Prothyma Hope, 1838

Serrano, Artur R. M. & Capela, Rúben A., 2013, The tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae, Cicindelinae) of Angola: a descriptive catalogue and designation of neotypes, Zootaxa 3731 (4), pp. 401-444 : 408-410

Prothyma Hope, 1838 (Col. Man. II: 11)

This genus was revised by Rivalier (1964) with additional updates published by Werner (1993). It is represented in Angola by 6 forms.

Prothyma (s. str.) concinna anosignata Bates, 1878 (Cist. Ent. 2: 333)

Distribution in Angola

Old records:

—Dundo (LUNDA NORTE) (51) (Basilewsky 1955 sub Prothyma concinna var. anosignata Bates ]. Remarks. A form with a spotty distribution throughout Nigeria, Togo, Cameroon, D. R. of the Congo, Central

Republic of Africa and Benin (Schüle 2010). We include this subspecies for Angola with reservation and solely on

the basis of a comment by Basilewsky (1955) under the name P. concinna : “un exemplaire appartenant à la var.

anosignata Bates, à femurs rouges”.

Prothyma (s. str.) concinna erythrocnema Chaudoir, 1850 (Bull. Moscou 23: 13)

Distribution in Angola Old records:

—Dundo (LUNDA NORTE) (51) [Basilewsky 1955; Ferreira 1965 both sub Prothyma concinna (Dejean) ]. — Angola (without locality) (Ferreira 1965 sub Prothyma versicolor Dejean )

Remarks. The nominate form is known only from Mauritania and Senegal (Werner 2000a). Prothyma concinna erythrocnema is a form that for a long time was included under the name Prothyma versicolor . Most likely this specimen was misidentified as the nominate form by Basilewsky (1955). Despite its extensive distribution across western, central and northeastern Africa, it was not recorded to Angola by Werner (2000a). The adults appear during the rainy season and when disturbed are easily observed running quickly to the edges of the footways across the forests, or even across the savannah. Sometimes they are also attracted to light traps (Serrano 2007, 2012).

Prothyma (s. str.) erythropyga erythropyga (Putzeys, 1880) (Jorn. Sc. Math. Phys. Nat. Lisboa: 24)

Distribution in Angola

Old records:

— Type locality: Angola (without locality), Welwitsch leg., 1♂, MLZA.

—Malanje (= Malange) (MALANJE) (131) (Quedenfeldt 1883 sub Cicindela variventris Quedenfeldt ). —Bimbe (HUAMBO) (210), Ganda (BENGUELA) (278) (Horn 1935; Monard et al. 1956; Ferreira 1965) —Malanje (MALANJE) (131), Calulo (KWANZA SUL) (128) (Werner 2000a).

Material examined: Angola (without locality and date), 2♀, both specimens with reg. nº1907, “Old Collection” MZUC.

Remarks. This species was described by Putzeys (1880) based on a single male deposited in the MLZA (currently Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência). It was recorded only from central/northern Angola and southern D. R. of the Congo. Wellman & W. Horn (1908) found that adults of this species “were taken in thin grass near a large swarm of Meloid beetles ( Lytta amethystine ) which at some distance they distinctly resembled”.

The type material of this species deposited in MLZA (Museu Bocage) was destroyed during the catastrophic fire of 1978. As a consequence of this event and in the interest of the stability of the type designation a neotype is here designated based on one of the 2 specimens deposited in the MZUC. The specimens of MZUC bear part of the data of the destroyed type material. I therefore designate one of the specimens as the neotype. The two specimens of MZUC are females and present some damaged structures. I selected the female specimen with both antennae, althougt the right one was partially destroyed, and with all legs (left intermediate without tarsomeres). As this species has been described in detail (male and female) by Rivalier (1964, p. 140), it is not necessary to redescribe it here.

Type specimen ( Fig. 2A ): Neotype ♀ (designated here) in MZUC, nº 1907, two labels, one labelled “ Angola ” (white label printed), other labelled “M.Z.U.C., registo nº 1907” (blue label, printed and handwritten), design. A. Serrano (red printed).

Prothyma (s. str.) erythropyga perviridis Rivalier, 1964 [Rev. Fr. Ent. 31 (3): 141]

Distribution in Angola

Old records:

— Type locality: Caconda (South of Angola) (Huila), 2♂, MNHN.

—Caconda (HUILA) (299) (Werner 2000a).

New localities reported: 20km S Caluquembe (HUILA) (317); 3,5km SW Negola (HUILA) (317); 20km NE Cacula (HUILA) (317); 17km NW Dongue (HUILA) (356); 12km E Cuito (BIÉ) (235) (P. Schüle pers. comm.).

Remarks. An endemic subspecies of Angola described by Rivalier (1964) based on its bigger size and shiny green colour. While the nominate subspecies is restricted to the central/northern territory of Angola, this subspecies is found mainly in the south. The adults are active during day and occur in open secondary forest near or over termite nests (P. Schüle pers. comm.), a behaviour apparently similar to that of the Cratoharea species (see Serrano 1997).

Prothyma (s. str.) guttipennis guttipennis Boheman, 1848 (Insecta Caffr. 1: 13)

Distribution in Angola

Old records:

— Angola (without locality) (Rivalier 1964; Werner 2000a). Remarks. A species distributed throughout southern D. R. of the Congo, Angola, Zambia, South Africa,

Malawi and Mozambique (Werner 2000b; Monfort & Wiesner 2007). As with its congeners, adults of this form are

attracted to light traps.

Prothyma (s.str.) quadripustulata Boheman, 1848 (Insecta Caffr. 1: 14)

Distribution in Angola

Old records:

—Lobito (BENGUELA) (227/8) (Rivalier 1964).

Remarks. A species with a distribution throughout the same countries of the preceding species, but its presence in D. R. of the Congo is dubious (Cassola & Bouyer 2011). The adults are attracted to light traps also (Werner 2000a).

Figures

FIGURE 2. A) Neotype habitus: Prothyma (s. str.) erythropyga erythropyga (Putzeys, 1880), female, Angola, MZUC. B) Habitus: Trichodela nubifera (Quedenfeldt, 1883), female, Duque de Bragança, Angola, MZUC. C) Neotype habitus: Epitrichodes villosus (Putzeys, 1880), female, Huilla, Lobo d`Avila leg., “ Old Collection ” MZUC.