Tephritis matutina Rondani, 1871

Sforzi, Alessandra & Sommaggio, Daniele, 2021, Catalog of the Diptera types described by Camillo Rondani, Zootaxa 4989 (1), pp. 1-438 : 375

Tephritis matutina Rondani, 1871

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: 1871b: 11 (key), 22 (description).

TYPE LOCALITY: “ in colle sub-apennino … in Sicilia [sub-Apennine hill … Sicily ( Italy)]” .

TYPE MATERIAL: 1 ♂, lectotype (double-mounted: fastened by a micro pin to a polyethylene foam block on a standard insect pin) ( MZUF: Box 32): Tephritis Latr. / matutina Rnd., Etrur. [= Etruria (Tuscany) ], Sicil. / 1667 / lectotype ♂ [not designated], Tephritis matutina Rondani , det. B. Merz, 1992 / 1667, Tephritis ? nigricauda (Loew) , det. I.M. White, 1986; 1 ♂, paralectotype (double-mounted: fastened by a micro pin to a polyethylene foam block on a standard insect pin) ( MZUF: Box 32): Tephritis Latr. / matutina Rnd., Etrur. [= Etruria (Tuscany) ], Sicil. / 1667; 1 ♀, paralectotype (covered with mold, missing head, double-mounted: fastened by a micro pin to a polyethylene foam block on a standard insect pin) ( MZUF: Box 32): Tephritis Latr. / matutina Rnd., Apen. [= Apennines], Sicil. / 1667 / Tephritis ? poecilura Loew det. I.M. White, 1986 / Tephritis praecox (Loew) , det. B. Merz.

CURRENT STATUS: junior synonym of Tephritis nigricauda (Loew, 1856) ( Foote 1984: 131, Norrbom et al. 1999: 218).

REMARKS: Rondani (1871b: 22) described both sexes of Tephritis matutina without specifying either the number of males or the length of the specimens: “ foeminam unicam in colle sub-apennino, … legi, et mares paucos in Sicilia capta a Cl. Haliday observavi [I collected a single female in a sub-Apennine hill, and I observed a few males in Sicily collected by Mr. Haliday]”. Bernard Merz examined the MZUF type material in 1992, adding the label “ lectotype ” under one male, without, as far as we know, publishing any lectotype designation. We found three syntypes in this study: two males and one female. An additional MZUF male numbered “1667” is not included in the type series because its label is yellowish rather than the greenish color of Rondani’s original handwritten ones and is in a lower row in the Box, for which reason we treat it to be a subsequent addition. In order to promote nomenclatural stability, we give credit to B. Merz and here designate as a lectotype for Tephritis matutina Rondani, 1871 the MZUF male labeled as such by him .