24 Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 58(1) March 2001 Case 3149 Proposed conservation of 31 species-group names originally published as junior primary homonyms in Buprestis Linnaeus, 1758 (Insecta, Coleoptera) C.L. Bellamy Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90007, U.S.A. (e-mail:
[email protected]) Abstract. The purpose of this application is the conservation of 31 specific names which have been in use for buprestid beetles for very many years but which, when originally published in combination with Buprestis, were junior primary homonyms. The species are now placed in many different genera. In none of these cases have the species denoted by the homonyms been considered congeneric since the 19th-century, if at all, and this case is submitted in accord with Article 23.9.5 of the Code. Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Coleoptera; buprestidae; Buprestis; buprestids; jewel beetles. 1. According to Article 23.9.5 of the Code, when two or more primary homonyms are in use 'but the names apply to taxa not considered congeneric after 1899, an author must not automatically replace the junior homonym; the case should be referred to the Commission and meanwhile prevailing usage of both names is to be maintained'. Therefore, I refer a number of primary homonymy situations from the very well-known genus Buprestis Linnaeus, 1758 (type genus of the jewel beetle family buprestidae Leach, 1815), and propose the conservation of the existing usage of 31 specific names which have not appeared in homonymous combinations since the 19th-century and in some cases have never been considered congeneric with their senior homonyms. In the 18th century, and in the early part of the 19th, Buprestis was a 'catch-all' genus (by 1800 more than 250 species had been described in combination with that generic name), but for more than a hundred years taxa first published in Buprestis have been divided amongst many genera and the original primary homonymies have been overlooked or ignored. In some cases the senior homonyms have not been in use because they have older synonyms. To now abandon the longstanding usage of numerous specific names would be taxonomically extremely confusing, and it is fortunate that the new Code dictates that this must no longer be done unless the Commission so rules. 2. The cases of primary homonymy of specific names originally published in combination with Buprestis are given below in alphabetical order. The junior name(s) is/are given first. (1)5. arcuata Laporte & Gory, 1837 (p. 159). Preoccupied by B. arcuata Say, 1825 (p. 251). B. arcuata Laporte & Gory was transferred to Cinyra Laporte & Gory, 1837 by Gemminger & Harold (1869, p. 1381) and later into Spectralia Casey, 1909; it is now known as S. arcuata. B. arcuata Say was placed in Agrilus Curtis, 1 825 by Say (1839, p. 162) and is now known as A. arcuatus.
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