Amegilla sesquicinta (ERICHSON)

Engel, Michael S., 2009, On the identity of Amegilla sesquicincta (E) and the type species of Dizonamegilla (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 59 (2), pp. 325-328 : 327

Amegilla sesquicinta (ERICHSON) , nom. dub.

Megilla sesquicincta ERICHSON In KLUG, 1842 : [Doubletten-Verzeichniss von Senegallensischen Insecten mit Diagnosen neuer Arten von Klug und Erichson] 14 []; “Senegall”. No syntypes traced in Berlin; two  in that collection, determined by HEDICKE (1942) as “ Amegilla sesquicincta ERICHSON ”, are actually Indian “ bicincta ” [= dizona , herein].

Amegilla (Dizonamegilla) sesquicincta (ERICHSON); Brooks, 1988: 505 [misidentification (= dizona ENGEL, herein); authorship erroneously given to “ERICHSON & KLUG”; invalid neotype designation].

As BROOKS (1988) designated his “ Megilla sesquicincta ” as the type species for the new subgenus Dizonamegilla, this calls into question the identity and application of the genus-group name. As the type species designation was based on a misidentification, a new type species must be designated that is either the nominal species originally cited or the taxonomic species actually involved (ICZN, 1999: Art. 70.3). Given that the nominal species, sesquicincta, is a nomen dubium, I here designate the taxonomic species involved as it best promotes nomenclatural stability. Thus, the type species of Dizonamegilla is now fixed (under Article 70.3.2) as Amegilla dizona ENGEL, nom. n. (= Apis bicincta FABRICIUS, 1793), misidentified as Megilla sesquicincta ERICHSON in KLUG, 1842 in the original designation by BROOKS (1988: 505).