Scolopendra italica C. L. Koch, 1836

Doménech, Carles & Nagel, Peter, 2022, On the dates of publication of four European species of Scolopendra Linnaeus 1758 described by C. L. Koch (Myriapoda, Chilopoda), Zootaxa 5159 (1), pp. 125-135 : 127

Scolopendra italica C. L. Koch, 1836

The name Scolopendra italica C. L Koch, 1836 is depicted with the corrected date “1836” instead of the widely used date “1837”. Gervais (1837) seems to be the first author who cited the original description of S. italica correctly (in Koch, Deutschl., Crust., Myr., Arach., Heft 9, species no. 1), although without date. The correct reference of the original description was also given by Koch himself ( Koch 1847) with equal ranking of both Hefte as “9. (142.) 1.”, and Koch (1863b) as “Deutschl. Crustaceen, Arachniden und Myriapoden Heft 9”, neither of them dated.

The date “1836” together with the reference to Heft 9 of the Koch series was only used recently (1 Feb 2021) for the Zoobank record (http://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/3c684667-fc35-4942-bbe9-d2462fb1d5f8, and http:// zoobank.org/References/3e59cf22-15c6-49d4-9724-f9692847f2f1) last accessed in 23 th january of 2022).

Original description:

Similar to S. clavipes (see reasoning above), S. italica was originally described on 1 st October in Koch C. L. (1836a) (precedence), and, simultaneously, in Koch (1836b) (subordinated).

Scolopendra italica C. L Koch., 1836 [1 Oct.]. Index Tab. 1, Plate 9.1., Text headed 9.1 [2 pp., second page unpaginated] – In: Koch, C.L. (1836a). Deutschlands Crustaceen, Myriapoden und Arachniden. Ein Beitrag zur deutschen Fauna. [Herausgegeben von Dr. Herrich-Schäffer] [N.B.: This statement “Edited by Dr. Herrich-Schäffer“ is true for the whole Koch series, however printed only on some title pages]. 9 tes Heft, 24 plates and associated letterpress. Regensburg: Fr. Pustet.

The differences between the parallel published, corresponding Hefte of the Koch series and the Herrich-Schäffer series were described by Nagel & Grieder (2019, p. 39). They are also present between Heft 9 and 142.

The currently accepted (valid) name for S. italica C. L. Koch, 1836 is Scolopendra cingulata Latreille, 1829 (see Bonato et al. 2016, founded on Newport 1845, p. 388, see also urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3C684667-FC35-4942-BBE9-D2462FB1D5F8 , http://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/3c684667-fc35-4942-bbe9-d2462fb1d5f8; last accessed 16 th Jan. 2022).

The often referenced date “1837” traces back to Kraepelin (1903), Attems (1930) or even earlier to the wrong dating of Heft 9 of the Koch series. Bonato et al. (2016), item “ Scolopendra italica C. L. Koch, 1837 ”, mix the references of Heft 9 of the Koch series and Heft 142 of the Herrich-Schäffer series, and also cite “1837” in error.