Case 3547Cryptotermes dudleyiBanks, 1918 (Insecta, Isoptera): proposed precedence overCalotermes havilandi parasitaWasmann, 1910 (currentlyCryptotermes parasita)

Abstract

The purpose of this application, under Articles 23.9.3 and 81 of the Code, is to conserve the usage of the specific name Cryptotermes dudleyi Banks, 1918 for an important economic termite pest species introduced throughout much of the world by man. The senior name, Calotermes havilandi parasita Wasmann, 1910 (currently Cryptotermes parasita), is poorly known, not widely used, and applied only to a population of restricted distribution, while the junior name has been universally used in an extensive systematic, biological, and pest management literature since 1918 when it was first proposed. It is accordingly proposed that the specific name dudleyi be given precedence over parasita whenever the two are considered to be synonyms. Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Isoptera; KALOTERMITIDAE; Cryptotermes; Cryptotermes dudleyi; Cryptotermes parasita; termites; worldwide.1. Wasmann (1910, p. 120) described Calotermes havilandi parasita from Mauritius and Europa Island, without selecting a holotype. Subsequently, Holmgren (191 1a, p. 55) transferred Calotermes havilandi parasita to the subgenus Cryptotermes (today treated as a separate genus) and elevated the subspecies to specific rank, as Calotermes (Cryptotermes) parasita.2. Banks (1918, p. 660) described and illustrated the drywood termite Cryptotermes dudleyi from Panama in his faunal account of the Isoptera of British Guiana and Panama.3. Bacchus (1987, p. 53) selected a lectotype for parasita from Wasmann's syntypes from Mauritius and declared parasita a synonym of Cryptotermes dudleyi. He, however, retained dudleyi as the valid name despite parasita having priority. The type series of C. havilandi parasita Wasmann included syntypes from Mauritius and