Otiocephala opaca ( Rosenhauer, 1856 )

Bezdċk, Jan & Regalin, Renato, 2015, Identity of species-group taxa of the Western Palaearctic Clytrini (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) described by Maurice Pic and Louis Kocher, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (suppl.) 55, pp. 1-114 : 36

Otiocephala opaca ( Rosenhauer, 1856)

Clythra opaca Rosenhauer, 1856: 308 (original description).

Otiocephala opaca var. rufolimbata Pic, 1897d: 135 (original description).

Cyaniris (Otiocephala) opaca var. carnerii Pic, 1920b: 21 (original description).

Otiocephala opaca var. latecyanescens Pic, 1946: 3 (original description).

Type localities. Clythra opaca : ‘Algeciras’ [ Spain]. Otiocephala opaca var. rufolimbata : ‘Mecheria’ [ Algeria]. Cyaniris opaca var. carnerii : ‘ Egypte: Mariout’. Otiocephala opaca var. latecyanescens : ‘Maroc’ [‘Maghraoua’ based on the locality label].

Type material examined. Clythra opaca : SYNTYPES: 1 ♀, ‘ opaca Rsh. / Algeciras [w, h] // Thiere / Andalusiens / Rosenhauer [w, p] // TYPE [r, p]’ ( MNHN – coll. Lefèvre) ; 1 ♂, ‘Thiere / Andalusiens / Rosenhauer [w, p] // TYPE [r, p]’ ( MNHN – coll. Lefèvre).

Otiocephala opaca var. rufolimbata : HOLOTYPE: 1 ♀, ‘ MECHERIA / Mai 1896 / Dr.A. Chobaut [w, p] // Otiocephala / rufolimbata / Chob. [w, h] // Otiocephala / Warioni / v. rufolimbata / Chob. [w, h]’ ( MNHN – coll. Chobaut).

Cyaniris opaca var. carnerii : SYNTYPE: 1 ♂, ‘12 [w, h] // Mariout / 21/3/1920 [w, h] // type [w, h] // v. Carnerii / Pic [w, h]’ ( MNHN – coll. Pic). The photos of additional two syntypes from GMNH were provided by the curator Maria Dimaki: 1 ♂, ‘♂ [w, p] // Mariout / 21 III 1920 [w, h]’ ( GMNH); 1 ♀, ‘ ♀ [w, p] // Mariout / 21 III 1920 [w, h]’ ( GMNH).

Otiocephala opaca var. latecyanescens : SYNTYPE: 1 ♀, ‘Maghraoua / 2000 m … [partly illegible, w, h] // Otiocephala / sp? / d. Peyh. [w, h] // [illegible, w, h] // O. opaca v. / latecyanescens / mihi [w, h] // TYPE [r, h] // Ot. opaca v. / latecyanescens Pic [h] / Dét. P. Rotrou – Taza [w, p]’ ( MNHN – coll. Rotrou).

Distribution. Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Spain ( REGALIN & MEDVEDEV 2010b).

Comments. The genus Otiocephala badly needs a modern and comprehensive revision. We are almost sure that all three varieties described by PIC (1897d, 1920b, 1946) are not conspeciħc with O. opaca but provisionaly we leave them in its synonymy in accordance with the Palaearctic catalogue ( REGALIN & MEDVEDEV 2010b) till the comprehensive revision of the genus is done.

PIC (1920b) stated ‘coll. Pic et Carneri’ as the deposition of the type specimens of Cyaniris opaca var. carnerii . In his collection in MNHN we found one male syntype. Additional two syntypes (male and female) are deposited in the collection of A. Carneri which is now part of the collection of P. G. Moazzo in GMNH. One of us (RR) visited this museum in 2002 and studied both specimens. Curator Maria Dimaki also sent us simple photos including the labels.Although both specimens lack the original Pic ̓ s identiħcation label, they were collected in Mariout on the same date, ‘ 21.iii.1920 ’, as the syntype in MNHN. As the deposition in Carneri ̓ s collection was explicitely stated in the original description we treat both specimens as syntypes of Cyaniris opaca var. carnerii .