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Title: Catalogue of the Primary Types of Cerylonidae, Endomychidae and Latridiidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidae) deposited in the National Museum of Natural History, with additional notes and clarification of the status of several types

Author
item SHOCKLEY, FLOYD - University Of Georgia
item Vandenberg, Natalia

Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/29/2009
Publication Date: 9/11/2009
Citation: Shockley, F.W., Vandenberg, N.J. 2009. Catalogue of the Primary Types of Cerylonidae, Endomychidae and Latridiidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidae) deposited in the National Museum of Natural History, with additional notes and clarification of the status of several types. Zootaxa. 2229:1-64.

Interpretive Summary: Many beetles are pests of crops, fiber, stored products, and wood, while others play a beneficial role in controlling pest insects and weeds, recycling nutrients, or as an important food resource for other animals. Nearly all named species of plants and animals are represented in a collection by a name-bearing type specimen, so that scientists can all agree on the identity of the named species. The collection of the National Museum of Natural History includes 12,000 name-bearing types of beetles. This paper lists the types of three beetle families, provides full color images (dorsal, lateral, ventral) of the specimens themselves to assist in their proper identification, and gives references to their original published descriptions, collecting data, gender (when known), and current classification. This information will be of importance to taxonomists, agriculturalists, and environmentalists who use scientific names to communicate about beetles and their diverse roles in relation to humankind and the environment.

Technical Abstract: A checklist with critical data is provided for all primary types of the families Cerylonidae, Endomychidae and Latridiidae deposited in the National Museum of Natural History: 48 in all. Of those, there are 43 holotypes, 3 lectotypes, and 2 neotypes. This tally includes a newly designated lectotype for Geoendomychus punctatus Arrow (1926) and neotype for Rhymbomicrus stephani Pakaluk (1987). Fifteen species have at least one paratype, paralectotype, or authoritatively identified non-type specimen associated with the holotype. Type specimens were compared to the original species descriptions to confirm their status, verbatim label data were recorded, and barcode labels were added. In addition to cataloguing the types, notes were made where discrepancies exist between the data labels pinned with the types and the data published with the original species descriptions.