Tenebrio gibbus Linnaeus, 1760

Ferrer, Julio & Holston, Kevin, 2009, Identities of Tenebrio Linnaeus types at Uppsala, and the resulting changes in old darkling beetle names (Insecta: Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), Zootaxa 2308 (1), pp. 29-42 : 33-36

2. Tenebrio gibbus Linnaeus, 1760 .

LECTOTYPE, female, det. Psammodes gibbus ( Linnaeus, 1760) , comb. nov ( Fig. 5 ). De Geer Coll., NHRS.

1 non-type, female, labelled “ Tenebrio gibbus ” det. Amnodeis aff. giganteus (Reiche & Saulcy, 1857) ( Fig. 6 ). Linnaeus Coll., UUZM.

2 non-type females, det. Psammodes gibbus ( Linnaeus, 1760) . Coll. De Geer, NHRS.

1 non-type female, labeled “ Ten. gibbus Linn. Syst. N. nº 18, Sch. Dal.” det. Tentyria taurica Tauscher, 1812 . Banks Coll., BMNH.

Original description. “18. T(enebrio) apterus, niger, laevis, thorace orbiculato, convexo, antice truncato. Faun. Suec. 824. Habitat in Europa, Africa. Distinguitur summa dorsi totus glabritie. Thorax et lateribus postice emarginatus.”

Type status. In order to preserve the stability of the name, the Linnean specimen in the De Geer collection is designated herein as the lectotype of Tenebrio gibbus L., 1760. The female specimen under the header label “Tenebr. Exot. T. V. p. 51. T. gibbus ” in the De Geer Collection, NHRS, preserved on a pin with a concentric spiral head and pierced through the pronotum, is an original type specimen of Tenebrio gibbus L., 1760 ( Fig. 5 ). The female specimen at the UUMZ labelled “ Tenebrio gibbus ” is probably not part of the original type series and is determined as a species of Amnodeis ( Fig. 6 ). The globular pronotum with a truncate margin with the head noted in the original description by Linnaeus (“thorace orbiculato, convexo, antice truncate”) are diagnostic for Psammodes , corresponding to the “lost” type of Linnaeus, and unlike the rather flat pronotum with convex anterior margin in Amnodeis .

The three specimens under this name in the De Geer collection, NHRS, represent a single species of the South African genus Psammodes Kirby, 1818 . One specimen in the De Geer collection is pinned through the pronotum and preserved on a pin with a concentric spiral head ( Fig. 5 ), as described for the UUZM “ Tenebrio gibbus ” type. Although the pin of one De Geer specimen is, curiously, a sewing needle and the other has a typical flat head, both specimens are pinned through the elytra rather than the pronotum. De Geer (1775) redescribed and illustrated Tenebrio gibbus L., 1760, indicating that the Linnean species is not European but found on the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. It is likely that study of this type resulted in its present location within the De Geer Collection. De Geer probably did not examine the specimen of “ Tenebrio gibbus ” that is currently at the UUMZ, because it was deposited in the private collection of the royal family until after his publication in 1775. The specimen at the HMUG is an original type specimen of Pimelia gibba Fabricius, 1787 , and is determined as Moluris gibbus ( Pallas, 1781) , whereas the female specimen at the ZMUC is probably not part of the original type series, and is determined as Pimelia simplex Solier, 1835 , stat. rest.

The two Linnean specimens at the NHRS and UUMZ of Tenebrio gibbus L., 1760, represent different species. The UUMZ specimen is a species of Amnodeis ( Fig. 5 ), whereas all three NHRS specimens in the De Geer Collection under the name Tenebrio gibbus represent a single species, Psammodes gibbus (L., 1760), comb. nov. The BMNH specimen in the Banks Collection under the name “ Tenebrio gibbus ” is yet another species, Tentyria taurica Tauscher, 1812 . Psammodes gibbus Haag Rutenberg (1879: 292) is the name for another South African species in the genus Phanerotomea Koch, 1950 , Phanerotomea gibba (Haag Rutenberg, 1870) ( Koch 1952) . It is a secondary homonym of Psammodes gibbus (L., 1760) whose recognition does not threaten stability of the Linnean name.

The UUMZ specimen is labelled “ Tenebrio gibbus ” and was listed as “ Erodius gibbus ” in Museum Ludovicae Ulrica ( Thunberg 1804), possibly in reference to the redescription of Erodius gibbus Fabricius, 1787 , by Linnaeus (1790). Lindroth (1957) subsequently identified this specimen as “fam. Tenebrionidae , gen. sp.; not Tenebrio gibbus L. 1761” to emphasize its difference from published species diagnoses. This specimen is pinned through the pronotum, characteristic of specimens from Linnean collections ( Fig. 6 ). The UUZM specimen has been determined as a species of Amnodeis Miller, 1858 , similar to Amnodeis giganteus Reiche & Saulcy, 1857 , and Amnodeis confluens Miller, 1858 . The UUMZ type and examined specimens of A. giganteus have two elytral costae and tuberculate intervals ( Fig. 6 ), but Amnodeis species are insufficiently known for determining the type to species. Amnodeis is not European, but an Anatolian-Mesopotamian genus; Linnaeus may have obtained specimens from Fredrik Hasselquist, who collected in “ Smyrna ” (Izmir, Turkey), and Ulrich Hemmingson, who collected in Uzbekistan (Bukhara) and Iran.

