UNAVAILABILITY OF THE GENUS GROUP NAME MEZAMMIRA
(HEMIPTERA: CICADIDAE)
Dmitry A. DMITRIEV
Illinois Natural History Survey, 1816 S. Oak str., Champaign, IL 61820, USA
e-mail: arboridia@gmail.com
Abstract – The genus name Mezammira, attributed to Fieber 1876, was recently
proposed to classify several Palaearctic cicada species by Gogala, Puissant &
Trilar (2017). The availability of the genus name Mezammira is discussed. Fol-
lowing the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Mezammira
cannot be used as an available name. The genus name Oligoglena Horváth, 1912
status revised is proposed as a substitute name. The following new combinations
are recognized: Oligoglena carayoni (Boulard, 1982) comb.nov., Oligoglena filoti
(Gogala & Trilar, 2017) comb.nov., Oligoglena flaveola (Brullé, 1833) comb.nov.,
Oligoglena goumenissa (Gogala, Drosopoulos & Trilar, 2012) comb.nov., Oli-
goglena iphigenia (Emeljanov, 1996) comb.nov., Oligoglena parvula (Fieber,
1876) comb.nov., Oligoglena popovi (Emeljanov, 1996) comb.nov., Oligoglena
sakisi (Gogala & Trilar, 2017) comb.nov., Oligoglena sibilatrix (Horváth, 1901)
comb.nov., Oligoglena tibialis (Panzer, 1798), Oligoglena turcica (Schedl, 2001)
comb.nov.
KEY WORDS: Mezammira, Cicadivetta, Oligoglena, Heptaglena, cicadas, taxonomy,
nomenclature, availability.
Izvleček – NERAZPOLOŽLJIVOST IMENA RODOVNE SKUPINE MEZAMMIRA
(HEMIPTERA: CICADIDAE)
Rodovno ime Mezammira, pripisano Fiebru 1876, so Gogala, Puissant in Trilar
(2017) nedavno predlagali za uvrstitev več palearktičnih vrst škržadov. Razpoložljivost
rodovnega imena Mezammira je predmet razprave. Po pravilih Mednarodnega pravil-
nika zoološke nomenklature ime Mezammira ne more biti uporabljeno kot
razpoložljivo ime. Za nadomestno ime je predlagano rodovno ime Oligoglena Horváth,
1912 z revidiranim statusom. Pripoznane so naslednje nove kombinacije: Oligoglena
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ACTA ENTOMOLOGICA SLOVENICA
LJUBLJANA, DECEMBER 2017    Vol. 25, øt. 2: 159–164
carayoni (Boulard, 1982) comb.nov., Oligoglena filoti (Gogala & Trilar, 2017)
comb.nov., Oligoglena flaveola (Brullé, 1833) comb.nov., Oligoglena goumenissa
(Gogala, Drosopoulos & Trilar, 2012) comb.nov., Oligoglena iphigenia (Emeljanov,
1996) comb.nov., Oligoglena parvula (Fieber, 1876) comb.nov., Oligoglena popovi
(Emeljanov, 1996) comb.nov., Oligoglena sakisi (Gogala & Trilar, 2017) comb.nov.,
Oligoglena sibilatrix (Horváth, 1901) comb.nov., Oligoglena tibialis (Panzer, 1798),
Oligoglena turcica (Schedl, 2001) comb.nov.
KLJUČNE BESEDE: Mezammira, Cicadivetta, Oligoglena, Heptaglena, škržadi, tak-
sonomija, nomenklatura, razpoložljivost.
Introduction
Working on the 3i World Auchenorrhyncha Database (Dmitriev, 2003 online),
helped to recover several inconsistencies in the Auchenorrhyncha nomenclature (e.g.
Dmitriev & Dietrich, 2006, Zahniser, McKamey & Dmitriev, 2012, Dmitriev &
McKamey, 2013). Many more are still to be resolved. This paper is dedicated to the
genus group name Mezammira which was recently used as a valid genus name for
several Palaearctic species of singing cicadas.
The name Mezammira was first introduced by Amyot (1847: page 157) for a new
species of cicada from Greece. This publication of Amyot was placed on the Official
Index of Rejected and Invalid Works in Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, 2006:
Opinion 2165). Gogala, Puissant & Trilar (2017) proposed a resurrection of the genus
name Mezammira with a new authorship attributed to Fieber (1876) and placed 11
species, including two new species, into this genus. The authors stated that Fieber
(1876) was the first who used Mezammira Amyot as a synonym of Cicadetta Kolenati,
1857 and established an association of this name with Cicadetta flaveola (Brullé,
1833), which could be considered as a type species designation for Mezammira, and
thus making it an available name. The authors referred to the International Code of
Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, 1999) Articles 11.6.1, which applies to a name
published as a junior synonym and treated before 1961 as an available name and
either adopted as the name of a taxon or treated as a senior homonym, it is made
available thereby but dates from its first publication as a synonym. For the authorship
of this name ICZN Article 50.7 was used: if a scientific name was first published in
the synonymy of an available name and became available before 1961 through the
provisions of Article 11.6, its author is the person who published it as a synonym,
even if some other originator is cited, and is not the person who subsequently adopted
it as a valid name.
Results
Unfortunately, Mezammira Fieber, 1876 cannot be adopted as neither valid nor
available name for several reasons:
Acta entomologica slovenica, 25 (2), 2017
160
1). According to ICZN Article 11.6.1, to became available, the name first published
as a synonym should be treated before 1961 as an available name and adopted as
the name of a taxon. “Adopted as the name of a taxon” means that the name
should be used as a valid name, and it should be used as valid in a work published
before 1961 (see an Example to ICZN Article 11.6.1). The second option provided
by ICZN Article 11.6.1 states that the name could be treated as a senior homonym
before 1961. Both options are not applicable to Mezammira which was never
used as a valid name before the paper of Gogala, Puissant & Trilar (2017), it is
not also a senior homonym for another genus group name in Zoology (Nomenclator
Zoologicus, 2004 online). The authors state that the name was placed in Nomen-
clator Zoologicus by Neave (1940), but according to ICZN Articles 11.5.2 and
23.9.6, a simple listing of the name in a nomenclator must not be taken into
account in determining usage of the name. 
