Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) scylla Levey 1985
Creators: name: Baiocchi, Daniele
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Buprestidae
Anthaxia
Anthaxia scylla

description: Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) scylla Levey, 1985
(Figs. 17–20)
Anthaxia scylla Levey, 1985: 300 –305, Figs. 6, 15, 20, 23, 27, present removal from synonymy. Type locality: “ Malta ”.
Anthaxia scylla: Curletti, 1994: 110 (syn. of aprutiana); Bílý, 1997: 14, 113 (catalogue); 2006: 375 (catalogue); Mifsud & Bílý, 2002: 182, 184 (faunistics); Bellamy, 2008: 1349, 1469 (catalogue).
Anthaxia umbellatarum: Cameron & Caruana Gatto, 1907: 397 (faunistics).
Anthaxia domina: Obenberger, 1938: 180 (taxonomy, comments).
Anthaxia nitidula: Cilia, 1989: 117 (faunistics).
Unavailable name. Anthaxia aprutiana Gerini, 1955: 3 (ssp. of domina), nom. nud.; Curletti, 1994: 110, 231, 270, 277, 296, 298, Fig. 92 (catalogue, comments); Bílý, 1997: 14, 46 (catalogue); Mifsud & Bílý, 2002: 182, 184, Fig. 1 (faunistics); Bílý, 2006: 375 (catalogue); Bellamy, 2008: 1349 (catalogue).
Type specimens studied. Anthaxia (H.) scylla: holotype by original designation (♂, BMNH - Fig. 17, original labelling: Fig. 18); paratypes (3♂♂, 4♀♀): [p] Paratype [round label with yellow border] // [h] Malta: Gozo; 25.VII.1902 // [p] M. Cameron. Coll. B.M. 1936-555 // [h] PARATYPE Anthaxia scylla sp. n. [p] B. Levey det. 19[h]84. (2♀♀ BMNH); [p] Paratype [round label with yellow border] // [p] Malta. 6 -03. M.C. // [p] M. Cameron. Coll. B.M. 1936-555 // [h] PARATYPE Anthaxia scylla sp. n. [p] B. Levey det. 19[h]83 (1♂ BMNH [showing ventral side]); [p] Paratype [round label with yellow border] // [p] Ac. No. 3426 Malta. [h] 6.iv. [19]27 [p] H. C. Harford // [p] D. M 137 // [p] Pres. by Imp. Bur. Ent. Brit. Mus. 1928 – 231 // [h] Anthaxia millefolii 7. [p] det. K. G. Blair // [h] PARATYPE Anthaxia scylla sp. n. [p] B. Levey det. 19[h]84. (1♂ BMNH); [p] Paratype [round label with yellow border] // [h] Birzebbugia. Malta 1.vii. [19]56. G. V. P. Sewell // [p] Brit. Mus. 1961 – 135 // [h] PARATYPE Anthaxia scylla sp. n. [p] B. Levey det. 19[h]84. (1♀ BMNH); [p] Paratype [round label with yellow border] // [h] Gozo // [p] Malta. [h] 7[?]. [p]190[h]2 [p] M. C. // [P] M. Cameron. Coll. B. M. 1936 – 555 // [h] PARATYPE Anthaxia scylla sp. n. [p] B. Levey det. 19[h]84. (1♀ BMNH); [p] Paratype [round label with yellow border] // SICILY Castelvetrano (Trapani) Fiume Modione [h] 23 [p]. vi.1972 K. M. Guichard // [p] Brit. Mus. 197[h]3 – 406 // [h] PARATYPE Anthaxia scylla sp. n. [p] B. Levey det. 19[h]84 (1♂ BMNH).
Remarks. Cameron & Caruana Gatto (1907: 397) published the first record of this species for the Maltese islands as Anthaxia (H.) umbellatarum (Fabricius, 1787). This same specimen (Figs. 17–18) was subsequently designated as holotype for A. scylla by Levey (1985: 302).
Obenberger (1938: 180) first reported the same species from Italy as A. (H.) domina Abeille de Perrin, 1900. In this paper, the author indicates the locality "Salmona", which is actually a misspelled form of Sulmona, in the Abruzzo region. A pair of specimens that I recently collected in this locality, are herein illustrated (Figs. 19–20).
Subsequently, the same taxon was considered as having been described by Gerini (1955) as a subspecies of A. (H.) domina. In his paper, Gerini (1955: 3) stated that A. (H.) cichorii (Olivier, 1790) and A. (H.) domina could not be considered conspecific, since he had collected the two species together on the Pollino Mountain, in southern Italy. Apart from this consideration, the author merely mentions a number of specimens collected by him in some localities of the Pollino massif, stating that they were comprised in the type series (allotype and 12 paratypes).
Actually, in this paper, to which has always been associated the description of aprutiana, there is no fixation of holotype, or any description of the species. This is understandable, since the same author stated in a footnote that the description of his subspecies was, at that moment, in press with the Bulletin of the Italian Entomological Society. There is however, no evidence of such a description in any of the papers published by Gerini, so that the species has never been described.
It is also strange to note that in the Gerini collection, currently deposited in the Museum of Natural History of Verona, I could not find any specimen of this species. In addition, the type deposition of this species indicated in the various catalogues (Bílý 1977; Bellamy 2008) is incorrect. Personal comments by Curletti indicate that the type has never been deposited in his private collection, or in the collection of the Museum of Carmagnola.
Some years later, Levey (1985), unaware of Gerini's paper, published a study on the A. (H.) umbellatarum species-group, with included the description of A. (H.) scylla. Curletti (1994) subsequently synonymised A. (H.) scylla with A. (H.) aprutiana, in his catalogue of Italian Buprestidae, where A. (H.) aprutiana was also first treated as a good species.
Actually, in his work Curletti had already pointed out a possible problem with the real identity of this species. In fact, in a note (Curletti 1994: 110) he mentioned the problematic description of A. (H.) scylla by Levey (1985), and a supposed generic description of A. (H.) aprutiana either by Obenberger (1938) and by Gerini (1955), which in my opinion are not found in those papers. In fact, all that Obenberger (1938: 180) wrote in his paper was a reference to A. (H.) domina regarding the smaller size of Italian specimens compared with the North African ones, and in addition, he expressed his disagreement with Thery about the conspecificity of A. (H.) domina and A. (H.) cichorii. The same comments being made by Gerini (1955), and in fact, there is no evidence of a description in either of the two papers.
Anthaxia (H.) aprutiana has therefore remained unpublished so far, and according to the current ICZN (art. 13.1.1), it must be considered as a ‘ nomen nudum ’. Consequently, all previous uses of this name are unavailable, while A. (H.) scylla Levey, 1985 is herein removed from synonymy and considered as the correct name for this species.
Anthaxia (H.) scylla is currently known from Italy, including Sicily, and Malta. The species belongs to the A. (H.) umbellatarum species-group.
description: Published as part of Baiocchi, Daniele, 2015, Taxonomic notes on the genus Anthaxia Eschscholtz, 1829 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Anthaxiini) 1., pp. 339-357 in Zootaxa 3941 (3) on pages 348-350, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3941.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/243172