Remarks. The Linnean name has been overlooked in recent taxonomic works on darkling beetles, and Psammodes gibbus (L., 1760), comb. nov., is recognized herein as the senior synonym of Psammodes striatus ( Fabricius, 1775) , syn. nov. Gebien (1937) first suggested this synonymy, listing “gibbus” of De Geer, 1775, as a reference for striatus Fabricius, 1775 , but did not refer to the original Linnean citation for T. gibbus L., 1760, perhaps emphasizing the “correct” species interpretation in the latter work. De Geer (1775) characterized his “ Tenebrio gibbus ” with respect to the original specimen and description, but his assertion that the species is not European despite the original distribution given by Linnaeus (1760) may have motivated Gebien (1937) to consider original description an “incorrect” species reference. A specimen in the Banks Collection (BMNH) bears the label “ Ten. gibbus Linn. Syst. N. nº 18, Sch. Dal.” This label style and format is identical to labels of specimens determined by Fabricius examined in the HMUG, and the determination for this historical specimen is Tentyria taurica Tauscher, 1812 , known from Crimea (South Russia). In agreement with interpretation of T. gibbus L., 1760, by De Geer (1775), and with explicit reference to “ Tenebrio gibbus ” of Linnaeus and De Geer, Pallas (1781: Figs. 11 a–b) illustrated the dorsal and lateral view of this species (Fig. 11) recording its distribution as “Promontorio australi” in South Africa. Pallas (1781) proposed, however, a new name for the species, Tenebrio glandiformis Pallas, 1781 , which was treated as a synonym of striatus Fabricius, 1775 , by Fabricius (1787) and subsequent authors including Gebien (1937). However, in this difficcult group of Psammodes- species a revision, based in morphological examen of genitalias is necessary.

In the same work, Pallas (1781: Fig. 12) described and illustrated an additional South African species of Moluris Latreille, 1804 , as “ Tenebrio gibbus ” (Fig. 12) that matches the type of Pimelia gibba Fabricius, 1787 , preserved at the HMUG (fig. 12, cf 10) but not the specimen at the ZMUC, which actually belongs to Pimelia Fabricius, 1775 . Gebien (1906) maintained the classification of this Fabrician species in Pimelia , a decision based on the identity of the ZMUC specimen. This led to genus-group name confusion between Moluris and Pimelia (as Melanostola Dejean, 1836 ) by Staig (1940), who based his concept of Pimelia on the HMUG specimen. The type specimen of Pimelia gibba Fabricius, 1787 , at the HMUG, was illustrated by Staig (1940) ( Fig. 10 ) and is identical to the type of “ Tenebrio gibbus ” illustrated by Pallas (1781) (Fig. 12). The descriptions of “ Pimelia gibba ” by Fabricius (1787 and 1792) are identical and include only “ Mus. Dom. Hunter [= HMUG]” as the type repository. The ZMUC specimen has been treated as an original Fabrician type, notably by Gebien (1906) and Zimsen (1963), but is considered erroneous; the Fabrician type of Pimelia gibba Fabricius, 1792 is generically and specifically different. Type status is recognized herein only for the HMUG specimen. Pimelia gibba Fabricius, 1787 , and Tenebrio gibbus Pallas, 1781 , are synonyms, making the valid combination and attribution for this species name Moluris gibbus ( Pallas, 1781) . Löbl and Smetana (2008) cited Pimelia gibba Fabricius, 1792 , but this name is invalid).

The HMUG specimen is the name-bearing type of Pimelia gibba Fabricius, 1787 , making Pimelia simplex Solier, 1836 , stat. rest., the valid name for the Mediterranean species represented by the ZMUC specimen. The type of Pimelia simplex Solier, 1836 , has been examined at the MNHN and is identical to the ZMUC specimen of Pimelia gibba Fabricius , upon which the former synonymy the two species was based. Restoration of Pimelia simplex Solier, 1836 , as a valid name results in the following changes for three subspecies names listed by Gebien (1906, 1937), Staig (1940), and Löbl and Smetana (2008): Pimelia simplex simplex Solier, 1836 , stat. rest., Pimelia simplex oasis Koch, 1941 , comb. nov., and Pimelia simplex substriata Koch, 1941 , comb. nov.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Illustration of Tenebrio gibbus Fabricius from Staig (1940), det. Moluris gibbus (Pallas).

FIGURES 5–6. Linnean darkling beetles of Tenebrio gibbus L. Fig. 5. LT, det. Psammodes gibbus (L.), comb. nov., NHRS. Fig. 6. Non-type specimen, det. Amnodeis aff. giganteus (Reiche & Saulcy, 1857), UUZM.