Cryptalaus speciosus (Linnéaus, 1767), Kotru & Chandran & Dubey & Prosvirov, 2025

Kotru, Akash, Chandran, Nithya, Dubey, Anil Kumar & Prosvirov, Alexander S., 2025, A catalogue of Indian Agrypninae Candèze, 1857 (Coleoptera: Elateridae), Zootaxa 5614 (1), pp. 1-66 : 40

Cryptalaus speciosus (Linnéaus, 1767) , comb. nov.

Elater speciosus Linnéaus, 1767: 652 ; of Fabricius 1787, 1792, 1801; Olivier 1795.

Alaus speciosus (Linnéaus) Candèze, 1857: 216 .

Alaus speciosus Candèze, 1874: 125 , 1891; Schenkling, 1925.

Alaus speciosus Flowler, 1912: 154 .

Calais speciosus (Linnéaus) Ôhira, 1971: 577-582 .

Type depository. Unknown.

Type locality. “De Ceylan ”.

Distribution. India: Kerala * (Southwestern India), Southeastern India (Exact distribution not known). Elsewhere: Sri Lanka ( Ôhira, 1971), Fiji, Western Samoa ( Johnson, 2001).

Literature. Linnéaus (1767: 652): original description; Candèze (1857: 216): combination; Candèze (1874: 125): revision; Flowler (1912: 154): synonymization; Ôhira (1971: 577-582): combination.

Remarks. Linnéaus (1767) described Elater speciosus from Sri Lanka and southeastern India. It was later transferred to Alaus by Candèze (1857, 1874). This species was again transferred from Alaus to Calais by Ôhira (1971). It is one of the largest and oldest easily recongnisable species which was placed in different genera by various authors. We have examined the specimen from Kerala, South India, based on external morphology and male genitalia, we transfer this species to the genus Cryptalaus and propose Cryptalaus speciosus (Linnéaus, 1767) comb. nov.