Trichius gallicus - Male

Colour pattern on the elytra is NOT a reliable character for ID of the three Central European species of Trichius. ID of this male Trichius gallicus (aka Trichius zonatus) is based on the shape of the mesotibia and scales present only on the penultimate sternite.

comments (6)

Jivko Nakev

Lion

There are currently three species of the genus Trichius in JD - T.zonatus, T.fasciatus, and T.gallicus. Although in Wikipedia the genus Trichius is placed in the family Scarabaeidae, new research places it in the family Cetoniidae, which from the subfamily Cetoniinae was raised in a family. That's why I allowed myself to change the taxonomy of T.gallicus and place it next to the other two species, in the family Cetoniidae. Posted 5 years ago
1. Pudding4brains
  
  Lion
  
  Hi Jivko, I think that having the Cetonii[d|n]ae as a subfamily or family in its own right is still up for discussion with many authors/institutions still clinging to subfamily and mostly the ones that study this group claiming it as a family (as well as other subfamilies at family level). It doesn't really matter how we do it, but you are absolutely right of course that we should at least be consistent within the bounds of JD - so thanks for noticing and correcting that! :o)
  The other thing is that of the three "species" we have on JD zonatus and gallicus are actually the same species, with Krell 2012 arguing that gallicus should be the valid name. Once again, various authors and databases have followed that, while others haven't (yet?), either due to lack of updating or possibly due to disagreement.
  I've hence tagged my images double as both Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae and Cetoniidae as well as Trichius zonatus and gallicus. That way religious believers of all variants can find it the way they prefer :-P Posted 5 years ago
2. 1. Jivko Nakev
    
    Lion
    
    Hi Arp, thanks for your comment. Yes, I know about the zonatus and gallicus and wondered how to proceed. So tagging the photos with both names and with both family names as well, is a great idea. Thank you! Posted 5 years ago
  2. 1. Pudding4brains
      
      Lion
      
      We should probably merge gallicus and zonatus on JD as it is not consistent to have them both (suggesting more or less that these are two species). Personally I think it should be gallicus, but I don't work with this group enough to know the prevailing sentiments "in the field", so I'll ask around first. Posted 5 years ago
    2. 1. Jivko Nakev
        
        Lion
        
        This is reasonable. Some sources, as INPN, shows T.zonatus as a synonym of T.gallicus, the later having one subspecies T.g.gallicus.
        https://inpn.mnhn.fr/espece/cd_nom/698946/tab/taxo?lg=fr
        At the same time Catalogue of Life 2020 shows as accepted name T.gallicus with 1 subspecies: T.g.zonatus. The populations from Sardinia and North Africa are identified as T.g.zonatus.
        http://www.catalogueoflife.org/col/details/species/id/18c17bf13a7afddf3aa90d5cc5e7a86e/source/tree
        Trichius is placed in the family Cetoniidae. Posted 5 years ago, modified 5 years ago
      2. Pudding4brains
        
        Lion
        
        The forum is probably a better place for this discussion (as the text width here will keep decreasing). I'll start a topic there:
        https://www.jungledragon.com/forum/2/campfire/887/taxonomy_scarabaeoidea_on_jd.html Posted 5 years ago