Rhinocypha, Rambur, 1842

Jan van Tol & André Günther, 2018, The Odonata of Sulawesi and adjacent islands. Part 8. Revision of the genus Rhinocypha Rambur, 1842 (Chlorocyphidae), Odonatologica 47 (3), pp. 299-386 : 306-308

List of Rhinocypha species of Sulawesi

Rhinocypha Rambur, 1842

Rhinocypha flavipoda sp. nov.

Rhinocypha frontalis (Selys, 1873) *

Rhinocypha frontalis frontalis (Selys, 1873)

Rhinocypha frontalis sulselensis ssp. nov .

Rhinocypha monochroa (Selys, 1873) *

Rhinocypha pelengensis sp. nov.

Rhinocypha phantasma Lieftinck, 1935

Rhinocypha sangihensis sp. nov.

Rhinocypha togeanensis sp. nov.

Rhinocypha virgulata sp. nov.

* Original combination of Selys’ names — There is on-going discussion on the status of the various categories of the classification used by Selys (BECH- LY 1999; DUMONT 1999; TRUEMAN 1999). We are concerned only with the genus / subgenus part of this debate, i.e., what are the original combinations of Selys’ names, or in other words, to which genus did Selys originally as- sign his species? Checking the original publications superficially, one might accept that the original combination of, for instance, Rhinocypha frontalis , is just Rhinocypha frontalis ( Fig. 1 ). However, this is incorrect. Selys listed his species in the combination with a subgenus, rather than a genus, and species-group name. The full classification can be derived from the text and again from the accompanying tables (see Fig. 2 ) in the same works. Although it may be true that the genus concept of Selys differs from as pres- ently understood, we cannot use this argument, since the concept of a genus has been constantly evolving since Linnaeus’ original binomial system was established (LINNAEUS 1758) and Linnaean combinations are still recog- nised where they have survived.

However, we agree that a proper assignment to a genus is not immediately apparent for some species described in works that do not have an accompa- nying table of the classification used (e.g., SELYS 1873b). It is a rather subjective decision, and a matter of convention among scholars, whether the »Appendice aux troisièmes Additions au Synopsis des Caloptérygines« can be considered an independent work, or rather, as the title says, an appendix to the third addition. Here, we adhere to the latter option.

We conclude that SELYS (1869, 1873a, b) considered Rhinocypha a subge- nus of the genus Libellago , and all combinations should be treated as such.

Figures

Figure 1. SELYS (1873a), page 490 (description of R. frontalis). From: Biodiversity Heritage Library

Figure 2. SELYS (1873a), page 508 (table of genera and subgenera). From: Biodiversity Heritage Library