S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 52. (Budapest, 1992)

The synonymy in this group is rather complicated. I have identified 16 published names as belonging to various forms of the Suturalis - circle, but the number of really distinct taxa is obviously much less. After excluding the geographically remote, New Hebridean C. tuberculata Thomson (well defined by its big size, extremely prominent abdominal plaque, unique-black above, purplish underneath - colouration etc.) and the distinctively bicolorous Buruan C. nigripennis Deyrolle, we find ourselves with bewildering conglomerate of forms, known under variety of names according mainly to colouration and elytral sculpture. Usually C. suturalis (Fabricius), C. ignicauda Deyrolle, C. punctipennis Deyrolle, C. aereipennis Kirsch, C. cupriventris Kerremans, and C. carbonaria Théry are considered distinct species, but Théry (1926) includes the last one as a variety into C. punctipennis Deyrolle, grouping all the others (nay C. nigripennis Deyrolle!) under C. suturalis (Fabricius). My study has shown, that the colouration of the dorsal surface and the coarseness of elytral puncures vary individually without apparent correlation among themselves, with other features or with geography. There are, however, two sets of concordantly variable characters in the forms with green-to-coppery ventral side: in specimens from Halmahera and surrounding islands (Morotai, Ternate, Batjan, Kaioa) proepisterna are covered by uniform, fine and dense punctulation, pronotal grooves show more or less distinct flat, densely and finely punctured bottom surfaces, and the tarsal colouration is brown or black without apparent metallic shine, while in those from the Southern Moluques (Obi, Ceram, Amboina etc.) there are distinct smooth reliefs on proepisterna, densely puncutred surfaces within pronotal grooves are not developed, and tarsi are decidedly golden or green. The differences are not absolutely consistent, so I regard them as subspecific, the race from Ceram, Amboina, Saparua and Obi representing C. suturalis (Fabricius) s.str., while the northern form should be referred to as C. s. ignicauda Deyrolle. The specimens with bluish-black undersurface - known to me from Halmahera, Ternate, and Amboina - do not conform to the pattern described above, having always evenly, densely punctured proepisterna, relatively big areas of similar sculpture in pronotal grooves, and non-metallic tarsi. They evidently represent a separate species especially (closely related to C. s. ignicauda Deyrolle). It is usually found in collections under the name "C. punctipennis Deyrolle, var. C", but judging from the description (Deyrolle 1864), C. punctipennis Deyrolle itself is a variety of C. suturalis ignicauda Deyrolle. I have not seen the type of C. carbonaria Théry, but very probably this is the proper name for all-black Moluccan species. Two syntypes of C. cupriventris Kerremans in the British Museum, as well as specimens determined by Kerremans as C. punctipennis Deyrolle and C. cyaneomicans Kerremans, belong to C. suturalis ignicauda Deyrolle, whereas the syntype of C.obscura Kerremans and two syntypes of C. aeneicollis Kerremans represent the nominative subspecies. The original description of C. ludekingi Obenberger and C. ludekingi halmaheirae Obenberger (Obenberger 1922) leave little doubt that they belong to the same species: probably the former is a bluish-black variety of the southern, and the latter - that of the northern race. Similarly, C. tevorensis Obenberger seems to represent a variety of C. suturalis (Fabricius) s.str. (I have been unable to locate Tevor on any map - may be it is Tioor, the southeastern island of the Ceram group?), while C. aereipennis Kirsch and C. azurea Kerremans belong to C. s. ignicauda Deyrolle. As to C. satrapa (Schönherr), I take it as the synonym of C. suturalis (Fabricius) s. str. after Obenberger (1926). The following synonymy appears from the foregoing discussion: Cyphogastra suturalis (Fabricius, 1801), Syst. FJeuth. 2:195 (Buprestis) =satrapa (Schönherr, 1817), Syst. Ins. 1, 3:251 (Buprestis) =aeneicollis Kerremans, 1895, Ann. Soc.Ent.Belg. 39:201 =obscura Kerremans, 1895, Ann.Soc.Ent.Belg. 39:202