Ceraturgopsis

Barnes, Jeffrey K., 2008, Review of the genus Ceraturgus Wiedemann (Diptera: Asilidae) in North America north of Mexico, Zootaxa 1766, pp. 1-45 : 34

Subgenus Ceraturgopsis

Ceraturgopsis Johnson, 1903: 111 . Type species: Dasypogon cornutus Wiedemann , here fixed.

Johnson (1903) described the new genus Ceraturgopsis with D. cornutus as the type species, although the specimens before him at that time actually belonged to an undescribed new species. Martin (1965) described Ceraturgus johnsoni from Johnson’s misidentified Florida specimens. He believed that “… Ceraturopsis being based on a name and not on a species, is not a valid genus,” and he declared, “ Ceraturgopsis is not only invalid but if it were valid, it would be a synonym of Ceraturgus .” Subsequent authors have treated it as a synonym of Ceraturgus , even in the most recent catalog of robber fly genera ( Geller-Grimm 2003). According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Article 70.3 (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999), “If an author discovers that a type species was misidentified …, the author may select, and thereby fix as type species, the species that will, in his or her judgment, best serve stability and universality, either…the nominal species previously cited as type species…or the taxonomic species actually involved in the misidentification.” Ceraturgopsis is here treated as a subgenus, and the type species is fixed as Ceraturgus cornutus (Wiedemann) .

Back (1909) stated that the third flagellomere of Ceraturgopsis is “entirely naked.” However, close examination of the third flagellomeres of all three species included in this subgenus reveals them to have dense, very short pubescence. This character, and the fact the third flagellomere is short, about as long as the scape, are sufficient to separate the species of this subgenus from those of subgenus Ceraturgus .