Rhopaea nigricollis Lea, 1919

Allsopp, Peter G., 2020, Clarification of the status of the types of Australian Melolonthini (Coleoptera Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) described before 1950, Zootaxa 4885 (4), pp. 451-486 : 481

Rhopaea nigricollis Lea, 1919

Rhopaea nigricollis Lea, 1919: 184 .

Holotype (by original designation) male ( Figs. 69–71 ): nigricollis (handwritten) Lea, TYPE (typeset) Beverley (handwritten) | I.10792 Rhopaea nigricollis Lea W. Australia (handwritten) TYPE (handwritten in red, at right angle) | SAMA Database No. 25-035286 | my holotype label; in SAM.

Paratype: 1 male: Beverley W.A., E.F. du Boulay (handwritten) | Rhopaea nigricollis Lea (written by Britton) | my paratype label; in SAM .

Lea (1919) did not define the type series, seeing an unknown number of males (vide Articles 73.1.2, 72.1.1). However, in that paper he unequivocally designated a “Type” with the SAM registration number I.10792 (vide Article 73.1.1). It is presumably the specimen considered as the holotype by Britton (1978) and is the one noted as the holotype by Houston & Weir (1992). Britton (1978) also noted a male paratype with the same data in SAM; this was followed by Houston & Weir (1992).

The placement of the type locality in Western Australia is doubtful as the species is otherwise known only from northeastern New South Wales and the genus is not known from Western Australia ( Britton 1978). I suspect that it should be Beverley, New South Wales (31.10°S 151.01°E). Edgar Francis du Boulay, who collected the specimens, was the son of Francis du Boulay who originally worked in Western Australia but later collected in northern New South Wales ( Musgrave 1932).

Figures

FIGURES 63–74. 63–65, Holotype male of Rhopaea decipiens Lea, 1919. 63, dorsal; 64, lateral; 65, labels. 66–68, Lectotype male of Rhopaea magnicornis Blackburn, 1888. 66, dorsal; 67, lateral; 68, labels. 69–71, Holotype male of Rhopaea nigricollis Lea, 1919. 69, dorsal; 70, lateral; 71, labels. 72–74, Lectotype male of Zietzia geologa Blackburn, 1894. 72, dorsal; 73, lateral; 74, labels. Photographs courtesy of the South Australian Museum Board.