Zoosyst. Evol. 88 (1) 2012, 97–124 / DOI 10.1002/zoos.201200010 The primary types of Mantispidae (Neuropterida) in the Museum fr Naturkunde, Berlin – An annotated catalogue Michael Ohl* Museum fr Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz-Institut fr Evolutions- und Biodiversittsforschung an der Humboldt-Universitt zu Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany Abstract Received 3 October 2011 Nomenclatural and taxonomic data are provided for 63 nominal species-group taxa of Accepted 5 October 2011 Mantispidae (Insecta: Neuroptera), whose primary types are in the Museum fr Natur- Published 16 March 2012 kunde, Berlin, formerly known as Zoologisches Museum Berlin (ZMB). Brief biblio- graphical data are given for all collectors of type specimens. Species of mantispids with types in the ZMB have been described by Touissant de Charpentier, Wilhelm Fer- dinand Erichson, Hermann Julius Kolbe, Hermann Stitz, Eduard Handschin, and the author of this paper. For all authors of mantispid species (except for M. Ohl), a biogra- phy and some information on their scientific contributions to the systematics and tax- onomy of Mantispidae as well as portraits are given. Lectotype designations are made for the following 20 nominal species-group taxa: Mantispilla bicolor Stitz, Mantispilla indica ceylanica Stitz, Mantispa chalybea Erichson, Mantispa decorata Erichson, Man- tispa dorsalis Erichson, Climaciella habutsuella fasciata Stitz, Mantispa irrorata Erich- son, Climaciella rubescens laciniata Stitz, Climaciella habutsuella maculata Stitz, Mantispilla formosana major Stitz, Mantispilla formosana minor Stitz, Mantispa varia Erichson, Mantispa prolixa Erichson, Mantispilla punctata Stitz, Mantispilla formosana sumatrana Stitz, Mantispa tenella Erichson, Climaciella rubescens unicolor Stitz, Mantispa varia Erichson, Mantispa viridis Stitz, and Mantispa viridula Erichson. A lectotype has not been fixed for Mantispa christiana Charpentier, because the status of the four specimens in the ZMB is dubious. The unique-name bearing holotypes of the remaining 42 nominal taxa have been validly fixed by the actions of previous authors or by automatic provisions of the code. All primary types of mantispid species, which Key Words are supposed to be deposited in the ZMB based on the original were located and stud- ied individually, except for the following: two of the dubious syntypes of Mantispa Neuroptera christiana Charpentier could not be found in the ZMB, which is in contrast to informa- Taxonomy tion in the relevant literature and to the ZMB accession catalogue. Furthermore, the Nomenclature holotypes of Mantispilla tessmanni Stitz and Mantispilla vulpes Stitz are documented Type material as having been destroyed in the mail during return from a loan. Introduction fixation of a singular, unique holotype, which can be recognized by subsequent workers (Art. 16). Since a ho- Type specimens of species-group names are of crucial lotype is an individual specimen, it can theoretically be importance in connecting scientific hypotheses on bio- assigned unambiguously to a biological population or logical species and subspecies with published names species, which is then supposed to carry the species- that denote the hypothesis. For this reason, the current group name, to which the holotype is connected. Con- (4th) edition of the International Code of Nomenclature sequently, holotypes (and also lectotypes and syntypes) (ICZN) has stipulated that species-group names pub- are called primary types or name-bearers. In biological lished after 1999 must be accompanied by an explicit taxonomy and nomenclature, the so-called type concept * E-mail: [email protected] # 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim 98 Ohl, M.: Mantispidae (Neuropterida) in the Museum fu¨ r Naturkunde, Berlin as regulated by the ICZN is a fundamental tool for no- interpretations of each of these taxa are fixed in accor- menclatural accuracy and clarity. Due to their importance dance with current usage. as ‘name-bearers’, primary types in biology are among the most important items in natural history collections and should be registered and curated as a high priority. The Persons behind the Types Recommendation 72F.4 of the ICZN encourages the publication of lists of the name-bearing types held in Type specimens, as well as other unique natural history zoological research collections to make information objects, are not only reference objects for scientifc in- pertaining to these important specimens more widely terpretations and hypotheses, but have their own indivi- available. The Museum fr Naturkunde, Berlin [= Mu- dual history, which is often crucial to understanding seum fr Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universitt zu Ber- their significance. Since most of the type specimens lin; Zoologisches Museum Berlin; Museum of Natural treated here were collected from all over the world dur- History of the Humboldt-University at Berlin] – here- ing the 19th century, the specific circumstances under after as ZMB, the traditional acronym – contains one which the specimens were