Plinthocoelium virens ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Plinthocoelium virens ( Linnaeus, 1758) View in CoL

( Fig. 21 View Figure 21 )

Cerambyx virens Linnaeus 1758: 391 View in CoL View Cited Treatment

Callichroma columbinum Guérin-Méneville 1838: 282 View in CoL

Plinthocoelium domingoensis Fisher 1922: 52 View in CoL , new synonym

Remarks. Linnaeus (1758: 391) described Cerambyx virens (his No. 21 in the genus Cerambyx ). Although he stated “ Habitat in India ”, he cited two references under the species, Sloane (1725: Plate 237, figs. 39, 40) and Browne (1756: 430 and Plate 43, fig. 8). Both of these works dealt extensively with the fauna of Jamaica. Both Sloane and Brown described the species briefly but rather accurately, as about 1.5 inches long, the black antennae longer than 3 inches, overall shining green in color, the pronotum with two small spines at the middle, and Sloane described the legs as having all femora reddish with the remainder of the legs black. Linnaeus (1767: 627, his No. 33 under Cerambyx ) repeated the 1758 entry without change. The Linnaean entries were also annotated with “M. L. U.” meaning a specimen or specimens were examined from the Museum Ludovicae Ulricae which was the collection of Queen Lovisa Ulrika, which was subsequently donated to the museum in Uppsala in 1804.

Drury (1770: 89) provided a more detailed description and color illustration (Plate XL, fig. 1), citing Linnaeus (1767), Sloane, and Browne, noting that his specimen came from Jamaica. This entry was enhanced in Westwood’s reprint of Drury ( Drury and Westwood 1837: 85 and Plate XL, fig. 1) with more modernized terminology in the description and adding a few references subsequent to Drury’s original work. Again, it was stated that the species was found in Jamaica.

Fabricius (1775: 166) treated the species, citing Linnaeus (1767) and Drury (1770), and stated “Habitat in America ”. Olivier (1795: 29) included the species in his work, citing the same above references, and stating that the species “Il se trouve dans le Isles de l’Amerique et aux Antilles.”

It is clear that all early usage of Cerambyx virens referred to the West Indian species, despite Linnaeus having stated the species was from India. It is entirely possible that Linnaeus erred and really meant West Indies or perhaps just Indies.

Lacordaire (1859: 16) placed Cerambyx virens in the genus Callichroma Latreille , and stated that the species was from “Antilles”. Interestingly, this was done in a footnote under the heading for the genus Philematium Thomson , which possibly led to subsequent confusion.

Aurivillius (1912: 312) had an entry for Callichroma virens , but attributed the name to Drury rather than Linnaeus, and listed the distribution as Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti. On page 306 of the same catalog, he had an entry for Philematium virens (Linnaeus) , with a distribution noted as “Afrika?”. It is inexplicable how Aurivillius decided that the name Cerambyx virens involved two species, since all previous literature attributed the name to Linnaeus (1758) and most of the earlier works cited the pre-Linnaean works on Jamaica by Sloane and Browne. It is abundantly clear that usage of Cerambyx virens for over 150 years applied to the West Indian species and had nothing to do with the African fauna.

Therefore, the proper name and author attribution for the West Indian species is Plinthocoelium virens (Linnaeus) . The African species of Philematium Thomson that has been known as P. virens (Linnaeus) now should use the name of the most senior synonym, P. sansibaricum (Gerstaecker, 1871) .

In entries for Plinthocoelium in catalogues (e.g., Monné 2005), Cerambyx virens Drury, 1837 , has long been listed as a synonym under Callichroma columbinum Guérin-Méneville, 1838 , even though the Drury name was earlier. This now becomes irrelevant with the proper attribution of authorship to Linnaeus, and the Drury name understood to be subsequent usage. Plinthocoelium columbinum ( Guérin-Méneville, 1838) is simply a synonym.

Plinthocoelium virens was most likely described from Jamaica and matches the Plinthocoelium found in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Key characters from Drury’s description include the green thorax with “upper part transversely rugose”, the green elytra “being covered with an infinite number of very small pustules”, the “abdomen and breast covered with small short hairs, and appearing of a grayish green colour”, and the “thighs dark red, black at the tips”. Examination of over 50 specimens from the Dominican Republic has shown color variation from green to copper, without geographic correlation.

Fisher (1922) described Callichroma domingoensis from “San Sidro, Santo Domingo ” as having a black abdomen while Drury described it as grayish-green. Under good illumination, all the specimens from Hispaniola have a dark gray-green abdomen (slightly variable due to sheen of pubescence under lights). We consider Plinthocoelium domingoensis as falling within the variation of P. virens and place it as a new synonym of that species.

CLYTINI Mulsant, 1839 Neoclytus Thomson, 1860