Podisus affinis Distant, 1880

Roell, Talita, Lemaître, Valérie A., Webb, Michael D. & Campos, Luiz A., 2023, An annotated and illustrated Type Catalogue of the predacious Shieldbugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Asopinae) in the Collection of the Natural History Museum, London, Zootaxa 5232 (1), pp. 1-105 : 19-20

affinis (Podisus) Distant, 1880: 38 . [ Figs 2–6 ]

Original data: “ Hab. MEXICO (coll. Sign.), Oaxaca (Mus. Berol.); GUATEMALA, San Gerónimo (Champion). -- COLOMBIA (coll. Dist.).” [syntypes]

SYNTYPE ♁: blue-margined syntype disc; “ S. Geronimo, Guatemala. Champion.”; “Distant Coll. 1911–383.”; “NHMUK 010592313”. Fourth and fifth left antennomere, and middle and posterior legs missing ( Fig. 2 ) .

SYNTYPE ♁: blue-margined syntype disc; “ S. Geronimo, Guatemala. Champion.”; “Distant Coll. 1911–383.”; “NHMUK 010592315”. Right middle leg missing ( Fig. 3 ) .

SYNTYPE ♀: blue-margined syntype disc; “ S. Geronimo. Guatemala. Champion.”; “ affinis Dist. [Distant’s handwriting]”; “Distant Coll. 1911–383.”; “NHMUK 010592316”. Fourth and fifth left antennomeres, and right posterior leg missing ( Fig. 4 ) .

SYNTYPE ♁: blue-margined syntype disc; “ Bogota ”; “Distant Coll. 1911–383.”; “NHMUK 010592317”. Fourth and fifth right and left antennomeres, and right posterior leg missing ( Fig. 5 ) .

SYNTYPE ♀: blue-margined syntype disc; “ S. Geronimo. Guatemala. Champion.”; “B.C.A., Hem. I. Podisus affinis .”; “NHMUK 010592318”. Fifth left antennomere, middle legs, and right posterior leg missing ( Fig. 6 ) .

Current status: Podisus affinis Distant, 1880 .

Notes: From Thomas’s (1992: 95–96) catalogue entry for Podisus affinis Distant , it is clear that Thomas believed it to be a replacement name for the secondary homonym Arma fuscescens (Stål, 1862) (nec Dallas, 1851). This is only partly true. Stål (1862b: 90) described Telepta fuscescens from Mexican female specimens deposited both in the Stockholm Museum and in Signoret’s collection (currently in NHMW). Walker (1867a: 135) placed Telepta fuscescens Stål in Arma as a “ Nomen bis lectum ”, a homonym of Arma fuscescens Dallas , which appeared on the previous page. Stål (1870: 50–51) synonymised his own Telepta fuscescens with Dallas’s Arma fuscescens under the name Podisus (Podisus) fuscescens Dallas. However, Stål only mentioned the part of his type series in the Stockholm Museum, not that in Signoret’s collection. Subsequently, Distant (1880: 38) discovered that the latter was a different species and described this material (as well as specimens from Berlin and London museums), as Podisus affinis . Thus, Telepta fuscescens Stål was not only a secondary homonym in Arma of Arma fuscescens Dallas but also, it was partly synonymous with it.

Whilst the material present in NHMW was not examined, the first author imaged two specimens of Podisus affinis Distant, 1880 in MFNB, a male and a female. The latter is a syntype from Oaxaca, with a determination label by Distant, but the former was collected by Champion in Cerro Zunil ( Guatemala); it can only be a later addition and not a syntype, as Distant specified that the typical material in Berlin was from Oaxaca and that that from Guatemala collected by Champion was from San Gerónimo, as the four specimens found in NHMUK .

Figures

FIGURES 1–8. Type specimens deposited in NHMUK. 1, Macrorhaphis acuta; 2–6, Podisus affinis; 7, Rhaphigaster aggressor; 8, Arma ampla. Scale bars: 4 mm.