Allotypes

[Barry M. OConnor]

At 6:29 AM 2/27/96, John Trueman wrote:

>I would go further. What currently applies to 'allotypes' could, and
>should, be applied to significant specimens of different life stages --
>eg, larval 'allotypes' for insects first described from the adult, and
>adult 'allotypes' for those first described from larvae.  It regularly
>happens that good evidence connecting larva with adult (eg,from captive
>rearing) comes some time after the initial description was made (and
>perhaps by a different author).  The specimens which give rise to these
>links have potential revisionary importance beyond that of ordinary
>specimens, and deserve to be appropriately labelled and curated in a way
>which makes them readily available for later study.
>
We have a similar situation in Acarology where dimorphic life cycles are
common, however, unlike the situation for most insect groups, species in
some mite groups are most commonly described from a heteromorphic immature
stage (e.g. larval Trombiculidae [chiggers], deutonymphal astigmatid
mites).  In these cases, the community has typically referred to (and
labelled) the subsequently described adults as "figured voucher specimens."
I have had no trouble borrowing such specimens from museum collections,
where they are usually labelled in red.  In our collection, we don't
segregate these in our type collection, but because they are labelled in a
distinctive fashion, the specimens can be easily found among the general
collection.

Barry M. OConnor                phone: (313) 763-4354
Museum of Zoology               FAX: (313) 763-4080
University of Michigan          e-mail: bmoc at umich.edu
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079  USA