NOMEN: Phytadelga Dumeril 1805 [C.A.-M. Dumeril. Zoologie analitique. – Paris, Allais, Libraire, Quaides Augustins, 1805 & 1806, No.39: 1-344]

ORIGINAL SPELLING (Dumeril 1805 & 1806): Phytadelges (in French),  Phytathelgen (in German)

POSSIBLE SUBSEQUENT SPELLINGS:

Phytadelga 

Phytadelgi: Jourdan 1834

Phytathelga

Phytathelgi: Amyot & Serville 1843 (as a new taxon, with circumscription changed);

ORIGINAL LISTED MEMBERSHIP (Dumeril 1805 & 1806): Aleurodes + Coccus + Aphis + Chermes + Psylla

OBJECTIVE SYNONYM:

= Plantisuga Dumeril 1805

JUNIOR CIRCUMSCRIPTIONAL SYNONYMS:

= Pendulirostres Spinola 1839

= Sternorhynchi Amyott & Serville 1843
= Sternorrhynchi: Borner 1934
= Sternorhyncha: Fieber 1851
= Sternorrhyncha: Meyers & China 1929
= Aphidoptera Haeckel 1896

= Sternorrhynchina Pearce 1936

TYPIFIED NAME IN BASIC FORMAT: Aphis/fg (incl. Psylla, Aleyrodes, Coccus)
TYPIFIED NAME IN USE: Aphidina

MODERN STATUS: synonym of the name Plantisuga, belongs to a holophyletic taxon.
Systematic position and classification of Phytadelga:

Kluge 2010 BioNomina Dual-Nom :

The taxon consisting of Gynaptera (aphids), Gallinsecta (coccids), Saltipedes (psyllids), and Scytinelytra (aleyrodids, or whiteflies) is known as Sternorrhyncha, the name often used with the authorship of Amyot & Serville 1843. However, the name they introduced was Sternorhynchi Amyot & Serville 1843, not Sternorrhyncha. Both Sternorhyncha Fieber 1851 and Sternorrhyncha Meyers & China 1929 are subsequent emendations of the name Sternorhynchi and should be used with their own authorships. All three were proposed to refer to the same taxon and are therefore circumscriptional synonyms, being junior synonyms of Plantisuga Dumeril 1805. Generally speaking, using a junior synonym is not against the principles of circumscriptional nomenclature and in some cases may be justified, but in this case such usage caused an unexpected problem.

The taxon Sternorrhyncha is often combined with Auchenorrhyncha into a paraphyletic taxon incorrectly called “Homoptera”; the names ‘Sternorrhyncha’ and ‘Auchenorrhyncha’ imply differently positioned beaks, which some workers take seriously and use this character in keys and phylogenetic analyses. Actually, among the Sternorrhyncha, only Saltipedes (i.e. Psylla/fg) have the beak shifting to the thoracic sternum, while Gynaptera (i.e. Aphis/fg) and Scytinelytra (i.e. Aleyrodes/fg) have it positioned the same way as Auchenorrhyncha, at the head’s base; in Gallinsecta (i.e. Coccus/fg) this character is absent, because males have no beak, and females have no outlined head. Although etymology is no ground for renaming a taxon (see Dual-Nom: 4), in this case applying priority (again, optional in circumscriptional nomenclature) would help avoiding problems caused by the semantics.

The oldest circumscriptional names for the taxon consisting of aphids, coccids, psyllids, and aleyrodids, are Plantisuga (-ae, -es) Dumeril 1805 and Phytadelga (-delgi, -delges, -thelga, -thelgi) Dumeril 1805-1806. Originally, Dumeril (1806a, 1806b) introduced those names in four versions each: (1) Latin transliterated the French way; (2) Greek transliterated the French way; (3) Latin transliterated the German way; and (4) Greek transliterated the German way — but no Latin spelling per se. Such names should be available with original authorship and subsequent Latin spelling (see Dual-Nom: 3.1.1). The family consisting of the genera Aleyrodes, Coccus, Aphis, Chermes, and Psylla was originally named in French ‘Plantisuges ou Phytadelges’ (Dumeril 1805, 1806a) and in German ‘Pflanzesauger oder Phytathelgen’ (Dumeril 1806b).

