Helina viridiventris, Macquart, 1846

Pont, Adrian C., 2012, Muscoidea (Fanniidae, Anthomyiidae, Muscidae) described by P. J. M. Macquart (Insecta, Diptera), Zoosystema 34 (1), pp. 39-111 : 96-97

viridiventris Macquart, 1846 , Aricia

Aricia viridiventris Macquart, 1846a: 329 ( 1846b: 201) , pl. 17, fig. 13. Lectotype ♂, “de la Tasmanie. Muséum.” ( Australia, Tasmania), by present designation, in MNHN.

MATERIAL. — Macquart described this species from an unspecified number of Tasmanian ♂♂ in MNHN, and also identified a Tasmanian ♀ in Bigot’s collection as this species (“même patrie. Collection de M. Bigot ”). A ♂ syntype is in MNHN under no. 2397 of the Macquart collection. It has the accession no. 13.44 (Tasmania, Verreaux ), and is labelled by Macquart “ Aricia / viridiventris / Macq. n. sp.”. It is dirty and rather mouldy ; right foreleg missing, and both wings fractured near base. I have labelled it and designate it herewith as lectotype. Macquart’s ♀ is in the Bigot collection in OUMNH, labelled by Macquart “ Aricia / viridiventris / ♀. Macq. n. sp.”. It is in poor condition, being rather squashed laterally and with both forelegs missing. I have labelled it as paralectotype .

Albuquerque (1950b:1, 2, figs 1, 2) studied the MNHN ♂ but not the OUMNH ♀. He assigned this species to Helina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 , synonymized A. coeruleigaster Macquart, 1851 with it, and gave a redescription of the species.He apparently treated the type-series of viridiventris and coeruleigaster as one series, writing of viridiventris : “lectótipos ♂ e ♀ e 1♂ e 2♀ paralectótipos”. This is an invalid lectotype designation for both names since neither name is restricted to a single specimen (see also under Aricia coeruleigaster above).

CURRENT IDENTITY. — The lectotype of A. viridiventris is a good species of Helina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 , belonging to the group of species around H.whitei Malloch, 1922 . It has the halteres and calypters dark brown, frons narrow, presutural acrostichal setae absent, and four postsutural dorsocentrals. It appears to be conspecific with A. coeruleigaster , and it is an older name for this species (see Pont 1989b: 686). The paralectotype ♀ appears to be Helina australasiae Malloch, 1923 .