Cyclocephala aulustjaorum, Hielkema, 2017

Hielkema, Auke J., 2017, Some corrections and remarks regarding the nomenclature of Neotropical Athyreini, Passalini, Phanaeini, Rutelini, Cyclocephalini, Dynastini and Oryctini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea), Insecta Mundi 2017 (561), pp. 1-18 : 8

Cyclocephala aulustjaorum , a replacement name for the preoccupied name Cyclocephala brevis Höhne, 1923 ( Scarabaeidae : Dynastinae: Cyclocephalini)

In his treatise of the Dynastinae of Costa Rica and Panama, Ratcliffe (2003: 93, 96) observed Cyclocephala pubescens Burmeister, 1847 (p. 68) to be a junior homonym of C. pubescens Erichson, 1847 (p. 96), which itself is a junior synonym of C. sexpunctata Laporte, 1840 (p. 125). Because of this observation, he needed a replacement name for Burmeister’s species. After he concluded that the only available synonym was C. pubescens brevis Höhne, 1923 (p. 373) and that Höhne’s syntypes of this taxon were conspecific with Burmeister’s C. pubescens , he proceeded to elevate this name to specific rank.

However, it appears to have escaped Ratcliffe’s attention that the name C. brevis Höhne, 1923 is itself a junior homonym of C. brevis Perty, 1830 (p. 46) which, despite the fact that its type is presumed to be lost or destroyed, is usually considered to be a synonym of Euetheola bidentata ( Burmeister, 1847) (p. 81). In fact, this is even mentioned by Ratcliffe in the same publication (p. 276) in which he elevated Höhne’s C. brevis .

In agreement with Ratcliffe’s comment, there appear to be no other synonymic names for this taxon, and ICZN (2012) Article 60.3 therefore requires the homonym to be replaced with a new name. Thus, the replacement name Cyclocephala aulustjaorum nomen novum is here proposed for C. brevis Höhne, 1923 . This name is an honorific of my grandparents and created from the first letters of their names.