Oostomum Gistel, 1856

Jelínek, Josef & Audisio, Paolo, 2009, The Kateretidae, Nitidulidae and Monotomidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) described by Gistel (1856, 1857): new synonymies and type designations, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 49 (1), pp. 225-238 : 228-229

Oostomum Gistel, 1856

Oostomum Gistel, 1856: 362 . Type species: Nitidula marginata Fabricius, 1781 [= Amphotis marginata (Fabricius, 1781) ], misidentified as Ostoma ferruginea Laicharting, 1781 , by monotypy.

GISTEL (1856: 362) included only Ostoma ferruginea Laicharting, 1781 in this genus, which would thus be the type species of Oostomum by monotypy. The identity of Ostoma ferruginea Laicharting, 1781 (non Silpha ferruginea Linnaeus, 1758 ) is uncertain. The taxon is in fact LAICHARTING’ s (1781) interpretation of Silpha ferruginea sensu SCOPOLI (1763) rather than the description of a new species, and the description clearly refers to a species of Soronia Erichson, 1843 . Also, the relevant text by SCOPOLI (1763) is a misinterpretation of Silpha ferruginea Linnaeus, 1758 [ Peltis ferruginea ( Linnaeus, 1758) ] and Silpha ferruginea [sensu] Scopoli, 1763 is considered as a junior synonym of Soronia grisea ( Linnaeus, 1758) (GROU- VELLE 1913, AUDISIO 1993). The depository of the type specimens of Laicharting is unknown. According to E. Heiss (pers. comm.), Laicharting’s collection is not deposited in the Tiroler Landesmuseum, Innsbruck, as stated by HORN et al. (1990). In the historical collection of the Museum für Naturkunde, Humboldt University, Berlin, there is a series of 12 specimens with old collection labels ‘varia F. Ht. Pk.Pr*/ Ostoma ferruginea Laichart. /N. variegata Ol./ grisea Marsh. / Brun.Boruss.’ and ‘grisea/ Silpha grisea Lin. ’. These specimens originate from several ancient collections, among others those of Hellwig and Herbst, but there is no evidence for the presence of specimens from the Laicharting collection or Laicharting’s identification labels (B. Jaeger, pers. comm.). Nevertheless, these historically determined specimens suggest that German authors nearly contemporaneous with Laicharting considered his Ostoma ferruginea to be conspecific with Soronia grisea . GROUVELLE (1913) listed Ostoma ferruginea Laicharting, 1781 with a question mark, thereby denoting this taxon as a possible synonym of Soronia punctatissima (Illiger, 1794) and this synonymy was accepted by AUDISIO (1993). Thus the true identity of Ostoma ferruginea [sensu] Laicharting, 1781 remains doubtful and was listed as such by JELÍNEK & AUDISIO (2007b), but there is little doubt about its affiliation with the genus Soronia .

However, GISTEL (1856: 362) listed both Soronia grisea and S. punctatissima , and also gave his interpretation of Ostoma ferruginea by the synonymy ‘ Oostomum ferrugineum Laicharting/ marginata F.’ ( GISTEL 1856: 414), meaning that GISTEL (1856) considered Ostoma ferruginea Laicharting, 1781 as conspecific with Amphotis marginata (Fabricius, 1781) . He also gave Amphotis as a synonym of Oostomum GISTEL (1856: 398) . Thus, Nitidula marginata Fabricius, 1781 [ Amphotis marginata (Fabricius, 1781) ] was misidentified as Ostoma ferruginea Laicharting, 1781 by GISTEL (1856) and is the type species of Oostomum Gistel, 1856 by monotypy. Consequently, Oostomum Gistel, 1856 becomes junior objective synonym of Amphotis Erichson, 1843 .