon objectively.</p><p>Redescription. Males. Body length 9–12 mm, body elongate, moderately convex, slightly widened posteriad. Dorsal surface brown, head appendages and legs yellowish brown. Erect setation white to pale yellow.</p><p>Head with a thin frontoclypeal suture in the middle. Frons densely and coarsely punctate, clypeus with more sparse and finer punctation. Clypeus rectangular, anterior margin upturned and weakly emarginate, anterior angles rounded. The distance between the eyes five times wider than the eye diameter. Frons with moderately long, erect setae. Antenna with 10 antennomeres; club trimerous, straight, approximately as long as antennal shaft.</p><p>Pronotum distinctly wider than long, widest about at the middle; base broader than anterior margin. Posterior angles broadly rounded, anterior angles obtuse angulate. Surface of pronotum coarsely, sparsely and irregularly punctate. The distance between punctures greater than the diameter of the punctures over most of its surface. Surface covered by long, erect setae. Lateral margins slightly crenulate, with long setae.</p><p>Scutellum broad, mostly smooth, with several large punctures, covered with long, erect, pale setae shorter than those on the pronotum.</p><p>Elytra convex, slightly widened posteriad, surface covered with short, semirecumbent setae mixed with long, sparse, erect setae in the basal third. Epipleuron distinct, complete, narrow, with a row of erect setae.</p><p>Macropterous.</p><p>Protibia narrow, distinctly tridentate, basal tooth prominent, inner terminal spur present, inserted opposite of level of the medial tooth. Inner dorsal margin of metatibiae with a row of several short denticles. Protarsal claws hooked, with obsolete basal tooth.</p><p>Male genitalia. Parameres symmetrical, laterally flattened. Inflated endophalus with a single membranous chamber and well-sclerotized basal lobe (Fig. 3E).</p><p>Females differ from males by the following characters: body stouter, antennal club shorter than antennal shaft, legs shorter and basal tooth of claws stronger.</p><p>Differential diagnosis. Holochelus pexus is classified in the subgenus Eriotrogus by the shape of male genitalia including an inflated endophallus (see Shokhin 2025 for more details). It differs from the other members of the subgenus Eriotrogus by the combination of the following characters: distance between eyes five times wider than eye diameter, pronotum covered by sparse and simple punctures, distance between punctures greater than the diameter of the punctures.</p><p>Distribution (Fig. 4C). The species is known from the area along the northern part of the Caspian Sea from the Astrachan Region in Russia to eastern Kazakhstan and southern Turkmenistan (Shokhin et al. 2014). The record from Xinjiang Province, China (Huang 2005) needs to be verified.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/084A8782DD70FFC779BEE57DCDDBC6C7	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Bezděk, Aleš;Bezděk, Jan;Shokhin, Igor V.	Bezděk, Aleš, Bezděk, Jan, Shokhin, Igor V. (2026): Taxonomic mystery solved: the identity of Melolontha pexa Zubkov, 1833 and the genus Adoretops Kraatz, 1883 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae). Zootaxa 5763 (4): 529-540, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.4, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.4
084A8782DD7AFFC779BEE79CCDAFC317.text	084A8782DD7AFFC779BEE79CCDAFC317.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Adoretops , Kraatz 1883	<div><p>Adoretops Kraatz, 1883</p><p>—identity of its type species and synonymy with Plectris</p><p>Kraatz (1883) proposed the genus Adoretops on the basis of a single male specimen (now deposited in SDEI), which he apparently misidentified as Melolontha pexa Zubkov, 1833 . Examination of this specimen (Fig. 5) has shown us that its “Kirghiz.” locality label is incorrect and that it actually belongs to the South American genus Plectris . Further identification was discussed and carried out with Mariana A. Cherman, a specialist in South American Melolonthinae, who agrees with this interpretation. A comparison of high-resolution photographs of M. pexa (sensu Kraatz) with type material of the genus Plectris led to the final identification as Plectris bonariensis (Bruch, 1909), a species known from Argentina (Bruch 1909).</p><p>Since the type species of the genus Adoretops was based on a misidentified specimen, we can select and thereby fix as type species either the nominal species previously cited as a type species (Article 70.3.1, ICZN 1999) or the taxonomic species actually involved in the misidentification (Article 70.3.2, ICZN 1999). Type fixation of the originally cited nominal species would threaten the well-established but younger genus group name Holochelus Reitter, 1889 . For this reason, we here choose the other option. The type species of the genus Adoretops is here designated (under Article 70.3.2, ICZN 1999) as Demodema bonariensis Bruch, 1909, misidentified as Melolontha pexa Zubkov, 1833 in the original designation by Kraatz (1883). Smith (2008) synonymized Demodema Blanchard, 1850 with Plectris and transferred D. bonariensis to Plectris as well. The designation of D. bonariensis as the type species of Adoretops makes the name Adoretops a new synonym of Plectris .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/084A8782DD7AFFC779BEE79CCDAFC317	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Bezděk, Aleš;Bezděk, Jan;Shokhin, Igor V.	Bezděk, Aleš, Bezděk, Jan, Shokhin, Igor V. (2026): Taxonomic mystery solved: the identity of Melolontha pexa Zubkov, 1833 and the genus Adoretops Kraatz, 1883 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae). Zootaxa 5763 (4): 529-540, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.4, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5763.4.4
