Sphenopsis ochracea (von Berlepsch & Taczanowski)

Halley, Matthew R., 2022, Taxonomic status of the Western Hemispingus Sphenopsis ochracea (Thraupidae) and a review of species limits in the genus Sphenopsis P. L. Sclater, 1861, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 142 (2), pp. 209-223 : 223

Sphenopsis ochracea (von Berlepsch & Taczanowski) Western Hemispingus

( Fig. 7 )

Chlorospingus ochraceus von Berlepsch and Taczanowski, 1884 .

Syntype: SMF 58282, in Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (SMF), Frankfurt am Main (Hellmayr 1936: 427): Chaguarpata , Chimborazo, Ecuador (see Paynter 1993: 35). 5 The original field label reads: ‘ Hemispingus ? / ♀? / Chaguarpata (5,700’) [= 1,737 m] / 5/III 83 / Siemiradzki’.

Hemispingus ochraceus von Berlepsch 1912: 1095 , Hilty 2011: 168.

Hemispingus melanotis ochraceus Hellmayr 1936: 427 , Isler & Isler 1987: 78.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED: (three males, one female): Colombia: Nariño: Mayasquer (male: ANSP 149722); Ecuador: Pichincha: Chiriboga (male: DMNH 59270, 85569; female: DMNH 85570) .

COMMENTS: Evidence presented here confirms that S. ochracea and S. melanotis are diagnosable by plumage colour ( Table 2 ), contra García-Moreno et al. (2001), whose conclusions were unfounded (see above). Furthermore, Price-Waldman (2019) has demonstrated the genetic diagnosability of S. ochracea and its surprising sister relationship to S. piurae , which further bolsters the case for species rank for these taxa.

Figures

Figure 7.Lateral view ofWestern Hemispingus Sphenopsis ochracea (von Berlepsch & Taczanowski, 1884). From left to right, (1) DMNH 85570, adult female prepared by Fred C. Sibley on 12 June 1976 at ‘Chiriboga, km. 45, Quito-Santo Domingo (Old Rd.) 2000 m, Pichincha, Ecuador’. YPM field series = C 184. (2) DMNH 59270 (YPM N-604), adult male, prepared by Keith B. Aubry on 15 August 1976 at ‘Chiraborga [= Chiriboga], 2000 m, Old Quito-Santo Domingo Rd., Pichincha, Ecuador’. At the time it was prepared, the bird weighed 21.5 g and had enlarged testes (‘5 mm’). (3) DMNH 85569, adult male, prepared by Fred C. Sibley on 12 June 1976 at ‘Chiriboza [= Chiriboga], km. 45, Quito-Santo Domingo (Old Road) 2000 m, Pichincha, Ecuador’. YPM field series = C 202. When prepared, the bird weighed 16 g and testes were not enlarged (‘1 mm’). (4) ANSP 149722, adult male, prepared by Kjell von Sneidern on 3 April 1941 at ‘Mayasquer, Nariño, Colombia, Pac[ific] side / 7800 ft.’ [=2,377 m] (Matthew R. Halley)