Rhopaea decipiens Lea, 1919

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 : 479

Rhopaea decipiens Lea, 1919

Rhopaea decipiens Lea, 1919: 185 .

Holotype (by original designation) male ( Figs. 63–65 ): decipiens (handwritten) Lea, TYPE (typeset) Forrest Reefs [33.45°S, 149.08°E] (handwritten) | I.4535 Rhopaea decipiens Lea N.S. Wales. (handwritten) TYPE (handwritten in red, at right angle) | SAMA Database No. 25-034466 | my holotype label; in SAM.

Lea (1919) did not define the type series, seeing an unknown number of males (vide Articles 73.1.2, 72.1.1). However, in that paper he unequivocally designated a “Type” with the SAM registration number I.4535 (vide Article 73.1.1). It is presumably the specimen considered as the holotype by Britton (1978) and is the one noted as the holotype by Houston & Weir (1992). Britton (1978) also noted two male paratypes with the same data in SAM; this was followed by Houston & Weir (1992), but I have not located them.

Figures

FIGURES 63–74. 63–65, Holotype male of Rhopaea decipiens Lea, 1919. 63, dorsal; 64, lateral; 65, labels. 66–68, Lectotype male of Rhopaea magnicornis Blackburn, 1888. 66, dorsal; 67, lateral; 68, labels. 69–71, Holotype male of Rhopaea nigricollis Lea, 1919. 69, dorsal; 70, lateral; 71, labels. 72–74, Lectotype male of Zietzia geologa Blackburn, 1894. 72, dorsal; 73, lateral; 74, labels. Photographs courtesy of the South Australian Museum Board.