Hemignathus lanaiensis Rothschild

Hemignathus lanaiensis Rothschild, 1893a: xxiv (in insulâ Sandwichensi ‘Lanai’ dictâ).

Now Hemignathus ellisianus lanaiensis Rothschild, 1893 . See Rothschild, 1893g: 89–90, pl. 48; Amadon, 1950: 168; Greenway, 1968: 98; Olson and James, 1995: 384; American Ornithologists’ Union, 1998: 675; Dickinson, 2003: 758; Pratt, 2005: 247; and Pratt, 2010: 647.

LECTOTYPE: AMNH 453489, male, collected on Lanai Island, 20.50N, 156.55W (Times atlas), Hawaii (5 insulâ Sandwichensi), on 22 November 1892, by Henry Palmer (no. 1855). From the Rothschild Collection.

COMMENTS: No type was designated in the original description in which male, female, and young male were described. Hartert (1893: xxxiii) ‘‘exhibited the type-specimens [syntypes] of Hemignathus lanaiensis, Rothschild, from Lanai, described at the last Meeting of the Club,’’ but no details were given. Hartert (1919a: 170) noted that only three specimens were secured, although Palmer saw another five, and by listing the male specimen bearing Palmer’s no. 1855 as the type, he designated it the lectotype; it is also marked ‘‘ Type,’’ ‘‘ Recd Jan. 1893,’’ ‘‘pl 7’’ by Rothschild. There is only one paralectotype at AMNH: AMNH 453490 (Palmer no. 1848), male, collected on Lanai Island on 21 November 1892 (and marked ‘‘recd Jan. 1893,’’ ‘‘pl. 7,’’ and ‘‘ Type,’’ which has been crossed out) ; the bill of this specimen is broken. This was Rothschild’s ‘‘young male’ ’; the female is in BMNH as part of the Rothschild Bequest. I have not discovered the significance of ‘‘pl. 7.’’

According to Palmer’s diary (Rothschild, 1900: (Di)), he landed at Maunalei (? Manele Bay) on 3 November 1892 and collected on a peak near Lanaihale (20.48N, 156.54W, Times atlas).

Olson and James (1995: 384) introduced the genus Akialoa in which they included lanaiensis as a full species. The American Ornithologists’ Union (1998: 675) merged lanaiensis into the species ellisianus but retained it in the genus Hemignathus, as did Dickinson (2003: 758). Pratt (2005: 247) accorded lanaiensis full species status in Hemignathus, and Pratt (2010: 647) listed it as a full species in the genus Akialoa . H. e. lanaiensis is now extinct.