Inca LePeletier & Serville, 1828

Seidel, Matthias, Arriaga-Varela, Emmanuel & Sousa, Rafael, 2018, Catalogue of the Incini with the description of the first Archedinus species from Honduras (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 58 (2), pp. 389-405 : 396-397

Genus Inca LePeletier & Serville, 1828

Inca LePeletier & Serville, 1828: 380 [original description] Ynca Chevrolat, 1833: unpaginated [unjustified emendation]

Type species. Cetonia ynca Weber, 1801 [subsequent designation by HOWDEN (1968: 12)]

Gender. Masculine.

Remarks. The authorship and date of publication of the name Inca has been the subject of confusion. BLACKWELDER (1944), MORÓN et al. (1997), KRAJCIK (1999) and RESTREPO- GIRALDO et al. (2003) erroneously attributed the authorship of Inca to “Serville (1825)”. BOUSQUET (2016) showed that the second livraison of the “ Encyclopédie méthodique” containing pages 345 to 832 was published in December 1828. The authors of Inca are LEPELETIER & SERVILLE (1828) as stated on page 346 in the second livraison. KRAJCIK (1999) erroneously listed Ynca as a synonym to Inca and attributed authorship to GORY & PERCHERON (1833). However, the name Ynca was introduced by CHEVROLAT (1833) as an unjustified emendation and later used by LAPORTE (1840).

LEPELETIER & SERVILLE (1828) did not explain the origin and gender of the genus name. Furthermore, the specific epithets associated with the genus in the original description are either gender neutral or can be either masculine or feminine. Since, LEPELETIER & SERVILLE (1828) changed the specific epithet “ barbicorne ” (neutral) to “ barbicornis ” (masculine and feminine), it is clear that they deemed the gender of the genus not to be neutral. The genus name Inca is derived from the Spanish noun “ Inca ” (masculine). According to the Diccionario de la Lengua Española ( REAL ACADEMIA ESPAÑOLA 2014) the masculine noun “ Inca ” has three meanings: 1) sovereign who ruled the Inca Empire ; 2) descendant of the Inca ; 3) old gold coin of Peru. We follow Art. 30.2.1. ( ICZN 1999), which states: “If a name reproduces exactly a noun having a gender in a modern European language (without having to be transliterated from a non-Latin alphabet into the Latin alphabet) it takes the gender of that noun.” Since these conditions are met in this case, the gender of the genus Inca is masculine. Furthermore, BURMEISTER (1842) considered the genus name to be masculine and therefore adapted previously feminine species epithets into the masculine form. The type species of the genus was not selected until HOWDEN (1968) designated Cetonia ynca Weber, 1801 as type species. HOWDEN (1968) thought that the original specific epithet spelling was “ inca ” not “ ynca ” and therefore designated the type species by tautonomy following Art. 68.4 (ICZN). Even though in this case the absolute tautonymy was not met, we follow Art. 69.1.1 ( ICZN 1999), which states that: “in the absence of a prior type fixation for a nominal genus or subgenus, an author is deemed to have designated one of the originally included nominal species as type species, if he or she states (for whatever reason, right or wrong) that it is the type or type species, or uses an equivalent term, and if it is clear that that author accepts it as the type species.” Therefore, the subsequent designation of Cetonia ynca as type species of Inca by HOWDEN (1968) is valid.

Distribution. Known from Tamaulipas in Mexico through Central and South America to Paraguay and northern Argentina ( Fig. 6 ). There are no records known to us from Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname, but specimens collected in Trinidad and close to the Venezuela and Suriname borders indicate the genus might well be distributed in those countries.

Examined material not identified to species ( I. irroratus / burmeisteri group). BRAZIL: RIO DE JANEIRO: 1 ♁ (BCRC): Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Friburgo, x.1983, C. Behduin leg.; 1 ♀ (USNM): Brazil, Serra da Carioca. SANTA CATARINA: 1 ♁ 1 ♀ (MZSP): Brasil, Santa Catarina, Joinville, Dirings leg.; 1♁ (MZSP): Brasil, Santa Catarina,Rio Vermelho, ix.1957; 1 ♀ (MZSP): Brasil, Rio Vermelho, Santa Catarina, xi.1960, Dirings leg.; 1 ♀ (MZSP): Brasil, Santa Catarina, Rio Vermelho, i.1952; 1 ♀ (MZSP):Brasil, Rio Vermelho, Santa Catarina, iii.1949, Dirings leg.; 1 ♁ (MZSP): Brasil: Santa Catarina, Timbó; 2♁♁ 8♀♀ (MZSP): Brasil: Santa Catarina,Timbó, iii.1960, Dirings leg.; 3♀♀ (MZSP):Brasil:Santa Catarina, Timbó, vi.1969; 1 ♁ (MZSP): Brasil: Santa Catarina, Timbó, v.1956. SÃO PAULO: 1 ♀ (MZSP): Brasil, São Paulo, (Capital), i.1960, Dirings leg.; 1 ♀ (MZSP): Brasil, São Paulo, Pindamonhagaba, Eugênio Lefevre, iii.1963, Exp.Dep.Zoologia leg.; 1♁ (MZSP): Brasil, São Paulo, Salesópolis, Est. Biol. Boraceia, 1.‒4.ii.1973, Vanin leg.

Figures

Fig 6. Generalized distribution map of Coelocratus Burmeister, 1842 (star), Golinca Thomson, 1878 (stripes), Inca LePeletier & Serville, 1828 (gray) and Pantodinus Burmeister, 1847 (black) in Central and South America.