Taxonomic notes concerning the genus Catharsius Hope, 1837 (Scarabaeidae Scarabaeinae) Author Takano, Hitoshi African Natural History Research Trust, Street Court, Kingsland, Leominster HR 6 9 QA, UK. & Department of Zoology, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX 1 3 PS, UK & Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW 7 5 BD, UK text Zootaxa 2021 2021-10-14 5052 2 280 286 journal article 3983 10.11646/zootaxa.5052.2.7 5902f0a7-68e2-4de8-9ef2-9e70a20676be 1175-5326 5568728 D8949428-C305-4510-99BB-39498D4421F6 Catharsius birmanensis Lansberge 1874 Catharsius birmanensis Lansberge, 1874: 11 . Catharsius harpagus Harold, 1877: 97 . ( syn. nov. ) Catharsius laticeps sensu Péringuey, 1901 (nec Boheman): 335, Plate XXXIII, Fig. 23 & 23a. Catharsius parafastidiosus Ferreira, 1971: 5 . ( syn. nov. ) In the late 19 th Century, European ships travelling to and from Asia would likely stop at Cape Town or Durban to resupply and it is possible that unlabelled specimens from the Orient were exchanged or sold by naturalists ending up in the collections of individuals such as Péringuey or the South African museums where their true provenance has been misconstrued. Although these are the first cases of transcontinental mislabelling in Catharsius , other cases are known within the Scarabaeinae ( e.g. , Rossini & Vaz-de-Mello 2016 ) and in general, the existence of mislabelled specimens in museum collections is well-documented ( e.g. , Takano et al. 2021 ).