Oplomus equestris, (Oplomus)

Roell, Talita, Lemaître, Valérie A., Webb, Michael D. & Campos, Luiz A., 2023, An annotated and illustrated Type Catalogue of the predacious Shieldbugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Asopinae) in the Collection of the Natural History Museum, London, Zootaxa 5232 (1), pp. 1-105 : 38

equestris (Oplomus) Distant 1911a: 253. [ Fig. 58 ]

Original data: “ Hab. Centr. Brazil; Chapada (A. Robert, Brit. Mus. ).” [syntype (s)]

LECTOTYPE ♀ (designated by Thomas 1992: 60): purple-margined lectotype disc; red-margined type disc; “Cent. Brazil. Chapada. 2600. ft. Nov. 1902. A. Robert . 1903—96”; “ Oplomus equestris type Dist. [Distant’s handwriting]”; “NHMUK 010592396”. Right antenna and fifth left antennomere missing ( Fig. 58 ).

NON-TYPE ♀: “ Oplomus equestris var Dist. type ”; “Distant Coll. 1911-383.”; “NHMUK 013585588”. Both antennae missing last two antennal segments and right hind leg missing .

Current status: Oplomus festivus Dallas, 1851 ( Oplomus equestris Distant, 1911 was synonymised to Oplomus marginalis (Westwood, 1837) by Thomas 1992:60; Rider &Rolston 1995:845 chose the junior synonym Oplomus festivus Dallas, 1851 , after assessing that the name of the species Oplomus marginalis was preoccupied).

Notes: Thomas (1992: 60) explained: “The type of Oplomus equestris was located in the British Museum (Natural History). It is labeled: (a) “Type,” (b) “ Oplomus equestris Dist. ” (c) “Cent. Brazil, Chapada, 2600 ft. Nov. 1902, A. Robert 1903 -96.” The specimen is a female and is red dorsally with a black head and black blotches on the pronotum, scutellum and corium.” From Distant’s original description, we do not know whether Distant had one or more specimens, nor the sex. We have found only one specimen in the collection but cannot be sure it was the only one Distant had. By giving its labels data, describing it and calling the specimen “the type”, Thomas designated it as the lectotype by inference of “the type” ( ICZN 1999: Art. 74.6). Interestingly, the variety, also a female, was labelled by Distant as “ Oplomus equestris var Dist. type”, showing that, in those days, for each variety, a type was to be chosen as well (at least in the collection).

Figures

FIGURES 57–64. Type specimens deposited in NHMUK. 57, Coryzorhaphis egeri; 58, Oplomus equestris; 59–60, Glypsus erubescens; 61, Strachia erythromela; 62, Podisus falcatus; 63, Oplomus festivus; 64, Strachia frontalis. Scale bars: 4 mm.