Scolopendra punctiscuta, Wood, 1861: 13

Shelley, Rowland M., 2006, A chronological catalog of the New World species of Scolopendra L., 1758 (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae), Zootaxa 1253 (1), pp. 1-50 : 17

punctiscuta Wood, 1861:13 .

Lectotype and four paralectotypes (ANSP, examined); type locality: Caracas, Venezuela.

Original rank: species. Current rank and status: synonym of S. heros Girard, 1853 , by present action; Kraepelin (1903), Brölemann (1909), Attems (1930), and Bücherl (1939, 1942 a) considered S. punctiscuta to be a synonym of S. angulata Newport, 1844 .

Remarks: I designate the largest of the five syntypes, the one in the best condition with both ultimate legs attached, as the lectotype. The specimens do not correspond to any species of Scolopendra known to occur either in Venezuela or along the northern coast of South America. They clearly are not representatives of S. gigantea because they lack several features, particularly the dorsoapical spines on the ambulatory prefemora and femora ( Shelley & Kiser 2000), nor do they correspond to the original descriptions of either S. angulata or S. viridicornis ; they also do not key out to any species in Bücherl’s (1939) key to Neotropical species of Scolopendra . A past worker placed a label in the jar stating, “ Scolopendra heros Girard ,” and they correspond closely to this central North American species as rediagnosed by Shelley (2002); the flanges on the telopodal articles of the second maxillae (termed “palpal flanges” by Shelley (2002)) are particularly evident. I therefore place Scolopendra punctiscuta Wood, 1861 , in synonymy under S. heros Girard, 1853 , and surmise that the specimens were either a transient introduction in Venezuela, unlikely in the mid­1800s, or that the locality represents a mislabeling. Efforts to trace information on the collector, W. G. Boulton, to determine if he had been in the range of S. heros , were unsuccessful. Scolopendra punctiscuta was omitted by Bücherl (1974).