Themus (Telephorops) coelestis (Gorham, 1889)

Yang, Yuxia, Kopetz, Andreas & Yang, Xingke, 2013, Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes on the genera Themus Motschulsky and Lycocerus Gorham (Coleoptera, Cantharidae), ZooKeys 340, pp. 1-19 : 1-3

Themus (Telephorops) coelestis (Gorham, 1889)

Telephorus coelestis Gorham 1889: 104, t. 10, fig. 7.

Themus coelestis : Jacobson 1911: 675.

Themus rugosus Pic 1929: 8. [Synonymized by Wittmer 1983a: 197.]

Themus (Telephorops) coelestis : Wittmer 1983a: 197, figs. 1, 59.

Themus violetipennis Wang and Yang 1992: 265, fig 2.

Themus (s.str.) violetipennis: Švihla 2008: 186. syn. n.

Type material examined.

Telephorus coelestis : Lectotype ♂ (NHMB): without locality information, [h]"coelestis ♂", [h] “♂”, [h]"Themus \ (Telephorops) \ coelestis \ (Gorh.) \ det. W. Wittmer", [h] “Type”, [p] “LECTOTYPUS”, [p]"Naturhist. \ Museum Basel \ coll. W. Wittmer", [p]"CANTHARIDAE \ CANTH00001277". Paralectotype: 1♀ (MNHN): [p]"Kiukiang \ June, 1887 \ A. E. Pratt", [h]"coelestis \ Gorh.", [h]"Themus \ (Telephorops) \ coelestis \ (Gorh.) \ det. W. Wittmer", [h] “TYPE”, [p] “PARALECTOTYPUS”.

Themus rugosus : Holotype ♀ (MNHN): [h] “Fokien”, [h]"Themus \ rugosus \ n. sp.", [h]"Themus \ (Telephorops) \ coelestis \ (Gorh.) \ det. W. Wittmer", [h] “type”, [p] “TYPE”.

Neotype designation.

Themus violetipennis : Neotype ♀ (here designated, IZAS): "湖南永顺杉木河林场 \ 600m \ 中国科学院” [Hunan, Yongshun, Shanmuhe forestry station \ 600m], "1988.VIII.4 \ 采集者：王书永” [4.VIII.1988 \ leg. Shu-Yong Wang].

Additional material examined.

CHINA: Shaanxi: 2♀♀ (IZAS): Foping, 16.VIII.2007, leg. Yu-Xia Yang. Gansu: 1♂ (IZAS): Kangxian, Baiyunshan, 1250-1750m, 12.VII.1998, leg. Shu-Yong Wang; 1♀ (IZAS): Kangxian, Heimaguan, 1450-1550m, 13.VII.1998, leg. De-Cheng Yuan. Henan: 1♂ (IZAS): Jigongshan, 700m, 14.VII.2001, leg. Si-Qin Ge; 1♀ (IZAS): Tongbaishan, 500m, 16.VII.2001, leg. Si-Qin Ge; 1♀ (IZAS): Neixiang, Baoyunman, 21.VII.2001, leg. Fu-Qiang Chen. Anhui: 2♂♂ (NHMB): "Dabieshan, 65km SW Huoshan, 1400m, 21.-24.VI.1995, leg. Bolm". Zhejiang: 1♀ (IZAS): Xitianmushan, 23.VI.1998, leg. Ming-Shui Zhao. Hubei: 1♂, 1♀ (NHMB): "Hupeh, Lichuan Distr., Suisapa, 1000m, 22.VII.1948, Gressitt&Djou Collra"; 1♂ (NHMB): same data, 24.VII.1948; 1♂ (NHMB): same data, 29.VII.1948; 2♂♂, 1♀ (NHMB): same data, 31.VII.1948; 1♂, 1♀ (NHMB): same data, 4.VIII.1948; 1♂ (IZAS): Hefeng, Fenshuiling, 1400m, 1.VIII.1981, leg. Long-Long Yang; 1♀ (IZAS): Hefeng, Shayuan, 30.VII.1989, leg. Shu-Yong Wang. Jiangxi: 1♂ (IZAS): Jiulianshan, Huangniushi, 19.VI.1975, leg. You-Wei Zhang; 1♀ (IZAS): Longnan, Jiulianshan, 17.VI.1975, leg. You-Wei Zhang. Hunan: 1♂, 1♀ (NHMB): "Yon-ping, 12.VI.1917"; 1♂ (NHMB): same data, "Yon-ping, 14.VI.1917"; 1♂ (IZAS): Sangzhi, Tianpingshan, 700-1450m, 14.VIII.1988, leg. Shu-Yong Wang. Fujian: 1♂ (IZAS): Chong’an, Xingcun, Xianfengling, 1170m, 14.VII.1960, leg. Cheng-Lin Ma; 1♀ (IZAS): Dehua, Chengguan, 510-550m, 1.VI.1960, leg. Fu-Ji Pu; 11 spec. (NHMB): "Fukien, Kuatun, 15.VIII.1946, Tschung-Sen leg."; 5 spec. (NHMB): "Kuatun, 26.VII.1946"; 6 spec. (NHMB): same data, 11.VII.1946; 5 spec. (NHMB): same data, 16.VIII.1946; 4 spec. (NHMB): same data, 18.IX.1946. Hainan: 1♀ (IZAS): Wanning, 10m, 9.VI.1960, leg. Chang-Qing Li. Guangxi: 1♂ (IZAS): Longsheng, Tianpingshan, 740m, 17.VI.1963, leg. Shu-Yong Wang; 1♀ (IZAS): Maoershan, Tongmujiang, 800m, 15.VII.1985, leg. Su-Bai Liao. Sichuan: 1♂, 1♀ (IZAS): Youyang, 780m, 15.VII.1989, leg. Shu-Yong Wang. Guizhou: 1♂ (NHMB): “Kouy-Tchéou”; 1♂ (IZAS): Fanjingshan, Huguosi, 1350m, 3.VIII.2001, leg. Qiong-Zhang Song; 1♀ (IZAS): Fanjingshan, Huixiangping, 1600m, 2.VIII.2001, leg. Kang-Zhen Dong.

Distribution.

China (Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, Anhui, Zhejiang, Hubei, Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian, Hainan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou).

Remarks.

According to the original publication, the types of Themus violetipennis Wang & Yang, 1992 were deposited in the IZAS and China Agriculture University, Beijing, China (CAUB), but our search of the types in the two Chinese museums have been long, repeated and with no results. The original description of Themus violetipennis was in accord with the standard of that time but insufficient considering the present level, and neotype allows us to satisfy a better comparision. Fortunately, a female specimen, which was collected at the same locality and date as that of one paratype designated by Wang and Yang (1992), was found in IZAS during our study. Its morphological characters are consistent with the original description, so it is designated as the neotype here, in order to clarify the taxonomic status of this species (ICZN, 4th, article 75.3). Furthermore, a careful examination of the types shows that Themus violetipennis Wang & Yang, 1992 is a junior synonym of Themus (Telephorops) coelestis (Gorham, 1889), which is widely distributed in China based on the data from a large series of examined specimens.