Platyonitis oberthueri Janssens, 1942

Bezdĕk, Aleš & Sládeček, František X. J., 2012, Platyonitis oberthueri Janssens, 1942 and Epionitis tarsatus Balthasar, 1942 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Onitini) — synonymy confirmed, Zootaxa 3267, pp. 65-68 : 65-67

Platyonitis oberthueri Janssens, 1942

( Figs. 1–5 )

Platyonitis Oberthüri Janssens, 1942: 9 (published in January).

Platyonitis Oberthuri Janssens, 1942: 8 .

Platyonitis oberthüri: Ferreira 1962: 76 ; Ferreira 1972: 460; Ferreira 1976: 177. Platyonitis oberthuri: Krikken 1974: 201 ; Zunino 1974: 35; Zunino 1975: 47; Krikken 1977: 163; Davis et al. 2008: 176. Epionitis tarsatus Balthasar, 1942: 196 (published in December), new synonymy.

Type locality. Platyonitis oberthueri : “Manica”. Epionitis tarsatus : “Ost-Afrika, Ussambara”.

Type material examined. Platyonitis oberthueri : paratype: ♀ ( ISNB): “♀ [p] // Makithi / Br. O. Afr. [hw, white [hw, white label glued on blue label] // Coll. R.I.Sc.N.B. [p] / Mozambique [hw, blue label] // Para- / type [p, orange label with black frame] // A. Janssens det., 1941: [p] / Patyonitis / Oberthüri n.sp. / Paratype ♀ [hw] // cf. Bull. Mus. / Hist. Nat. Belg. [p] / XVIII, 1942, n. 2 / p. 8, fig. 14 [hw] // seen / by [hw] / det. J. Krikken 1973 [p] // Génitalia montés / en Baume du Canada / sur Verre / ZUNINO 1974 [p] // VIDIT [hw] / M. ZUNINO 1974 [p, red label]”. Microscopic section of female genitalia is attached to the same pin, with following label: “ Paratypus / Platyonitis / Oberthuri Janss. [hw] // Prép. génital / en baume du / CANADA, M. ZUNINO 1974 [hw, other side of the label]”.

Epionitis tarsatus : holotype: ♀ ( NMPC), “Ost Afrika / Usambara Geb. / 1600 m / Farm Temnah [p] / 11.V. [hw] 1933 [p, blue label] // TYPUS [p, red label, black margin] // Epionitis / tarsatus / typ. n. sp. [hw] / Dr. V. Balhasar det. [p] // Boucomont det. 1935 [p] / Onitis sp. ♀ [hw] // Epionitis / tarsatus m. [hw, pink label]”.

Additional material examined. KENYA: “Laikipia, Kenya / Uaso Nyire, afr. c. / Machulka lgt. [p]”, 1 ♀ ( NMPC); “ COAST. PROV. / Sagala Hills, Voi env. / 5.12.- 13.12.2009, Kenya / František Sládeček lgt. [p]”, 22 ♂♂ 11 ♀♀ ( FSCC), 1 ♂ 1 ♀ ( NMPC); “ COAST. PROV. / Sagala Hills, Voi env. / 21.12.- 23.12.2009, Kenya / František Sládeček lgt. [p]”, 1 ♀ ( FSCC).

Correct original spelling. Janssens (1942) spelled the name of this species in two different ways in the original work: P. O b e r t h u r i (p. 8 – description of the species) and P. O b e r t h ü r i (p. 9 – figure caption). Both spellings are still in use. Ferreira (1962, 1972, 1976) applied P. oberthüri , while Krikken (1974, 1977), Zunino (1974, 1975) and Davis et al. (2008) followed P. oberthuri . Because the precedence between these two spellings cannot be objectively determined, P. oberthüri is selected here as an incorrect original spelling by the action of First Reviser (Article 24 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature), and the name must further be corrected to P. oberthueri according to Article 32.5.2.1 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999).

Type locality. Janssens (1942) reported the type locality of P. oberthueri as “Manica” [= Manica, western Mozambique, coordinates: 18°56′S 32°52′E]. Because all subsequently recorded specimens of this species were collected in Kenya, this type locality seemed to be doubtful. Locality labels attached under both the holotype and paratype of P. oberthueri are handwritten and almost illegible (see Figs. 4–5 ). In our opinion, the paratype female was collected in “Makithi” [= Makithi hill, central Kenya, coordinates: 00°30′S 38°07′E]. Due to kindness of A. Mantilleri ( MNHN), we received digital photographs of the labels attached under the holotype of P. oberthueri ( Fig. 5 ). The locality label of the holotype could be tentatively interpreted as “Karibani / E. Africa” [= Karibani, southern Kenya, coordinates: 01°57′S 37°21′E]. Georeference data were obtained from the Google Maps webpage (maps.google.com). Both these localities are within the known geographic area of this species.

Distribution. Kenya, northern Tanzania ( Balthasar 1942, Krikken 1974, this paper). Record from Mozambique ( Janssens 1942) was based on misinterpretation of data on locality labels. The species should be removed from the fauna of Mozambique.

The following three species now compose the genus Platyonitis Janssens, 1942 :

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 5. 1 – 2: Epionitis tarsatus Balthasar, 1942: 1. habitus of the holotype, arrow indicates distinct crenulation of posterior edge of mesofemora; 2. labels of the holotype; 3 – 5: Platyonitis oberthueri Janssens, 1942: 3. habitus of the paratype; 4. labels of the paratype; 5. labels of the holotype.