Comments on the name <i>Ancistronycha violacea</i> (Paykull) (Coleoptera: Cantharidae)

Thunberg (1784) described from South Africa a species Cantharis violacea. It was long listed as a Cantharis-species (e.g. Delkeskamp 1939), but has since been transferred to the genus Afronycha Wittmer, 1949. Paykull (1798) described from Sweden another species Cantharis violacea. Since that name is a junior primary homonym, it was replaced with Cantharis cyanipennis Faldermann, 1835, which was then considered the oldest available synonym (Silfverberg 1977). Cantharis cyanipennis has been shown to be a different species and transferred to a new genus Islamocantharis (Svihla 1999). In the new Palaearctic catalogue (Kazantsev & Brancucci 2007) it is included in the genus Cordicantharis Svihla. In that catalogue Paykull’s species is listed as Ancistronycha violacea. The name is still a junior primary homonym, and cannot stand unless validated by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. No application for that has to my knowledge been made, nor would I consider it necessary. The catalogue lists several synonyms, the oldest ones being violacea Dietrich, 1857 and tigurina Dietrich, 1857. Actually Dietrich (1857) gave a description of “Telephorus violaceus Payk. (?)”, and of “Telephorus tigurinus mihi”. The former was thus no new species, and would anyhow have been homonymous. The latter name is available. Paykull’s species will accordingly be known as Ancistronycha tigurina (Dietrich, 1857).