Nyctiphalerus Bliven

Hollis and Martin (1997) in their review of the genus Euphalerus Schwarz pointed out that the group of North American species placed in Euphalerus sensu lato and associated with Ceanothus and Cerocarpus host plants was not congeneric with the type species Euphalerus nidifex Schwarz; and Hodkinson (1988) commented on the absence of characters to differentiate Nyctiphalerus lynceus Bliven from this group. The E. nidifex group is considered to be in the Euphalerinae and the species here transferred to Nyctiphalerus are in the Arytaininae (Hollis & Martin 1997; Daniel Burckhardt pers. comm.). From examination of the type material (CAL) we can confirm that Bliven’s original designation of Nyctiphalerus as a monotypic genus was superficial, and he may not have examined other congeneric taxa (even within California). In addition, some doubt surrounds the validation of Bliven’s names as he published them privately with limited distribution. Since the genus name has subsequently been used in publications, we are taking advantage of the availability of this genus to transfer, from Euphalerus to Nyctiphalerus, all of the North American species that are clearly congeneric with N. lynceus, including two species not present in California, Nyctiphalerus dubius (Caldwell) comb.n. and Nyctiphalerus idahoensis (Jensen) comb.n.