Carineta viridicollis ( Germar, 1830 )

Sanborn, Allen F., 2023, Resolving taxonomic issues of cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) including new combinations, new synonymies, and revised status, with updates on the diversity of the Brazilian cicada fauna and new records for four South American countries, Zootaxa 5318 (3), pp. 339-362 : 352-353

Carineta viridicollis ( Germar, 1830)

Cicada viridicollis Germar, 1830: 44 (Brasilia) .

Carineta viridicollis var. a Stål, 1862: 19 (Rio de Janiero). n. syn.

REMARKS. A species name is required to have at least two letters to be available under Article 11.9.1 (ICZN 1999). Article 45.6.4 states that varieties published before 1961 become subspecies (ICZN 1999). However, since the taxon is unavailable, it cannot be considered a subspecies. Stål (1862) described the primary difference of the variety as having medial fuscous spots on the abdominal sternites. There are other species of Carineta that have variable ventral abdominal markings (e.g. Sanborn 2019a; 2020a) so the otherwise distinctive markings represent variability within the species. In addition, Stål (1862) reports both the nominotypical species and his variety as being collected in the same locality (Rio de Janiero) so there is no geographic and thus reproductive isolation. Therefore, Carineta viridicollis var. a Stål, 1862 n. syn. is synonymized to Carineta viridicollis ( Germar, 1830) rather than providing a nomen novum for the taxon.

DISTRIBUTION. The species has been reported from Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Paraguay, and Venezuela ( Metcalf 1963c; Duffels & van der Laan 1985; Sanborn 2011b, c, 2013).