Copelatus freudei Guignot, 1955

Sheth, Sayali D., Ghate, Hemant V. & Hájek, Jiří, 2018, Copelatus Erichson, 1832 from Maharashtra, India, with description of three new species and notes on other taxa of the genus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Copelatinae), Zootaxa 4459 (2), pp. 235-260 : 252-254

Copelatus freudei Guignot, 1955

( Figs 46–48 )

Copelatus freudei Guignot, 1955: 72 .

Copelatus gibsoni Vazirani, 1974: 19 ; new synonymy.

Copelatus gibsoni Vazirani, 1975: 345 ; preoccupied by Copelatus gibsoni Vazirani, 1974: 19 ; new synonymy.

Copelatus spangleri Vazirani, 1974: 19 ; new synonymy.

Copelatus spangleri Vazirani, 1975: 344 ; preoccupied by Copelatus spangleri Vazirani, 1974: 19 ; new synonymy.

Type localities. Copelatus freudei : "Bengale: Chapra"; C. gibsoni : "New Delhi ". C. spangleri : "New Delhi ".

Type material. Copelatus freudei : Holotype ♂ ( ZSMG), labelled: "Chapra [p] // Mackenzie [p] // TYPE [p, red label with black margin] // F. Guignot det., 19 [p] 54 [hw] / Copelatus / Freudei Guign. / Type ♂ [hw Guignot]".

Copelatus gibsoni : Holotype ♂ ( USNM), labelled: " INDIA / NewDelhi [p] // 3-XI-1967 / KEGibson / light trap [p] // HOLOTYPE [p, underlined red] // TypeNo [p] / 72328 [hw] / U S N M [p] [red label] // Copelatus / gibsoni / sp.nov. [hw Vazirani] / T.G. Vazirani Det. [p]".

Copelatus spangleri : Holotype ♂ (USNM), labelled: " INDIA / NewDelhi [p] // 6-VII-1967 / KEGibson / light trap [p] // HOLOTYPE [p, underlined red] // TypeNo [p] / 72327 [hw] / U S N M [p] [red label] // Copelatus / spangleri / sp.nov. [hw Vazirani] / T.G. Vazirani Det. [p]".

Additional material studied. India: 1♀, Delhi, 30.viii.1980, J. Seifert leg. ( NMPC) ; 1♂ 1♀, Rajasthan, Bharatpur, Keoladeo NP, 29.x.1997, J. Šťastný leg. ( JSCL) ; 12 specimens, Rajasthan, Bharatpur, Keoladeo NP and around, 27°12.4′N, 77°30.5′E, 220 m, 31.viii.–5.ix.2002, M. Fikáček & P. Šípek leg. ( NMPC) ; 1♂ 1♀, Uttaranchal [Uttarakhand], 30 km W of Mussoorie, Dakpathar vill., Yamuna river , 790 m, 4.viii.2003, Z. Kejval & M. Trýzna leg. ( NMPC) ; 1♂ 2♀, Uttar Pradesh, Faizabad , 2.ix.1980, J. Seifert leg. ( NMPC) ; 2♂, Uttar Pradesh, Agra , 28.ix.1997, P. Pucholt leg. ( NMPC) . Nepal: 1♂, Prov. Bheri, Nepalgunj, Hotel Batika, LF [ Lichtfang , = light trap], 28°02.6′N, 81°36.6′E, 11.–12.vii.2001, A. Weigel leg. ( LHCM) .

Comments on classification. Vazirani (1974, 1975) described both C. gibsoni and C. spangleri from the same light trap collecting in New Delhi. Both species were described twice (based on the same material), in two different publications. Vazirani only compared the two species to each other and to C. andamanicus (= C. oblitus ). Although the author was aware of the existence of C. freudei (see Vazirani 1970), he was not able to see its holotype and only studied specimens from Sri Lanka, tentatively assigned to that species. We have compared the holotypes of all three taxa: C. spangleri agrees in all details with the holotype of C. freudei . The holotype of C. gibsoni is a soft, not fully matured specimen—which explains its paler coloration; in addition to that, the soft median lobe was deformed (flattened) when mounted into a slide; however, after careful examination, the shape of the median lobe is assumed to be the same in C. gibsoni and C. spangleri (i.e. also in C. freudei ), including internal structures, see Figs 47–48 . Minor differences between C. gibsoni and C. spangleri in elytral striation, as mentioned in the original description, undoubtedly represent intraspecific variability. Therefore, we establish the following synonymy: Copelatus freudei Guignot, 1955 = C. gibsoni Vazirani, 1974 syn. nov., = C. gibsoni Vazirani, 1975 syn. nov., = C. spangleri Vazirani, 1974 syn. nov., = C. spangleri Vazirani, 1974 syn. nov.

Distribution. Copelatus freudei was described based on two specimens: male holotype from Bengal and female allotype from Sri Lanka. Subsequently, Wewalka (1975) added records from Bhutan and Bihar, Rocchi (1976) published the species from Bangladesh, and Rocchi (1986) added localities from Sri Lanka. Holmen & Vazirani (1990) also mentioned the species from the Maldives, Rocchi (2001) recorded the species under the name C. spangleri from Assam, and finally Darilmaz & Ahmed (2016) published the first record from Pakistan. We confirm the occurrence of C. freudei in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and add the first country record from Nepal, and Indian state records from Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Figures

FIGURES 46–48. Copelatus freudei. 46. male habitus (Rajasthan); 47. median lobe in lateral view (holotype of C. spangleri); 48. same (holotype of C. gibsoni). Scale bar 0.5 mm (Figs 47–48).