The type species of genus Malthodes Kiesenwetter, 1852. An explanatory note

(Coleoptera, Cantharidae)

Doubts have been recently raised (Bouchard et al. 2024) on the type species fixation by Desmarest (1860: 5) of “M. sanguinolentus Linné” (sic, no date) for genus Malthodes Kiesenwetter, 1852. The reason for the doubts is that Cantharis sanguinolenta Linné, 1767 [= Meloe cinnaberina Scopoli 1763 (now in genus Cucujus Fabricius 1775)] has nothing to do with the genus Malthodes. The study of these ancient authors’ papers leads to the conclusion that “M. sanguinolentus” ‒ in the Desmarest meaning [namely Cantharis sanguinolenta Gyllenhal, 1808 (not Linné, 1767)] ‒ was perfectly representative of the Kiesenwetter concept of genus Malthodes. Desmarest indeed “mistook” authorship: the type species “should have” been ascribed to Gyllenhal, 1808, not to Linné; the homonymy between Cantharis sanguinolenta Gyllenhal, 1808 [= Malthodes minimus (Linné, 1758)] and Cantharis sanguinolenta Linné, 1767 [= Cucujus cinnaberinus (Scopoli, 1763)] was, no doubt, among the reasons for the misquote. As a consequence, the type species of the genus Malthodes is Cantahris sanguinolenta Gyllenhal, 1808 (as M. sanguinolentus Linné) (currently a junior synonym of Malthodes minimus Linné, 1758) by subsequent designation.