Dermestes pardalis Billberg, 1808 (Coleoptera: Dermestidae): lectotype designation, new synonymy and proposed similar new species

Mahie, S., Herrmann, A. and Holloway, G. (2026) Dermestes pardalis Billberg, 1808 (Coleoptera: Dermestidae): lectotype designation, new synonymy and proposed similar new species. Arquivos Entomoloxicos, 34. pp. 47-56. ISSN 1021-3589 (In Press)

Abstract/Summary

A lectotype is designated for Dermestes pardalis Billberg, 1808 (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) based on the only known type specimen preserved in the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden. The designation is made to resolve longstanding taxonomic confusion surrounding the identity of the species and its distinction from Dermestes hankae Háva, 1999. Examination of type and non-type material from multiple collections shows that the diagnostic characters previously used to separate D. hankae fall within the variation observed in D. pardalis. There is also no difference between any of the aedeagi examined here and the aedeagus of D. hankae holotype, but none of them resembles the illustration provided by Háva in the original description of D. hankae. Consequently, D. hankae is proposed as a junior synonym of D. pardalis. A new species resembling D. pardalis is described as Dermestes havai sp. nov.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/129371
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences > Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Central Services > Academic and Governance Services > University Museums and Special Collections
Publisher	Arquivos Entomoloxicos Galegos
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