Mordellina inclusa Germar, 1813

Batelka, Jan, Rosová, Kateřina & Prokop, Jakub, 2023, Diversity and morphology of Eocene and Oligocene Mordellidae (Coleoptera), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 63 (2), pp. 451-478 : 453

Mordellina inclusa Germar, 1813

Mordellina inclusa Germar, 1813: 14 . Syntypes: 2 specimens, Baltic amber.

Comments on identification. GERMAR (1813) established both the genus and species based on two specimens of unknown sex. He explicitly noted on page 12 ‘Dass wir die Gattungsnamen durch Anhängung der Endigung ina, ites oder lithus abänderten, bedarf hoffentlich keiner Rechtfertigung, die Gründe dafür auseinander zu setzen, wäre hier zu weitläufig.’ Article 20 of ICZN (1999) does not include the suffix – ina for the purpose of describing a fossil genus: ‘A name formed by adding the suffix -ites, -ytes or -ithes to the whole or the stem of an available name of a genus-group taxon, and applied to fossils to distinguish them from extant members of that taxon, without clear evidence of intent to establish a new genus-group taxon, is available only for the purposes of the Principle of Homonymy. Such a name cannot be used as the valid name of a taxon [Art. 23.1] or as the basis of a family-group name [Art. 11.7.1.4]’ ( ICZN 1999). This implies that Mordellina Germar, 1813 is an available name with M. inclusa as a type species and has priority over Mordellina Schilsky, 1908 , a speciose genus of Mordellistenini from the Afrotropical and Oriental Region. The problem of homonymy is put aside for consideration by future students of the taxonomy of Mordellidae as its solution is beyond the scope of the present study.

The description provided by GERMAR (1813) does not provide any clue to where his Mordellina inclusa should belong according to the modern classification of this family. The species is referred to as Mordella inclusa ( Germar, 1813) by H. Burmeister in 1832 (fide ERMISCH 1941a), but the description does not contain the characters necessary for this generic placement. Therefore, eventual generic synonymy of Mordellina Germar with Mordella Linnaeus, 1758 and its tribal placement cannot be established, because until the genera Tomoxia A. Costa, 1854 and Mordellistena A. Costa, 1854 were described, the genus Mordella was the only available extant genus in this family. Moreover, the revision of Baltic Mordellini cited below did not reveal any direct evidence for the presence of Mordella in Baltic amber. Both syntypes of the species (if conspecific) were never revised and therefore the identity of Mordellina inclusa and validity of all subsequently described Eocene species are open to question.