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eing the most recent authority on the subject.
The publication dates for the fascicles in
which Platycoelia was cataloged were listed in
Madge (1988) and confirmed by the journal
Bibliographie de la France which announces
the release of new publications in that country.
Platycoelia Dejean, 1833 was published no
later than 27 July 1833 according to the
Bibliographie de la France (36[30]: 459). Although
Dejean (1833) provided no description
for the new generic name, Platycoelia was
made available in that publication under the
ICZN rules (Article 12.2.5). The placement of
an available specific name in combination
with a new generic name makes the generic
name available by indication (International
Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
1999). Ohaus (1918) and Machatschke (1965)
incorrectly (according to the current rules of
nomenclature) cited the author and date of
Platycoelia as Burmeister, 1844.
Burmeister (1844) was the first author to
attempt to classify Platycoelia in the context
of other groups of scarab beetles. He was the
first to provide a description of the genus and
he placed the group in the “Anoplognathidae,”
which is the modern tribe Anoplognathini consisting
of Australian and Neotropical genera.
Burmeister also erected the family group
name Platycoeliina Burmeister (originally as
Platycoeliidae) containing Platycoelia and
Phalangogonia, and he discussed similarities
with Anoplognathus Leach and Repsimus
MacLeay (two Australian genera). Three new
species of Platycoelia were also described in
this paper: P. valida Burmeister, P. quadrilineata
Burmeister, and P. marginata Burmeister.
Burmeister also redescribed P.
flavostriata, but used specimens of another
species for the description. The species
Burmeister described as P. flavostriata was
later recognized as different by Arrow (1899)
and Ohaus (1904b) and given the names P.
burmeisteri Arrow and P. tschudii Ohaus respectively
(with the Arrow name being the
valid one). Burmeister (1844) also described
P. signaticollis (Burmeister) in the new genus
Callichloris, which he placed under the family
group name Brachysternidae (with taxa
currently in the subtribes Brachysternina
and Schizognathina). Callichloris was also
MONOGRAPHIC REVISION OF PLATYCOELIA 7
listed by Dejean (1833, 1836), but was not
made available in those publications because
no available species-group names were listed
under that generic name.
Erichson (1847) described three new species
of Platycoelia from Perú: P. pomacea
Erichson, P. alternans Erichson, and P.
prasina Erichson. Accession records at ZMHB
indicate that the type series of P. alternans
was collected by Rudolph A. Philippi and the
type series of P. pomacea and P. prasina were
collected by José Pavón (Pavón specimens arrived
at ZMHB via the Hoffmansegg collection).
Blanchard (1851) later described three
more species: P. boliviensis Blanchard (herein
a junior synonym of P. pomacea); P. olivacea
Blanchard (later placed in synonymy with P.
marginata); and P. lutescens Blanchard.
Burmeister (1855) later added one additional
species, P. laevis Burmeister (later placed in
synonymy with P. marginata). In the same
year, Guérin-Méneville (1855) described another
species, P. scutellata Guérin-Méneville
(herein a junior synonym of P. marginata).
Kirsch (1871, 1885) then added two species:
P. nervosa Kirsch and P. parva Kirsch. Bates
(1888, 1891b) described two new species: P.
humeralis Bates and P. nigricauda Bates
(herein a junior synonym of P. parva). Bates
(1891b) also described the new genus Leucopelaea
Bates (later placed in synonymy with
Platycoelia) to accommodate the new species
L. albescens Bates (later placed in synonymy
with P. lutescens).
Before the 20th century, there was no
comprehensive work done on the genus
Platycoelia. Freidrich Ohaus, who has been
called the “Father of Rutelinae” (Jameson
1998), changed all that with the first review
of the genus in 1904. Ohaus (1904b) redescribed
all the existing species and described
the following 23 new species group
names of Platycoelia: P. inflata Ohaus, P.
inflata tucumana Ohaus (herein a junior synonym
of P. inflata), P. limbata Ohaus (herein
a junior synonym of P. prasina), P. steinheili
Ohaus, P. forcipalis Ohaus, P. occidentalis
Ohaus, P. pomacea brasiliensis Ohaus (herein
a junior synonym of P. pomacea), P.
abdominalis Ohaus, P. mesosternalis Ohaus,
P. variolosa Ohaus, P. nigrosternalis Ohaus,