Monolepta bioculata ( Fabricius, 1781 )

Bezděk, Jan, 2019, Annotated review of Cryptocephalinae (Clytrini), Synetinae and part of Galerucinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) described by Carl Peter Thunberg, European Journal of Taxonomy 499, pp. 1-42 : 30-32

Monolepta bioculata ( Fabricius, 1781)

Fig. 15

Crioceris bioculata Fabricius, 1781: 154 (original description).

Chrysomela 4maculata Goldfuss, 1805: 42 (original description) (not examined).

Cryptocephalus bioculatus Thunberg, 1827: 14 (original description). Syn. nov.

Type localities

Crioceris bioculata : not stated. Chrysomela quadrimaculata : “Cap. Bon. Spei”. Cryptocephalus bioculatus : “Cap. Bon. Spei”.

Material examined

Lectotype (designated by Wagner 2007)

SOUTH AFRICA • ♀; “ Crioceris 2-oculata / Fabr. Sp. Ins. n. 27 [w, h] // Lectotypus / Th. Wagner desig. [p] 96 [r, h] // AfriGa / specimen ID: [p] / 936 [h] / specimen data / documented [p] / 15.II. [h] 20 [p] 0 8. [g, h]”; BMNH – Banks coll.

Paralectotype

SOUTH AFRICA • ♀; “ Paralectotypus / Th. Wagner desig. [p] 96 [r, h]”; BMNH – Banks coll.

Additional material

SOUTH AFRICA • 1 ♂, lectotype of Cryptocephalus bioculatus (designated here); “Uppsala Univ. Zool. Mus. / Thunbergsaml. nr. 9466 / Cryptocephalus bioculatus / Cap. TYP [r, p] // bioculatus . / α. / Cap. 1 x [box label, w, h]”; UUZM • 1 ♀, paralectotype of Cryptocephalus bioculatus (designated here); “Uppsala Univ. Zool. Mus. / Thunbergsaml. nr. 9467 / Cryptocephalus bioculatus / Cap. TYP [r, p] // bioculatus . / β. / Cap. 2 x [box label, w, h]”; UUZM • 1 ♂, paralectotype of Cryptocephalus bioculatus (designated here); “Uppsala Univ. Zool. Mus. / Thunbergsaml. nr. 9468 / Cryptocephalus bioculatus / Cap. TYP [r, p] // bioculatus . / γ. / Cap. 3 x [box label, w, h]”; UUZM • 1 ♂, paralectotype of Cryptocephalus bioculatus (designated here); “Uppsala Univ. Zool. Mus. / Thunbergsaml. nr. 9580 / Cryptocephalus bioculatus / Mus. Thunb. TYP [r, p] // bioculatus . / α. / Mus. Thunb. 17 [box label, w, h]”; UUZM • 1 ♂, paralectotype of Cryptocephalus bioculatus (designated here); “Uppsala Univ. Zool. Mus. / Thunbergsaml. nr. 15175 / Cryptocephalus bioculatus / TYP [r, p] // bioculatus . / δ. / 25 x [w, h]”; UUZM; 1 ♀, paralectotype of Cryptocephalus bioculatus (designated here); “Uppsala Univ. Zool. Mus. / Thunbergsaml. nr. 15501 / Cryptocephalus bioculatus / TYP [r, p] // bioculatus . / β. / 103 x [w, h]”; UUZM. The type specimens are provided with one printed red label: “ LECTOTYPUS, [or PARALECTOTYPUS, resp.] / Cryptocephalus / bioculatus / Thunberg, 1827 / J. Bezděk des., 2018”.

Comments

Thunberg’s collection consists of six syntypes of Cryptocephalus bioculatus , which include three different species. The two specimens (Nos. 9466 and 9580) that best fit the original description are conspecific with Monolepta bioculata . Another specimen (No. 9468) is Monolepta cruciata Guérin de Méneville, 1847 . The last three specimens (Nos. 9467, 15175 and 15501) are Monolepta signata ( Olivier, 1808) , which were evidently mislabelled, as M. signata is an Asiatic species and its occurrence in southern Africa is improbable. These specimens were probably collected in Java and Thunberg mistakenly mixed them with southern African specimens.

As the type series is composed of three different species, syntype No. 9466 is selected and here designated as the lectotype, and the identity of Cryptocephalus bioculatus Thunberg, 1827 is fixed to one specimen. Due to this act, Cryptocephalus bioculatus is proposed as a new synonym of Monolepta bioculata ( Fabricius, 1781) . Monolepta bioculata is the type species of the genus Monolepta , and was recently redescribed, including study of the type material, by Wagner (2007).

Figures

Fig. 15. A–I. Monolepta bioculata (Fabricius, 1781). A–B. Lectotype, ♀, not measured, BMNH. A. Dorsal view. B. Labels. C. Chrysomela quadrimaculata Goldfuss, 1805 (drawing from the original description). D–G. Lectotype of Cryptocephalus bioculatus Thunberg, 1827, ♂, 5.5 mm, UUZM. D. Dorsal view. E. Label. F. Lectotype label. G. Box label. H. Paralectotype of Cryptocephalus bioculatus Thunberg, 1827, ♂, 4.8 mm, UUZM (actually Monolepta cruciata Guérin-Méneville, 1849). I. Paralectotype of Cryptocephalus bioculatus Thunberg, 1827, ♂, 4.0 mm, UUZM (actually Monolepta signata (Olivier, 1908)).