Lepidiota rothei Blackburn, 1888

Allsopp, Peter G., 2020, Clarification of the status of the types of Australian Melolonthini (Coleoptera Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) described before 1950, Zootaxa 4885 (4), pp. 451-486 : 469-470

Lepidiota rothei Blackburn, 1888

Lepidiota rothei Blackburn, 1888a: 213 .

Lepidiota bovilli Blackburn, 1912: 54 ; Arrow 1917: 64 (synonymy).

Lepidiota koebelei Blackburn, 1912: 54 ; Britton 1978: 73 (synonymy).

Lepidiota parva Moser, 1913: 50 ; Britton 1978: 73 (synonymy).

Holotype of Lepidiota rothei (by monotypy), probably male: unknown locality [probably Northern Territory]; in NHML.

Blackburn (1888a) saw “a single specimen” that he thought was a male, but Britton (1978) listed the holotype as a female, probably from Northern Territory.

Lectotype of Lepidiota bovilli (here designated) male: on card on which mounted, all handwritten: 7905 (in red), additional number (in red, crossed out), ♂ (crossed out), ♀, T (black), N. T. [Northern Territory] (in red), red and black lines | Type H. T. (circular red ringed, typeset) | Blackburn coll. 1910-236 (typeset) | Lepidiota bovilli, Blackb. (handwritten) | my lectotype label; in NHML.

Blackburn (1912) did not define the type series, seeing an unknown number of males and females (vide Articles 73.1.2, 72.1.1) from “Port Darwin” [Darwin, 12.46°S, 130.84°E]. Lea (1912) noted that the ‘type’ had been sent to NHML, and Britton (1978) referred to a “ holotype ” male from Darwin in NHML. Houston & Weir (1992) interpreted Britton’s (1978) incorrect reference to a holotype as a lectotype designation; this was followed by Miller & Allsopp (2000). As Britton (1978) and Houston & Weir (1992) provided no discussion and did not label any specimen in NHML, neither mention of a holotype constitutes a valid lectotype designation (vide Article 74.5). To stabilise nomenclature, I designate the male in NHML the lectotype. The two females on one card with similar labels to the male in NHML become paralectotypes.

Lectotype of Lepidiota koebelei (here designated) male: Type H. T. (circular red ringed, typeset) | aedeagus dissected and mounted on card | Blackburn coll. 1910-236 (typeset) | Lepidiota Koebelei, Blackb. (handwritten) | my lectotype label; in NHML.

Paralectotype of Lepidiota koebelei : 1: Endeavour R. Queensland (typeset) | koebelei Blackb. Ms name (handwritten) | Co-type (typeset) | 18212 Lepidiota koebelei Blackb. Queensland (handwritten) | Cotype (handwritten in red, at right angle) | my paralectotype label; in SAM.

Blackburn’s (1912) did not define the type series, seeing an unknown number of males (vide Articles 73.1.2, 72.1.1) from “North Queensland ”. Lea (1912) noted that the ‘type’ had been sent to NHML, and Britton (1978) referred to a “ holotype ” male from North Queensland in NHML. Houston & Weir (1992) listed a “ holotype (probable)” and Miller & Allsopp (2000) followed this interpretation. However, the specimen in SAM indicates that Blackburn saw more than one specimen, and as Britton (1978) and Houston & Weir (1992) provided no discussion and did not label any specimen in NHML, neither mention of a holotype constitutes a valid lectotype designation (vide Article 74.5). To stabilise nomenclature, I designate the male in NHML the lectotype. The specimen in SAM becomes a paralectotype.

Lectotype of Lepidiota parva (designated by Britton 1978: 73) male ( Fig. 34 ): Queensland Cooktown [15.47°S, 145.25°E] (black bordered, typeset and handwritten) | Lepidiota parva Mos type ♂ (handwritten) | LECTO-TYPE (circular dark-blue ringed, typeset) | LECTOTYPE Lepidiota parva Moser ♂ selected by E.B. Britton det. 1964 (handwritten and typeset) | Lepidiota koebeli Blkb. = parva Moser E.B. Britton det 1964 (handwritten and typeset) | my lectotype label; in ZMB.

Moser (1913) did not define the type series, seeing an unknown number of males and females (vide Articles 73.1.2, 72.1.1) as he gave a range of body lengths and noted the different lengths of the antennal clubs of males and females. Britton (1978) located two specimens from type locality of Cooktown in ZMB and designated a male with the aedeagus dissected and mounted and with the label “ Queensland, Cooktown / Lepidiota parva Moser Type” the lectotype. The second, presumably a female, but not stated by Britton (1978), he did not specifically designate as a paralectotype and it was not listed by Houston & Weir (1992), but it is in ZMB and has the appropriate labels (Bernd Jäger, personal communication).

There are four other specimens from “Cook Town” from the former Moser collection in ZMB that may belong to the type series, although they do not bear Moser’s identification label (Bernd Jäger, personal communication) .

Figures

FIGURES 29–37. 29–30. Lepidiota minuta Moser, 1913, labels on types. 29, lectotype male; 30, paralectotype female. 31, Lepidiota oblonga Brenske, 1900, labels on lectotype; 32, Lepidiota podicalis Moser, 1913, labels on lectotype. 33, Lepidiota sororia Moser, 1913, labels on lectotype; 34, Lepidiota parva Moser, 1913 (junior synonym of Lepidiota rothei Blackburn, 1888), labels on lectotype. 35–36. Lepidiota rugicollis Moser, 1913 (junior synonym of Lepidiota rubrior Blackburn, 1890), labels on specimens. 35, lectotype male; 36, non-type specimen in ZMB. 37. Holophylla furfuracea Burmeister, 1855 (now Pseudholophylla furfuracea), label on lectotype. Figs. 29–36 courtesy of Museum für Naturkunde. Fig. 37 courtesy of Karla Schneider.