Evidence supporting an extensive new synonymy for Pseudopyrochroa basalis (PIC) (Coleoptera: Pyrochroidae: Pyrochroinae), with description of the mature larva and redescription of the adult

Abstract

Evidence from field collections, laboratory rearings, comparative anatomy of larvae and adults, and a study of all types leads me to propose that 12 southeast Asian species of Pseudopyrochroa described by Maurice Pic between 1909 and 1943 be considered junior synonyms of P. basalis (Pic). The names in question include Pseudopyrochroa atra, Schizotus dohertyi, Pyrochroa fruhstorferi, Pyrochroa inapicalis, Schizotus javanus, Pyrochroa (Schizotus) javanus reductus, Pseudopyrochroa latenigra, Pyrochroa maculata, Pseudopyrochroa multiimpressa, Pseudopyrochroa opacicollis, Pyrochroa (Schizotus) sulcaticeps, and Pyrochroa (Schizotus) testaceipennis. Additionally, three species described by Kenneth Blair in 1912 from Indonesia (Java) and Malaysia (Borneo) should be considered synonymous with P. basalis. These names are Pyrochroa apicipennis, Pyrochroa fulvipennis, and Pyrochroa ruficollis, the latter of which had previously been synonymized with Pseudopyrochroa dohertyi (Pic). The discovery of the larva of P. basalis has been of fundamental significance in proposing this synonymy; it is described, its salient anatomical features are illustrated, and the adult is redescribed.