Little Known Darkling Beetle Blaps Scabiosa Baudi Di Selve, 1874 (coleoptera, Tenebrionidae: Blaptini): Taxonomy, Morphology, and Distribution

The tenebrionid species Blaps scabiosa (tribe Blaptini) is redescribed and illustrated. This species was twice described under the same name by Baudi di Selve in 1874 from Tashkent (now Uzbekistan) and by Faust in 1875 from Tash (Iran, Semnan Province). In 1876 Faust synonymized his species with Baudi’s species. Nabozhenko interpreted these taxa as two distinct species and gave a new name B. neoscabiosa Nabozhenko, 2008 to the Iranian B. scabiosa Faust, 1875 to eliminate homonymy. This species has never been found in Tien Shan and occurs only in Eastern Alborz Mountains. The type locality “Tashk.” (Tashkent) should be corrected to “Tash” (Iran, Semnan). After examination of the type specimens we have established that the Baudi’s and Faust’s taxa are conspecific, and the following synonymy is proposed: Blaps scabiosa Baudi di Selve, 1874 = B. scabiosa Faust, 1875, syn. resurr. = B. neoscabiosa Nabozhenko, 2008, syn. n. The lectotype of Blaps scabiosa Faust, 1875 is designated.