Batis puella Reichenow, 1893: 124‒125

Frahnert, Sylke, Louette, Michel & Eckhoff, Pascal, 2021, Type specimens of birds of the genus Batis (Aves: Platysteiridae) at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Zootaxa 5052 (2), pp. 249-260 : 253-254

Batis puella Reichenow, 1893: 124‒125

Now: Batis molitor puella Reichenow, 1893 . See Mayr et al. (1986: 381).

Lectotype (herein designated; see below for explanation): ZMB 30415 (Emin Pasha, no. 689), skin, female, collected by Emin Pasha at Bussissi , 16.10.1890.

Paralectotype: ZMB 30416 (Emin Pasha, no. 491), skin, male, collected by Emin Pasha at Bussissi , 30.09.1890 .

Paralectotype: ZMB 2000.64612 , skin, female, collected by J. M. Hildebrandt in Taita, 07.1877 .

Paralectotype: ZMB 2000.64611 (Böhm, no. 632), skin, female, collected by R. Böhm at Kakoma , 29.08.[1881] .

Paralectotype: ZMB 2000.64623 (Böhm, no. 700), mount, female, collected by R. Böhm in Ugalla , 28.10.[1881] .

Paralectotype: ZMB 2000.64627 (Böhm, no. 649), skin, female, collected by R. Böhm at Kakoma , 01.09.[1881] .

Paralectotype: ZMB 2000.64630 (Böhm, no. 631), skin, male, collected by R. Böhm at Kakoma , 29.08.[1881].

Paralectotype: ZMB 30279, skin, male, collected by Emin Pasha at Butumbi , 28.04.1891 .

Paralectotype: ZMB 2000.64566 (Emin Pasha, no. 128), skin, male, collected by Emin Pasha at Mpapwa , 17.06.1890 . Paralectotype (missing): collected by R. Böhm at Kakoma , 07.04.[1881] .

Excluded Paralectotype ( B. soror ): ZMB 24759 ( B 15694, Fischer, no. 162), skin, former mount, female, collected by G. A. Fischer on Sansibar, 29.03.[18]78.

Excluded Paralectotype ( B. soror ): ZMB 23536 ( B 15041, Fischer, no. 83), mount, female, collected by G. A. Fischer at Mombassa, 26.06.[18]77.

Excluded Paralectotype ( B. soror ): ZMB 28018 (Stuhlmann, no. 607), skin, male, collected by F. Stuhlmann at Quilimane , 29.01.1889 .

Excluded Paralectotype ( B. soror ): ZMB 28019 (Stuhlmann, no. 612), skin, female, collected by F. Stuhlmann at Quilimane , 29.01.1889 .

Excluded Paralectotype ( B. soror ): ZMB 28020 (Stuhlmann, no. 608), skin, male, collected by F. Stuhlmann at Quilimane , 29.01.1889 .

Excluded Paralectotype ( B. soror ): ZMB 2000.6501 (Stuhlmann, no. 612), skin, female, collected by F. Stuhlmann at Quilimane , 29.01.1889 .

Excluded Paralectotype ( B. soror ): ZMB 2000.64515 (Stuhlmann, no. 272), skin, male, collected by F. Stuhlmann on Sansibar, 03.11.1888 .

Excluded Paralectotype (possibly B. pririt Vieillot, 1818 , missing): Fischer, no. 631, juvenile, collected by G.A. Fischer at Bondei , 06.01.[1883] .

Excluded Paralectotype (possibly B. pririt Vieillot, 1818 , missing): Fischer, no. 938, male, collected by G.A. Fischer at Gross-Aruscha , 16.07.[1883] .

Excluded Paralectotype (possibly B. pririt Vieillot, 1818 , missing): Fischer, no. 1014, female, collected by G.A. Fischer at Pangani , 23.08.[1883] .

Excluded Paralectotype (possibly B. soror , missing): collected by G. A. Fischer on the River Tana [1878 ].

Excluded Paralectotype (possibly B. soror , missing): collected by R. Böhm at Simbareni , 10.08.[1880] .

Excluded Paralectotype (possibly B. soror , missing): collected by Thomson (?) at River Rovuma .

Type locality: Due to the lectotypification herein, the type locality of Batis puella is ascertained as Bussissi [Busisi, Mwanza Region, Tanzania].

Remarks: In the description, no single type or series of types was chosen. In principle, all listed specimens (more than 18, see Reichenow 1893) should therefore be regarded as syntypes. Seventeen of them were traced in the collection in the ZMB, Berlin (characterized by collecting data published in the description). The whereabouts of the missing specimens collected by Böhm, Fischer and Thomson are unknown. The missing specimens of Fischer of the localities Bondei, Gross-Arusha and Pangani are listes as Platystira pririt in Fischer (1884), whereas the listed locality Loeru, Ndutian is given as observation for Batis pririt in Reichenow (1887). Both specimens of F. Stuhlmann ZMB 28019 as well as 2000.6501 have the collector’s number 612 on their labels, but only ZMB 2000.6501 has an original collector’s label, so the collector’s number of ZMB 28019 seems to be wrong. Neumann (1907a) determined that Reichenow (1893) included three different taxa in his description of puella and he assigned the species to the “form” which lives in “Ost-Afrika vom Norden des Nyassa Sees bis Uganda, im Westen bis an den Tanganyka und Kivu-See” (East Africa from north of Lake Nyassa to Uganda in the west, also to Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu). In a recent examination by ML, it was confirmed that the type series is indeed mixed, containing specimens belonging to B. molitor puella and to B. soror . To fix the name Batis puella on B. molitor puella , a lectotypification is necessary. The remainder of Reichenow’s (1893) syntypes (those actually determined as B. m. puella ) were taken at no less than 6 different localities. Because Vincent (1934) indicated “type from Bussisi” for B. m. puella , we formally designate ZMB 30415 (Emin Pasha, no. 689), female, as the lectotype of Batis molitor puella . This is the only female collected at the locality Busisi, and females are more diagnosable at species level than males in this taxon, as with many taxa in the genus Batis . The specimen is smaller than B. molitor molitor , according to measurements given by the collector (total length 113 mm, wing 57.5 mm, tail 38 mm) and has a narrower chestnut breastband than in B. m. molitor . Concerning the designation of a lectotype, the type locality is ascertained to be Bussissi [Busisi, Mwanza, Tanzania]. Of all the remaining former syntypes, only those that were determined as B. m. puella are regarded as paralectotypes; the specimens determined as B. soror are excluded from the syntype series.