Copelatus oblitus Sharp, 1882

Sheth, Sayali D., Ghate, Hemant V. & Hájek, Jiří, 2018, Copelatus Erichson, 1832 from Maharashtra, India, with description of three new species and notes on other taxa of the genus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Copelatinae), Zootaxa 4459 (2), pp. 235-260 : 255

Copelatus oblitus Sharp, 1882

Copelatus oblitus Sharp, 1882: 582 .

Copelatus andamanicus Régimbart, 1899: 302 ; synonymy by Hendrich et al. (2004: 118).

Copelatus sociennus ryukyuensis Satô, 1961: 8 ; synonymy by Hendrich et al. (2004: 118).

Copelatus subfasciatus Zimmermann, 1919: 76 ; synonymy by Hendrich et al. (2004: 118).

Copelatus tokaraensis Nakane, 1963: 25 ; synonymy by Hendrich et al. (2004: 118).

Copelatus karnatakus Holmen & Vazirani, 1990: 27 ; new synonymy.

Type localities. Copelatus oblitus : " Singapore ". C. karnatakus : " India, Karnataka, Mudigere Area".

Type material. Copelatus oblitus : Holotype ♂ ( BMNH), labelled: " Type [p, round label with red frame] // Singapore / 695 [hw] // Sharp Coll. / 1905-313. [p] // Type 695 DS. / Copelatus / oblitus n.sp. / Singapore [hw]".

Copelatus karnatakus : Holotype ♂ (ZMUC), labelled: "S.India: Karnataka / Mudigere area, c. 900 m / 2– 1o. xi.1977 / Zool.Mus.Copenhagen Exp. [p] // Holo- / type [p, round label with red margin] // Copelatus / karnatakus / sp. n. [hw] / det. T.G. Vazirani, 198 [p] 2 [hw] / m. Holmen [hw] // zmuc00020126 [p]".

Additional material studied. India: 1♂, Uttarakhand, Kumaon district , Haldwani, H.G. Champion ( BMNH).

Comments on classification. Holmen & Vazirani (1990) diagnosed C. karnatakus as a member of the C. irinus species group with characteristic shape of median lobe with characteristic dorsal (ventral in current concept) projection. Apparently, they were not aware of the widespread C. oblitus . The direct comparison of the two holotypes undoubtedly proved that they are identical. Therefore, we establish the following synonymy: Copelatus oblitus Sharp, 1882 = C. karnatakus Holmen & Vazirani, 1990 syn. nov.

Distribution. Widely distributed species ranging in the Oriental region from India to Sulawesi, and also reaching southern China and Japan in the Palaearctic region. First record from Indian state of Uttarakhand.