Cormocephalus ( C. ) kraepelini Attems, 1930

Cormocephalus ( C.) kraepelini Attems, 1930 View in CoL

Attems (1930) reduced Hemiscolopendra Kraepelin, 1903 to subgeneric status under Cormocephalus Newport, 1844 , thus creating the homonymy between C. ( Hemiscolopendra) michaelseni (Attems, 1903) ( Type locality: Chile, Valparaiso) and C. ( Cormocephalus) michaelseni Kraepelin, 1908 ( Type series: Western Australia: Albany, Bridgetown, Collie). Cormocephalus ( C.) michaelseni is characterized by Attems (1930:97); however in a footnote to the Contents (Inhalt) on page v (evidently written and printed at a later stage than the main text) he noted that it must receive the new name “ C. ( H.) Kraepelini nom. nov. Att.” because of homonymy with Cormocephalus ( H.) michaelseni Att. 1903 : “S. 97. Cormocephalus ( C.) michaelseni Krpln. 1908 muss wegen Cormocephalus ( H.) michaelseni Att. 1903 S. 112 einen neuen Namen erhalten, ich nenne ihn: C ( H.) Kraepelini nom. nov. Att.” Attems clearly intended the new name to read C. ( C.) Kraepelini , as in the index (page 296) he lists Cormocephalus ( Cormocephalus) kraepelini in bold type, indicating that he regarded it as valid, and referred to page 97, but he failed to substitute C. ( C.) kraepelini for C. ( C.) michaelseni on that page. That this was Attems’ intention is confirmed by the entry on page 298 in the index, where Cormocephalus ( Hemiscolopendra) michaelseni is listed in bold type indicating that it is a valid name. The nomen novum kraepelini has been overlooked by subsequent authors.

A further complication is created by C. michaelseni as used by misidentification by Attems (1922) for material from Namibia, Penguin Island near Lüderitzbucht which he ( Attems 1928:283) renamed C. insulanus Attems, 1928 nomen novum in a footnote to the key to Cormocephalus species : “Nomen novum pro Cormocephalus michaelseni Att. 1922 (nec Kraepelin 1908).”

Hemiscolopendra is now recognised as a full genus, having been reelevated by Crabill (1960) and confirmed as such by Hoffman & Shelley (1996) and Shelley (2002).