Brachelia westermanni Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830

Rognes, Knut, O’Hara, James E. & Cerretti, Pierfilippo, 2015, The identity of Tachina westermanni Wiedemann, 1819 (Diptera: Calliphoridae or Tachinidae) with a solution to a nomenclatural problem, Zootaxa 3957 (4), pp. 467-479 : 475-476

Brachelia westermanni Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830

Loewia sycophanta Schiner is a junior synonym of Tachina westermanni Wiedemann sensu Crosskey (1980b) . It was used as a valid name in the combination Brachelia sycophanta (Schiner) by Townsend (1932: 42; 1937: 134; 1939: 223). It is, however, a junior subjective synonym of Brachelia westermanni Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830: 62 , and employing this latter name as the valid one for this species will preserve nomenclatural stability.

The genus Brachelia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830: 61 was described both in French and Latin as follows (citing here only the French text):

Antennes ne descendant pas jusqu’au péristome; les deux derniers articles égaux en longueur: le troisième cylindrique, non plus épais que le deuxième. Premiers articles du chète très-courts. Péristome assez allongé, à épistome saillant; faciaux ciligères le long du péristome; corps cylindriforme, à teintes cérulées assez brillantes.

[The antennae do not reach the lower facial margin; the two last segments equal in length: the third cylindrical, not thicker than the second. First segments of arista very short. Oral margin quite long, lower facial margin projecting; oral margin with setae; body cylindrical, with bluish quite shining colour.]

This is a tachinid, not a calliphorid, genus. The type species by monotypy, “ BRACHELIA WESTERMANNI . R.D.” ( Robineau-Desvoidy 1830: 62), was described both in French and Latin as follows (citing only the French text):

Longueur, 7 à 8 lignes. ♂ Cylindriforme: corps d’un beau noir bleuâtre; frontaux brun-rougeâtres; antennes et pattes noires; côtés du front et face bruns; anus rouge.

[Length, 7 to 8 lines. ♂ Cylindrical: body handsomely bluish black; frontal plates reddish brown; antennae and legs black; sides of frons and face brown; tip of abdomen red.]

Note the description of the abdominal tip (“anus”) as red. Robineau-Desvoidy saw only a single specimen of his new nominal species: “Le seul individu que je connaisse provient du cap de Bonne-Espérance, et fait partie de la collection de M. Dejean. M. Latreille l’avait étiqueté Tachina Westermanni ”.

The Diptera part of Dejean’s collection went to Bigot, and “what remains is in OUMNH” ( Evenhuis et al. 2010: 238). According to Pont (personal communication to KR) the Tachinidae part of the Dejean collection was given to BMNH. The holotype of B. westermanni has not been found in OUMNH (Pont, personal communication to KR) or in BMNH (Wyatt, personal communication to KR) and is assumed lost. But it is fairly certain, at least not unreasonable to assume, that the holotype of this nominal species belonged to the same taxon as the two tachinid syntypes of Tachina westermanni Wiedemann and the holotype of Loewia sycophanta Schiner (as treated by Crosskey 1980b: 846).

When Tachina westermanni Wiedemann was (erroneously) considered a tachinid taxon belonging in the genus Brachelia Robineau-Desvoidy , the name Brachelia westermanni Robineau-Desvoidy became a junior secondary homonym and junior subjective synonym of Tachina westermanni Wiedemann. Now that Wiedemann’s name Tachina westermanni applies to a calliphorid species, Brachelia westermanni Robineau-Desvoidy becomes the valid name for the tachinid species. The only necessary action is to fix the identity of this name by designating a neotype to replace the lost holotype. In our view, the best specimen to select as neotype is the specimen in ZMUC that Emden (1960: 404) invalidly designated as lectotype for Tachina westermanni Wiedemann. This will preserve the use of the name Brachelia westermanni for the tachinid, even though the specific epithet is now attributed to Robineau-Desvoidy and not Wiedemann.

We hereby designate as neotype for Brachelia westermanni Robineau-Desvoidy a male in ZMUC (Westermann’s collection) ( Figs. 7–11 ), with these labels: (1) TYPE [printed on red label] [on the same pin as specimen]; (2) zmuc / 00025017 [printed]; (3) Dette dyr passer // med Beskrivelsen // og må derfor vaere // Type. Konf. med van // Emden 4/8 1948. Tx. [our translation from Danish: “This specimen fits the description and therefore must be type. Conf. with van Emden 4/8 1948. Tx.”] [handwritten by Tuxen]; (4) Westermanii [sic] / Wied. / Cap bon Sp. / Westermann [handwritten in Wiedemann’s hand] [labels 2–4 on a separate pin beside specimen, there being no space for more labels on the pin carrying the specimen]. One of us (KR) has added a red neotype label on a third pin beside the specimen. This pin thus carries two red labels: one as paralectotype for Tachina westermanni Wiedemann , and a second as neotype for Brachelia westermanni Robineau-Desvoidy. The neotype label is on top.

Type locality: “Cap bon Sp.” [Cape of Good Hope], the same as the lost holotype.

Figures

FIGURES 7 – 11. Neotype male of Brachelia westermanni Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (in ZMUC) (at the same time paralectotype male of Tachina westermanni Wiedemann, 1819). 7. Habitus, dorsal view. 8. Habitus, lateral view. 9. Head, from front. 10. Detail of palpi. 11. Labels. [Figures 7, 8 and 11 included by Courtesy of Natural History Museum of Denmark. These images can also be seen at http: // daim. snm. ku. dk / digitaliseret-typesamling-detaljer-enkel-visning? catno = zmuc 00025017]