Taxonomic and nomenclatural changes in Cassidinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
Author
Sekerka, Lukáš
text
Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae
2016
2016-07-15
56
1
275
344
journal article
56063
10.5281/zenodo.5305725
31cb15bf-28f5-4b27-86df-6a1b28cbce41
0374-1036
5305725
E24F1028-C6AC-4323-9ED5-C9B7FF3434ACD
Chelymorpha cruxnigra
Boheman, 1862
stat. restit.
Chelymorpha crux-nigra
Boheman, 1862: 218
(original description).
Type
locality.
‘Mexico’.
Type material examined.
HOLOTYPE
:
♀
, pinned, ‘Type [w, p, s, c, rf] || E. Coll |
Chevt
. [w, p, cb] || cruxnigra | Chev amiat | D turaté [w, hw, s] || 67·56 [w, p, s]’ (
BMNH
).
Remarks.
SPAETH (1909a)
considered
Chelymorpha cruxnigra
as a variety of
Ogdoecosta juvenca
(
Boheman, 1854
)
and since then it was considered a synonym of the latter species (see
BOROWIEC 1999a
). Spaeth did so probably based on the primary description as
BOHEMAN (1862)
compared
C. cruxnigra
to
O. juvenca
. Boheman attributed the description of
C. cruxnigra
to Chevrolat and mentioned his collection also as the type depository. Based on the description I assume that there was only a single specimen of this species used for its description. The
holotype
of
C. cruxnigra
certainly belongs to
Chelymorpha
as it has venter of pronotum with antennal grooves along head externally bordered by a sharp carina. Therefore I remove this taxon from synonymy of
O. juvenca
and restore its species status in
Chelymorpha
.
It is questionable whether the
type
locality is correct because so far it is the only specimen of such appearance from
Mexico
and other species occurring there belong to completely different species-groups, with the exception of
Chelymorpha calva
Boheman, 1854
, another enigmatic taxon.
Chelymorpha cruxnigra
looks very similar to some forms of
C. multipunctata
(Olivier, 1791)
and might be synonymous with the latter. However, for now I keep it as valid species because the genus
Chelymorpha
requires a complex revision based on comparative study of female genitalia and molecular data, as these two characters seem to be the only methods to separate numerous specimens of polymorphic complexes of similarly looking species.
Distribution.
Mexico
(
BOHEMAN 1862
).