collected and how they made of the world’s most important historical collections of their way from their collection site to the Berlin mu- Neuropterida specimens, and holds the primary type seum is certainly of some interest from a historical per- specimens of approximately 350 nominal neuropterid spective. It consequently seems appropriate to present a species, among which are 63 species-group of Manti- brief historic account of all collectors of types of Man- spidae. This is a large number of primary types relative tispidae present in ZMB, and of all scientists who de- to the total of 561 published species-group names in scribed mantispid species with types in the museum. Mantispidae. The percentage of nominal species-group None of the type specimens was apparently collected names of the total number present in the ZMB is 11 %. with the intention of explicitly collecting Neuroptera or There are only two other collections with a compara- even Mantispidae, which implies that none of the man- tively large number of mantispid types, the Natural His- tispid types were collected by a neuropterologist. As far tory Museum, London, United Kingdom (primary types as can be acertained, none of the collectors were pro- of 81 species-group names, which corresponds to 14 %) fessional taxonomists or scientists in a broader sense, and the Musum National d’Histoire Natuerelle, Paris, so that biographical data are often difficult to find. The France (types of 65 names, 12 %), but about 10 % of major resource of information is the important review the types supposed to be in the Paris collection could of the locations of the entomological collections of the not be recently found (Ohl 2004b). The holdings of the world up to 1960, documented in Horn’s et al. Collec- primary type specimens in the ZMB are consequently tiones entomologicae (1990). Most of the collectors and of crucial importance for the global taxonomy of Man- insect traders were listed in that work, so that at least tispidae. the basic information became available. Another impor- Entomologists described these taxa over a long peri- tant source of biographic information on insect collec- od of time, but particularly important are the numerous tors in South America is Papavero (1973). To supple- types of species described by Erichson (1839) and Stitz ment this information, I have checked the archive of (1913). All species-group taxa with primary types in the ZMB, which holds an alphabetical card catalogue the ZMB have been described by these two authors ex- of names of persons, who were associated with the mu- cept for one species each described by Charpentier seum in one way or another in the past. Much addi- (1825), Kolbe (1897), Handschin (1960) and Ohl tional and hitherto unpublished information was ex- (2004a). Although the world diversity of Mantispidae tracted from this source. No effort has been made to has recently been catalogued (Ohl 2004b), the taxon- present comprehensive biographies of collectors, even omy of the majority of historical species particularly if published biographies are available. Only the full from remote areas in Africa and Southeast Asia is name, the years of birth and death, and a very brief rather poorly studied (Ohl 2005). Many species have description of the function of the respective person that not been recorded subsequent to their original descrip- led him to collect mantispids are presented. tion, and recent taxonomic revisions reveal a high num- I have already published a few notes on the curators ber of synonyms and undescribed species (e.g., Lamb- and scientists, who worked on the Neuropterida collec- kin 1986a, b; Machado & Rafael 2010). tion in the ZMB (Ohl 2002). Here more details are pro- The purpose of this paper is to provide a more de- vided for all of these individuals (except for M. Ohl, tailed analysis of the primary types of Mantispidae in because the focus is on historical persons), with special the Berlin Museum collection. The nomenclatural and reference to the significance of their work on the tax- taxonomic information is supplemented by a brief bio- onomy and systematics of Mantispidae. Much of the in- graphical account of all collectors and authors of the formation is from published obituaries, which are cited. type specimens in ZMB. It is hoped that this study will Additional data have been found in the archive of the provide mantispid systematists with a reliable documen- ZMB (Historische Bild- und Schriftgutsammlung). tary source of information about these types. It has also Besides biographical and taxonomical information on provided a convenient opportunity to formally designate these scientists, portraits of all individuals are present- lectotypes for a number of nominal taxa, so that the ed. Images of labels of one primary type for each of museum-zoosyst.evol.wiley-vch.de # 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Zoosyst. Evol. 88 (1) 2012, 97–124 99 the authors are also provided to illustrate their hand- Krebs, Ludwig [1792–1844]: Collected in South Afri- writing and label style. ca in 1819–23 under Prussian order. Insects partly in the ZMB.