Phanaeus prasinus Harold 1868

Phanaeus prasinus Harold, 1868 Fig. 68A Phanaeus prasinus Harold 1868d: 83 (original description). Type locality: Venezuela. Name-bearing type: lectotype (MNHN), designated by Arnaud (1982), not examined. Phanaeus prasinus – Harold 1869d: 1019 (catalogue). — Candèze 1891: 330 (list). — Nevinson 1892: 6 (list). — Heyne & Taschenberg 1908: 67 (list). — Gillet 1911b: 85 (catalogue). — d’Olsoufieff 1924: 40, 97, 135, 151 (key, distribution). — Blackwelder 1944: 2010 (list, cited for Colombia). — Gacharná 1951: 222 (list for Colombia). — Roze 1955: 45 (checklist for Venezuela). — Vulcano & Pereira 1967: 573 (key). — Edmonds 1972: 833 (comments); 1994: 46, 49, 103 (key, description, diagnosis, distribution, comments). — Arnaud 1982: 115 (list of types). — Blanco 1988: 44–45, fig. 5b (comments, distribution). — Escobar 2000: 209 (checklist for Colombia). — Gámez & Mora 2000: 1–16 (ecology, distribution). — Vítolo 2000: 597 (key); 2004: 286 (diagnosis, distribution for Colombia). — Gámez 2004: 48, 59 (list). — Pulido-Herrera et al. 2007: 307 (Andean region of Colombia). — Larsen et al. 2008: 1294 (list). — Price 2008: 139 (list). — Lozano 2010: 86 (list). — Krajcik 2012: 204 (list). — Ferrer-Paris et al. 2013: 110 (list). — Gámez & Acconcia 2018: 68, 73 (list, key). Phanaeus (Phanaeus) prasinus – Edmonds 1994: 46, 49, 103 (key, description, diagnosis, distribution, comments). — Gámez & Mora 2000: 17 (list). — Arnaud 2002b: 100 (key). — Edmonds & Zídek 2012: 16 (revision, key). — Hielkema & Hielkema 2019: 107 (catalogue for the Guianas). — Gámez & Acconcia 2020: 4, 13 (comments, key). Distribution Colombia, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago. Subregions of Venezuela Coastal island, Maracaibo Depression, Plains, System of hills and low sierras Lara-Falcón, System of hills and low piedmont mountains of the Guiana Shield, Andes mountains, Central Coast Mountain Range, and Guiana Shield. Literature records Harold 1868d: 83 (Venezuela); 1869d: 1019 (Venezuela). — Nevinson 1892: 6 (Venezuela). — Heyne & Taschenberg 1908: 67 (Venezuela). — Gillet 1911a: 85 (Venezuela). — d’Olsoufieff 1924: 97, 151 (Venezuela). — Blackwelder 1944: 210 (Venezuela). — Roze 1955: 45 (Venezuela: El Tuy). — Vulcano & Pereira 1967: 573 (Venezuela). — Arnaud 1982: 115 (Venezuela). — Blanco 1988: 44–45 (Venezuela: Táchira: Rubio, La Fría and Coloncito). — Edmonds 1994: 49, 103 (Venezuela: Apure, Aragua, Barinas, Bolívar, Carabobo, Distrito Capital, Falcón, Guárico, Mérida, Miranda, Monagas, and Yaracuy). — Gámez & Mora 2000: 1–16 (Venezuela). — Gámez 2004: 48, 59 (Venezuela: Barinas and Mérida states). — Vítolo 2004: 286 (Venezuela). — Larsen et al. 2008: 1294 (Venezuela: Bolívar: Lago Guri). — Price 2009: 139 (Venezuela). — Lozano 2010: 86 (Venezuela: Zulia). — Krajcik 2012: 204 (Venezuela). — Edmonds & Zídek 2012: 16 (Venezuela: northern). — Ferrer-Paris et al. 2013: 110 (Venezuela: Aragua [Guárico]: Altagracia de Orituco, Bolívar: Sabanas de Guri and Anacoco, Mérida: La Azulita-Jají; Sucre: Araya; and Yaracuy: Hacienda Guáquira). — Gámez & Acconcia 2018: 68, 73 (Venezuela: Cordillera de Mérida). Remarks Similarly to Phanaeus meliabeus above, dissent exists in the literature about the microtaxonomy of P. prasinus. Edmonds (1994) noted a considerable degree of polychromatism in the species, one with a seemingly important geographical component. In spite of that, he treated the species as monobasic. Arnaud (2002b), in contrast, delimited four subspecies, all corresponding to supposedly distinct geographical races. From west to east, we have first Phanaeus prasinus prasinus, characterised by its uniform dark green colouration and found across the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian Andes as well as in the Venezuelan states of Aragua and Amazonas; then, P. prasinus lugens, completely dull black and endemic to the Cordillera de Mérida of Venezuela; P. prasinus jolyi, characterised by its coppery colouration and known exclusively from the state of Bolívar; and, finally, the Trinidad island endemic P. prasinus trinidadensis Arnaud, 2001, distinguished by its uniform dark blue colour. The truth of the matter, nevertheless, is that very little is still known about the chromatic population structure of the species and Arnaud’s description should be taken cautiously. Edmonds & Zídek (2012), though with evident hesitation, synonymised the subspecific names and treated P. prasinus once more as monobasic. For this catalogue, we have chosen to follow Arnaud’s classification, the one advocated by the senior author, FZVM. But the second author, MC, in line with his stance on P. meleagris above, would like to reiterate his objection to purely descriptive subspecific classifications such as Arnaud’s, those established simply to reflect geographical variation of phenotypic characters and lacking a commitment to the naturalness of the delimited taxa (see Cupello et al. 2021b).