Cordicantharis cyanipennis Faldermann 1835
Creators: name: Fanti, Fabrizio
name: Ghahari, Hassan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Cantharidae
Cordicantharis
Cordicantharis cyanipennis

description: Cordicantharis cyanipennis (Faldermann, 1835)
Cantharis caspica Reitter, 1898: 122 –123. Locus typicus: “Nordpersien: Alburs” (Carl Rost). [synonymized by Kazantsev 2004: 23].
Cantharis Elata Faldermann in Dejean, 1833: 106 (nomen nudum) and Dejean, 1836: 119 (nomen nudum). [synonymized by Dejean].
Distribution in Iran. Alborz (Reitter 1898). Ardabil: Bogrov Mts., 1,700 m (Švihla 1999, as Cordicantharis caspica). Guilan: Sheyk Mahalleh (Švihla 1999), Assalem, 1,300 m (Švihla 1999, as Cordicantharis caspica). Mazandaran: Elburz (Koçak & Kemal 2015, as Cordicantharis caspica), 30 km SW Chalus, Kelardasht (Švihla 1999), Central Elborz, Kelardasht, 1,700 m (Švihla 1999, as Cordicantharis caspica). Generic records: Iran (Gemminger & Harold 1869 [Persia occ.: as Telephorus violaceus var. cyanipennis and var. elatus]; Baudi di Selve 1872 [Persia: as Cantharis elata, thought to be a synonym of Ancistronycha violacea]; Hicker 1925 [Persia, as Cantharis caspia sic!]; Delkeskamp 1939 [North Persia, as Cantharis caspica and Persia, as elata, synonym of var. cyanipennis, both thought to be synonyms of Ancistronycha violacea], 1977 [North Persia: as Cantharis caspica and Persia: as elata, synonym of var. cyanipennis, and both thought to be synonyms of Ancistronycha violacea]; Wittmer 1972 [described for North Persia: as Cantharis caspica]; Kazantsev 2004; Kazantsev & Brancucci 2007).
Remarks. Endemic to Iran. The records for Armenia and Azerbaijan (Švihla 1999; Koçak & Kemal 2015) are actually to be referred to Islamocantharis auroraensis Kazantsev. Cantharis elata Faldermann is a nomen nudum in Dejean (1833: 106, 1836: 119), considered as a synonym of Cantharis cyanipennis Ziegler and indicated for “Russia merid.”. Gemminger & Harold (1869) considered elata as a synonym of var. cyanipennis Faldermann (cyanypennis Ziegler) both thought to be synonyms of Ancistronycha violacea Paykull. Baudi di Selve (1872) and Delkeskamp (1939, 1977) also considered this species as a synonym of A. violacea. It is possible that, over the years, the name Cantharis cyanipennis Faldermann, would have been confused with Telephorus cyanipennis Bach, now synonym of Ancistronycha abdominalis. Furthermore, there are three species similar and prone to being confused with each other, mainly due to blue metallic elytra (see also Švihla 1999): Ancistronycha abdominalis (Fabricius), Ancistronycha violacea (Paykull) and Cordicantharis cyanipennis (Faldermann). No Ancistronycha species are currently recorded for Iran and Transcaucasia (Švihla 1999); thus, we believe that all specimens with blue metallic elytra (named cyanipennis in literature) are to be referred to Cordicantharis cyanipennis (Faldermann).
description: Published as part of Fanti, Fabrizio & Ghahari, Hassan, 2016, A checklist of the soldier beetles (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Cantharidae) of Iran, pp. 529-551 in Zootaxa 4196 (4) on page 536, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4196.4.4, http://zenodo.org/record/168319