Triphalopsis punctatus ( LeConte, 1851 ) Aalbu & Wirth, 2019

Aalbu, Rolf L. & Wirth, Christopher C., 2019, The Status of Triorophus punctatus LeConte (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Pimeliinae: Edrotini), Zootaxa 4604 (1), pp. 198-200 : 198

Triphalopsis punctatus ( LeConte, 1851) New combination

Triorophus punctatus LeConte, 1851: 142 .

Triphalopsis californica Doyen, 1983: 87 . New synonymy

Unfortunately LeConte’s (1851) description of Triorophus punctatus ( LeConte, 1851) lacks the character detail necessary to identify specimens, due both to the contemporary style of taxonomic descriptions and to the type specimen’s poor condition. In place of a redescription of T. punctatus ( LeConte, 1851) Doyen’s (1983) description and figure of Triphalopsis californica Doyen 1983 (= Triorophus punctatus LeConte, 1851 ) are sufficiently detailed to permit specimen identification.

While initially described from the United States, T. punctatus ( LeConte, 1851) predominantly occurs in northwestern Mexico. Triphalopsis punctatus ( LeConte, 1851) is found from San Diego County, California south to southern portions of Baja California, Mexico and it is especially abundant on numerous islands, both large and small, in the sea of Cortez, south to Isla San Lorenzo ( Sánchez Piñero & Aalbu, 2002).