2). According to ICZN Article 23.3, the synonymy could only be applied to taxa
within one nomenclatural group, the family group, genus group or species group.
This means, that a genus group name could not be treated as a synonym of a
species group name. Fieber (1876) placed Mezammira in the list of synonyms
(usages) of Cicadetta flaveola (Brullé, 1833) on page 121 and not in the list of
synonyms of Cicadetta, which could be found on the page 60. This is congruent
with a modern practice of placing previously used temporary names in the list of
synonyms (e.g. “Cicadetta sp. A”, listed as a synonym of a valid species). This
act does not establish a synonymy in a strict ICZN (1999) sense.
3). ICZN Article 11.6 states that a name which when first published in an available
work was treated as a junior synonym of a name then used as valid is not thereby
made available. ICZN Article 11.6.1 provides an exception from this rule. The
publication of Amyot (1847) is not an available publication, so the next available
publication could potentially fix the availability of the name, if all other ICZN
(1999) requirements are fulfilled. The first available paper which cites Mezammira
is the paper by Walker (1850), and not Fieber (1876). Walker established a new
species name Cicada Mezammira, which was proposed as valid name for Mezam-
mira Amyot. Cicada mezammira Walker, 1850 (the initial letter of species name
corrected to a lower-case according to the ICZN Article 32.5.2.5) should be con-
sidered as an available name with the availability requirements fulfilled by a ref-
erence to Amyot’s publication (ICZN Article 13.1.2). The name Cicada mezammira
Walker, 1850 was never used as a valid name by subsequent authors.
A new revised classification of the genus is proposed in accordance with ICZN
Article 23.3.5: if a name in use for a taxon is found to be unavailable or invalid it
must be replaced by the next oldest available name from among its synonyms. Gogala,
Puissant & Trilar (2017) indicated that if Mezammira cannot be used as an available
name, the genus name Oligoglena Horváth, 1912 would take precedence. They also
established a new synonymy with the genus name Cicadivetta Boulard, 1982.
D. A. Dmitriev: Unavailability of the genus group name Mezammira (Hemiptera: Cicadidae)
161
Family Cicadidae Latreille, 1802
Subfamily Cicadettinae Buckton, 1889
Tribe Cicadettini Buckton, 1889
Oligoglena Horváth, 1912 status revised
= Heptaglena Horváth, 1911: 607 (type species: Heptaglena libanotica Horváth,
1911: 607, homonym of Heptaglena Schmarda, 1850: 12, type species: Heptaglena
digitata Schmarda, 1850: 12, Rotifera)
Oligoglena Horváth, 1912: 606 replacement name for Heptaglena (type species
Heptaglena libanotica Horváth, 1911: 607)
=Cicadivetta Boulard 1982: 50 syn.nov. (type species: Tettigonia tibialis Panzer,
1798: 5)
= Mezammira Gogala, Puissant & Trilar, 2017: 9 nomen nudum
Included species
Oligoglena carayoni (Boulard, 1982: 103) (orig. gen. Tettigetta) comb.nov.
Oligoglena filoti (Gogala & Trilar in Gogala, Puissant & Trilar, 2017: 23) (orig.
gen. Mezammira) comb.nov.
Oligoglena flaveola (Brullé, 1833: 112) (orig. gen. Tibicen) comb.nov.
= Cicada mezammira Walker, 1850: 229 syn.nov.
Oligoglena goumenissa (Gogala, Drosopoulos & Trilar, 2012: 7) (orig. gen. Ci-
cadivetta) comb.nov.
Oligoglena iphigenia (Emeljanov, 1996: 1899) (orig. gen. Cicadetta) comb.nov.
Oligoglena parvula (Fieber, 1876: 97) (orig. gen. Cicadetta) comb.nov.
Oligoglena popovi (Emeljanov, 1996: 1897) (orig. gen. Cicadetta) comb.nov.
Oligoglena sakisi (Gogala & Trilar in Gogala, Puissant & Trilar, 2017: 28) (orig.
gen. Mezammira) comb.nov.
Oligoglena sibilatrix (Horváth, 1901: 483) (orig. gen. Cicadetta) comb.nov.
Oligoglena tibialis (Panzer, 1798: 5) (orig. gen. Tettigonia) comb.nov.
Oligoglena turcica (Schedl, 2001: 1287) (orig. gen. Tettigetta) comb.nov.
Conclusions
The genus group name Mezammira, as it was proposed by Gogala, Puissant &
Trilar (2017) and used as an original genus for two new species and as a genus name
in several new combinations should be treated as nomen nudum. It fulfils all the
formal requirement for an available name, except for the provisions of ICZN Article
16.1: to be available, every new name published after 1999 must be explicitly indicated
as intentionally new.
The genus group name Mezammira could be described as a new genus group
name in the future. Mezammira Amyot, 1847 and Mezammira Gogala, Puissant &
Acta entomologica slovenica, 25 (2), 2017
162
Trilar, 2017 both are unavailable names and as such, they do not compete for priority
or homonymy with any other existing or future name in zoology (ICZN Article 23.1).
Acknowledgements
I am thankful to Allen F. Sanborn (Barry University, FL, USA) for his help and
contribution in the assembly of the 3i World Auchennorhyncha Database. The work
was partially supported by NSF grants: DBI 14-58285 and DEB 16-39601.
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