The Latin version, spelled ‘Plantisuges’ in French, can be spelled in Latin as either ‘Plantisuga’ or ‘Plantisugae’. Jourdan’s (1834) dictionary, besides the French ‘Plantisuges’, provides the Latin spelling as ‘Plantisuga’. In his last work, Dumeril (1860) added the Latin rendering ‘Plantisugae’. Bogdanov (1861), citing Dumeril’s 1860 insect classification, changed ‘Plantisuges’ to ‘Plantisuga’.

The Greek version of the name, indicated to have been derived from φυτον+αθελγω, was spelled ‘Phytadelges’ in French and ‘Phytathelgen’ in German. The same French name ‘Phytadelges’ and the Greek verb ‘αθελγω’ were repeated by Dumeril in his last book (Dumeril 1860). French transliteration of ‘θ’ as ‘d’ is unorthodox. Jourdan’s (1834) dictionary provides, along with the French ‘Phytadelges’, the Latin spelling ‘Phytadelgi’ and the Greek source, as φυτον+αδελγω. The word ‘αδελγω’ is not known in Greek and seems to be a mere misinterpretation of Dumeril’s French transliteration ‘-adelges’. Amyot & Serville (1843) gave an alternative Latin spelling, ‘Phytathelgi’, marked it as a new name, and cited “Phytadelges Dum.” as a synonym of their Phytathelgi. However, they applied the name Phytathelgi to a smaller taxon consisting of coccids only (their Orthezides and Coccides), and called “section Sternorhynchi” the group fitting Dumeril’s ‘Plantisuges ou Phytadelges’. Following the tradition to derive non-typified names by adding the plural neutral ending ‘-a’, Dumeril’s Phytadelges and Phytathelgen can be latinized either as ‘Phytadelga’ (from the French version) or ‘Phytathelga’ (reflecting the German version and the etymology).

As Dumeril failed to latinize his ‘Plantisuges ou Phytadelges’, any Latin rendering thereof shall have the same authorship and original circumscription, i.e. Plantisuga Dumeril 1805 = Plantisugae Dumeril 1805 = Plantisuges Dumeril 1805 = Phytadelga Dumeril 1805 = Phytadelgi Dumeril 1805 = Phytadelges Dumeril 1805 = Phytathelga Dumeril 1806 = Phytathelgi Dumeril 1806 — all being circumscriptional synonyms referring to the taxon Gynaptera + Gallinsecta + Saltipedes + Scytinelytra. Thus, the name “Phytathelgi” should be considered misapplied by Amyot & Serville to a taxon inconsistent with Dumeril’s one in circumscription. The French ‘Phytadelges’ has too many options of Latin transliteration, one of which (Phytathelgi) may prove controversial in terms of original circumscription. Therefore, the valid name should be chosen among latinized versions of the original ‘Plantisuges’ — preferably, Plantisuga Dumeril 1805, as being the oldest one and formed using the most popular model.

REFERENCES:

Amyot C.J. B. & Serville A. B. 1843. Histoire naturelle des insectes Hémiptères. Paris (Roret): 1–675.

Bogdanov A.P. 1861. Tablitsi Brauera i Löva dlya opredeleniya semeystv i rodov evropeyskih setchatokrylyh (Neuroptera). [Brauer and Loew’s keys to families and genera of European Neuroptera]. Rukovodstvo k prakticheskoy zoologii [Handbook of practical zoology], Moscow, 2: 1–66. [In Russian].

Duméril C. A.M. 1805 & 1806a. Zoologie analytique, ou méthode naturelle de classification des animaux, rendue plus facile à l’aide de tableaux synoptiques. Paris (Allais): 1–344.

Duméril C. A.M. 1806b. Analitische Zoologie. Aus dem Französischen, mit Zusatzen von L.F. Froriep. Weimar (Verl. des Lendes-Industrie-Comptoirs): 1–343.

Duméril C. A.M. 1860. Entomologie analytique. Mémoires de l’Académie des Sciences de l’Institut impérial de France, 31: (1) i–xii + 1–664; (2) 665–1339.

Fieber F.X. 1851. Genera hydrocoridum secundum ordinem naturalem in familias disposita. Pragae: 1–30.

Jourdan A.-J.-L. 1834. Dictionnaire raisonné, étymologique, synonymique et polyglotte, des termes usités dans les sciences naturelles. Tome 2. L–Z. Paris (Baillière).

Meyers J. G. & China W.E. 1929. The systematic position of the Peloridiidae as elucidated by a further study of the external anatomy of Hemiodoecus leai China. // Annals & Magazine of natural History, 105 (3): 282–294.