Photuris facialis Gorham, 1881

Martin, Gavin J. & Powell, Gareth S., 2020, Type designations for fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) of the Biologia Centrali Americana Gorham, 1881 housed in the Natural History Museum, London, Zootaxa 4808 (2), pp. 384-392 : 385

Photuris facialis Gorham, 1881

Photuris facialis Gorham 1881: 59

Current name Bicellonycha amoena (Gorham, 1880) , synonymized by McDermott 1966

A very large series of this species was located in the collection, including 21 specimens labelled as syntypes. There are many synonymies within B. amoena including B. facialis and B. nitida . There was also much more variation within the syntype series than is indicated in Gorham (1881) including at least three morphotypes. There was however a single male, syntype specimen bearing a red “type” label. Gorham (1881) also described a female, however this specimen was not found. Due to the confusion regarding what Gorham (1881) actually saw versus what was found in the collection, we choose to only designate a lectotype. Future, more directed research is needed to determine which specimens if any actually constitute the rest of the syntype series. The male specimen is therefore designated as the lectotype. Labels for the designated lectotype specimen are as follows:

“ Type ♂ ” “Sinanja,/Vera Paz./Champion” “Type.” “ B.C.A.Col. III.(2)./ Photuris /facialis, ♂ /Gorham” “SYN-/ TYPE ” “61” “ Photuris /facialis/Gorham ♂ ”. A red label is added with the following text: “ LECTOTYPE / Photuris facialis Gorham /Designated by/Martin and Powell 2020” .