Spodochlamys gigas ( Murray, 1857 )

Bayfield-Farrell, William P., Matsumoto, Keita & Barclay, Maxwell V. L., 2022, Catalog of the Anatistini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae) Deposited in the Natural History Museum, London, The Coleopterists Bulletin 76 (3), pp. 341-349 : 345-348

Spodochlamys gigas ( Murray, 1857)

Leucothyreus gigas Murray 1857: 265 , plate III, figure 5 (original combination).

Leucothyreus purpureosericeus Nonfried 1891: 239 (synonym).

Type Material. Holotype female ( Fig. 2 ): “Type [p, circular, red ring]//9927//Quito/78. 19 [h]// Leucothyreus /gigas,/(Type) Murray. [h]// Spodochlamys /caesarea,/Burm.[eister] [h]// caesarea Brum HGTP. szg/( Leucothyreus gigas Mur /Quito [h]// LEUCOTHYREUS / GIGAS / MURRAY 1857 / HOLOTYPE ♀ /det. M. L. Jameson [h & p, red label, black border]// NHMUK 014560450 [p]”.

Remarks. Andrew Murray (1812–1878) was originally a lawyer from Scotland, who moved to London to become Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society. He is best known for his work on economically important insects, and his private collection was sold by the British collector E. W. Janson after his death, much of it being purchased by the BMNH ( Darby 1982).

Additional Material. Four specimens, female: “Equador [sic!]/ San Jav [h]//Fry Coll./1905-100. [p]// SPODOCHLAMYS / GIGAS /MURRAY/det. M. L. Jameson 2007 [h & p]// NHMUK 014560451 [p]”; “ Equador [sic!]/South [h]//Fry Coll./1905-100. [p]// NHMUK 014560452 [p]”; “70319 [h]// Rosenberg [h]//Equador [sic!]/Paramba [Parambas] [h]//Fry Coll./1905-100. [p]// NHMUK 014560453 [p]”; “ Papua New Guinea / Northern Province /1992 [h & p, incorrectly labelled, likely obtained from dealer by collector]// E. Gowing-Scopes /collection/ BMNH (E) 2005-4 [p]// NHMUK 014560454 [p]// Locality data incorrect/det. M. Barclay, 2021 [h]” .

Remarks. The specimen labelled “ Papua New Guinea ” we suspect was bought or traded, and in the process was incorrectly labelled; the collector Eric Gowing-Scopes obtained a lot of his specimens by exchange or purchase. We believe “San Jav” is an abbreviation of “San Javiers”; however, there are many “San Javiers” in Ecuador (Cañar, Esmeladas, Cotopaxi, Imbabura, Pichincha-Quito, etc.). To accommodate this, we listed this locality under “no data” in the distribution.

Distribution. ECUADOR (4): Pichincha, Imbabura, “South Ecuador”, no data.INACCURATE LOCALITY (1): Papua New Guinea.

Spodochlamys latipes Arrow, 1946 Spodochlamys latipes Arrow 1946: 49–50 , f. 1 (original combination).

Type Material. Holotype male ( Fig. 3 ): “ Spodochlamys /latipes/ Arrow ♂ /P.ARNAUD DET 95/ HOLOTYPE [h & p, red border]//E. ECUADOR:/ [green line]/ Mangosisa R., 650m. / L. Gomez. /B.M. 1940-219. [p]//BMNH-LONDON/ SMITH MAY/01 [p]// Spodochlamys /latipes/ Arrow 1946 / HOLOTYPE /det. M. L. Jameson 2007 [p, red label, black border]// NHMUK 014560470 [p]”.

Remarks. Gilbert J. Arrow (1873–1948) described as many as 1,800 species from 24 families in his many publications between 1899–1951 ( Bacchus 1974). He worked primarily on Scarabaeoidea in the museum’s collection.

Additional Material. One specimen, female: “ Peru [h]// ♀ genitalia destroyed [right maxillary palp attached] [h]//Nevinson Coll./1918-14 [p]// Spodochlamys /mirabilis/ BMNH G23 :146 [h]// SPODOCHLAMYS /LATIPES/ ARROW ♀ /det. M. L. Jameson 2010 [h & p]// NHMUK 014560471 [p]” .

Distribution. ECUADOR (1): Morona-Santiago. PERU (1): no data.

Spodochlamys mirabilis Waterhouse, 1880 Spodochlamys mirabilis Waterhouse 1880: 287–288 (original combination).

Type Material. Lectotype male ( Fig. 4 ): “[male genitalia]//Type [circular, red ring, p]//Chiguin-/-da/ [green line]/80 - 14 [h]// Spodochlamys /mirabilis, ♂ /(Type) Waterh. [h]//BMNH-LONDON/ SMITH

MAY/01 [p]// Spodochlamys /mirabilis/ Waterhouse 1880 / LECTOTYPE /det. M. L. Jameson 2007 [p, red label, black border]// NHMUK 014560467 [p]”.

Remarks. Charles O. Waterhouse (1843–1917) was employed at the Entomological Department at the BMNH between 1866 and 1910, and also worked on the several volumes of the BCA ( Darby 1982). He published more than 230 papers describing many species from the BMNH collection, including the lectotype specimen for S. mirabilis labeled by Mary Liz Jameson during 2007.

Additional Material. One specimen, female: “Buckley [h]//52449 [h]//Fry Coll./1905-100 [p]// Equador [sic!]// SPODOCHLAMYS /MIRABILIS/ WATERHOUSE/det. M. L. Jameson 2007 [h & p]// NHMUK 014560469 [p]” .

Remarks. “Buckley” refers to Clarence Buckley (fl. 1839–1889), a mysterious but intrepid collector of vertebrates, butterflies, and beetles [see Vane-Wright (1991) and Beolens et al. (2011)], who apparently sold material from some of his several Ecuador expeditions to Alexander Fry.

Distribution. ECUADOR (2): Morona-Santiago, no data.

Figures

Figs. 1–2. Type specimens of Spodochlamys spp. 1) S. cupreola, holotype, male; 2) S. gigas, holotype, female. A) Dorsal habitus, B) Labels.

Figs. 3–4. Type specimens of Spodochlamys spp. 3) S. latipes, holotype, male; 4) S. mirabilis, lectotype, male. A) Dorsal habitus, B) Labels.