Dichotrachelus valesiacus Stierlin, 1 878 1878
Creators: name: Germann, Christoph
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Curculionidae
Dichotrachelus
Dichotrachelus valesiacus

description: Results and discussion <b>Material examined:</b> 1 male with the following indications: “ Val Entremont St. Bernhard <i>D. valesiacus</i> Stierl.” (Fig. 1) From the Stierlin collection, deposited in the collection of the DEI. <b>Body length (c.r.e.):</b> 2.9 mm, maximal width: 1.4 mm. The most conspicuous traits providing evidence for the synonymy are depicted. <b>Habitus:</b> Fig. 2 a <b>Right protarsus:</b> Fig. 3 a <b>Aedeagus:</b> Fig. 4 a, c <b>Internal sac:</b> Fig. 5 a <b>Remarks:</b> The specimen is in a comparable good condition, the following parts of the body are missing: right hind tarsus, right middle tarsus (from the third tarsal segment on), left fore tarsus, claw segment. The single male specimen of <i>D. valesiacus</i> is the only one present in the Stierlin collection. The specimen fits in every detail the description of Stierlin (1878: 416-417). Stierlin did not mention any typical exemplars in the first description. Only later in his “Fauna coleopterorum helvetica”, he mentioned in a footnote “Bei dem einzigen Exemplare, das ich kenne...” which shows that only a single specimen was known to him (Stierlin 1898: 271). According to articles 72.4.1.1 and 73.1.2 of ICZN (2000) this specifies unambiguously the holotype by monotypy. Hence, the use of the recommendation 73F with the designation of a lectotype is not necessary. However, it should be mentioned that the only specimen of <i>D. valesiacus</i> was thought to be a female since the revision of the genus (Osella 1970). The examination of the type revealed that it is a male specimen belonging to <i>D. verrucosus</i> (Kiesenwetter, 1852), distributed in the eastern and central Pyrenean Mountains in France (Kiesenwetter 1852, Osella 1970) and Spain (Meregalli 1987). One male specimen of <i>D. verrucosus</i> with the following indications was used for comparison: “Pyrénées Or. <i>Dichotrach. verrucosus</i> ” from the Rätzer collection (NMBE) (Figs 2 b, 3b, 4b, d, 5b). The new synonymy is established: <i>D. verrucosus</i> (Kiesenwetter, 1852) = <i>Dichotrachelus valesiacus</i> Stierlin, 1878 syn. nov. As shown, the unraveled <i>D. valesiacus</i> is in fact <i>D. verrucosus</i>. Since <i>D. verrucosus</i> is exclusive to the eastern and central Pyrenean Mountains, the type of <i>D. valesiacus</i> was evidently wrongly labeled. This mistake confused Stierlin (1878) when he referred it to a new species, although <i>D. verrucosus</i> was included in his revision. The Swiss weevil fauna has lost with the present established synonymy the only species named after the most popular region for zoologists, the Valais.
description: Published as part of <i>Christoph Germann, 2009, About the enigmatic Dichotrachelus valesiacus Stierlin, 1878 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Cyclominae), pp. 81-86 in ZooKeys 5 (5)</i> on pages 82-85, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.5.52, http://zenodo.org/record/400737
description: {"references": ["Stierlin G (1878) Revision der Dichotrachelus - Arten. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen GesellschaFt 5 (7): 392 - 425.", "Stierlin G (1898) Fauna coleopterorum helvetica. Die KaFer-Fauna der Schweiz. Bolli &amp; Bocherer, Schaffhausen, 662 pp.", "Osella G (1970) Revisione del genere Dichotrachelus Stierlin. Memorie del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona 18: 449 - 569.", "Kiesenwetter M H (1852) Enumeration des Coleopteres trouves dans le midi de la France et en Catalogne (IIe partie). Annales de la Societe Entomologique de France (2) 9 (4) [1951]: 577 - 656 + pl. 11.", "Meregalli M (1987) Revisione delle specie iberiche del genere Dichotrachelus Stierlin, 1853 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae). Bolletino del Museo regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino 5 (2): 335 - 418."]}