ZOOTAXA

ZOOTAXA65nomina nuda, misspellings, misidentifications, etc. This was done in prior synonymicaltracking efforts of the Nicrophorinae, such as by Hatch (1928). We indicate the moreimportant of these in the notes following each citation rather than listing them as 'names'per se. This approach prevents the confusion that can result if such unavailable names aremistakenly considered true names (for example as occurred in Poole & Gentili [1997]). Inthe Nicrophorinae many authors published descriptions of infrasubspecific variation andattached names to these descriptions, usually denoted by the rank 'aberration'. These areclearly of infrasubspecific rank because they fall below the rank of variety (=subspecificrank) in the literature of the Nicrophorinae. These names are not available as specified inICZN (1999) article10.2 and not listed as names herein. Many names remain in the literatureat the subspecific rank, usually designated in the Nicrophorinae by the term 'variety,'in most cases these varieties refer to mere differences in coloration of the elytra. This proliferationof names in the Nicrophorinae has been discussed and argued against by Leech(1937) and Anderson & Peck (1986) among others. We tend to agree with the opinions ofWilson and Brown (1953) and prefer that within-species variation be discussed rather thannamed. We have changed the status of 52 of these names, making them absolute synonyms,i.e. without subspecific rank. These status changes are indicated but not commentedupon in the catalog. The exception, for which we provide commentary, being casesin which there is evidence to suggest that a subspecific name might be warranted. The term‘absolute synonym’ is used in the sense of Hatch (1940: 243) to differentiate junior synonymsconsidered to have valid subspecific rank from those that do not.The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999), article 76, statesthat the type locality of a nominal species-group name is the place of origin of the primarytype, or is composed of the data from a syntype series if no primary type exists. The datafrom the type labels is thus given priority over whatever locality data is published in theoriginal description, if they disagree. Following this protocol, we have listed the type labeldata as the type locality for each name whose types we have studied and listed the publisheddata for the remaining names, if available. The terms “label” and “descrip.” indicatethe source of the type locality data presented; the former indicating data from theprimary type label(s), the latter indicating data from the original description.Distributional data are provided in brief form for widespread species but completedata by country are provided for species with small ranges. Country records that appear tobe previously unpublished are indicated with an asterisk ‘*’.Museum Codens: With the exception of private collections and OLML and IBPV,these codens all refer to and are derived from the index prepared by Arnett et al. (1993).ANSPBMNHCMNHDEICDept. of Entomology, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA 19103 USAThe Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd, London SW7 5BD, UNITED KINGDOMSection of Insects and Spiders, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 900 Forbes Ave.,Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USADeutsches Entomologisches Institut, Eberswalde-Finow 1, D-1300, F. R. GERMANY10 © 2002 Magnolia PressSIKES ET AL.