Caenis argentata F.-J. Pictet, 1843

Sartori, Michel & Bauernfeind, Ernst, 2020, Mayfly types and additional material (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) examined by F. - J. Pictet and A. - E. Pictet, housed in the Museums of Natural History of Geneva and Vienna, Revue suisse de Zoologie 127 (2), pp. 315-339 : 329

Caenis argentata F.-J. Pictet, 1843

Caenis argentata F.-J. Pictet, 1843 -1845: 279-280, pl. 43, fig. 6. – Kluge, 2020 (nomen dubium).

Caenis halterata ( Fabricius, 1777) . – Ulmer, 1921: 248 (synonymization).

Accepted name: Caenis argentata F.-J. Pictet, 1843 nom.dub.

Locus typicus: “… se trouve en Sicile ”.

Type material: NMW; holotype [by monotypy], female subimago .

Remarks: F.-J. Pictet wrote “Je ne connais que la femelle subimago de cette espèce… elle m’a été communiquée par le musée de Vienne ”. It is, however, rather doubtful whether the specimen in the NMW actually represents the type specimen: female subimago / Caenis argentata? Kollar lactea Hffm. [Kollar’s handwriting] / Caenis horaria (L.) det. Malzacher 1983 [no collector’s label, no locality]. Ulmer (1921: 248) erroneously quoted three male subimagines in the NMW carrying F.-J. Pictet’s label: “... davon stammen zwei aus Sizilien, eins aus Ischl.”. None of these specimens actually bears F.-J. Pictet’s label nor could they have represented type material, and most probably Ulmer’s remark was based on a confusion with later acquisitions from Sicily not seen by F.-J. Pictet. Two additional male specimens and one female (in the NHW, all without labels) have been transferred to glycerin: “ Caenis horaria (L.) sub nom. C. lactea (Pict.) det. Malzacher 6. 1983”. None of them can be considered to represent type material.

Caenis horaria has so far not been recorded from Sicily and in our opinion it is most likely that Kollar incorrectly labelled a specimen of unknown origin at a later time. The specimen in question lacks the “Pictet vidit” label as well as any evidence concerning its origin, and it therefore seems justified to consider the name Caenis argentata F.-J. Pictet, 1843 as a nomen dubium.