Thinophilus indigenus Becker, 1902

Thinophilus indigenus Becker, 1902: 48 .

Type locality: Egypt, Kairo, Assiur, Luxor, Assuan, Fayum, and Suez.

Thinophilus bipunctatus Curran, 1926: 27 .

Type locality: South Africa, Mpumalanga, Middelburg, syn. nov.

Thinophilus maculatus Parent, 1929a: 50 .

Type locality: Egypt, South Eastern Desert, Bir Abraq, syn. nov.

Material examined

Holotype SOUTH AFRICA • ♂; “ Middelburg [25°47′ S, 29°28′ E]; 13.2.[19]25; H.K. Munro leg.; Thinophilus ♂ bipunctatus Curran ”; NMSA.

Paratypes EGYPT • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; “ Bir Abraq, South Eastern Desert; 3 Mar. 1938; Efflatoun leg., Egypte; Thinophilus maculatus Par. Cotype; Paratype”; MNHN .

SOUTH AFRICA • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; “ Middelburg [25°47′ S, 29°28′ E], 13.2.[19]25; H.K. Munro leg.; Paratype, Thinophilus ♂ bipunctatus Curran ”; NMSA • 1 ♀; “Musée du Congo; S. Afr.: Dohne, 1/5/25, Woodridge Farm (Munro leg.); Ex coll. Curran; R. Det. H 1284; Paratype, Thinophilus ♂ bipunctatus Curran ”; RMCA .

Other material

COMOROS • 6 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ (in ethanol; 1 ♂ dried and mounted on pin); Moheli, Dziani Boundouni See; 12°22′ S, 43°50′ E; alt. 600–800 m; 18 Apr. 2002; M. Kotrba leg.; ZSM .

DR CONGO • 1 ♂; “Congo Belge, PNG [ Parc National Garamba]; Miss. H. De Saeger; Mt. Moyo; 29 Jul. 1952; 3844; H. De Saeger leg.”; RMCA .

ETHIOPIA • 1 ♂; Oromia, Langano Lake; 7.646° N, 38.706° E; alt. 1590 m; 13–15 Mar. 2012; N. Vikhrev leg.; ZMUM • 1 ♂; Amhara, Blue Nile; alt. 1070 m; 10.08° N, 38.19° E, 31 Jul. 2012; N. Vikhrev leg.; ZMUM .

GABON • 1 ♂ (in ethanol); Ntoum; Oct. 1985; A. Pauly leg.; yellow pan trap; plantation sur brûlis [on fire-site]; RBINS .

MADAGASCAR • 2 ♂♂; Toliara Region, Toliara env.; 23.20° S, 43.62° E; 12–19 Nov. 2012; A. Medvedev leg.; ZMUM .

MALAWI • 1 ♀; Chinteche; 10 Apr. 1978; R. Jocqué leg.; RMCA .

NAMIBIA • 1 ♀; Katima Mulilo District; Mavunje campsite, Kwando River floodplain; 17°55.141′ S, 23°19.073′ E; alt. 945 m; 22–26 Nov. 2012; A.H. Kirk-Spriggs leg.; Malaise trap; BMSA .

SOUTH AFRICA • 1 ♂; Natal, #15, Hawaan Forest, Umhlanga; 29°43′ S, 31°05′ E; alt. 20 m; 27 Feb. 1992; Barraclough and Whittington leg.; indigenous dune forest near lagoon; NMSA • 1 ♂; Cape Province, Kommandodrifdam, 45 km E Cradock, 3226AA, river below dam wall; 28 Oct. 1978; R. Miller and J. Londt leg.; NMSA • 1 ♂; Cape Province, 8 km W Grootderm Bank of Orange River, 2816DA; 2 Sep. 1983; J. Londt and B. Stuckenberg leg.; NMSA • 1 ♂; Western Cape, Gamkaskloof (Die Hel); 33°21.808′ S, 21°37.650′ E; alt. 336 m; 1618; Oct. 2012; A.H. Kirk-Spriggs leg.; Malaise traps, Karoo and valley Acacia woodland; BMSA • 3 ♀♀; Free State, Brandfort, Florisbad Res. Stat.; 28°46.039′ S, 26°04.234′ E; 4–6 Apr. 2009, A.H. Kirk-Spriggs leg.; Acacia savanna; BMSA .

SUDAN • 2 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀; Erkowit; [18°46ʹ0″ N, 37°7ʹ0″ E]; 28 Oct. 1962; S. Panelius leg.; MZHF .

TANZANIA • 1 ♂ (in ethanol); Morogoro Reg., Udzungwa Mt. N. P., Mito Mitatu; 7°50’14.3’′ S, 36°50’46.8’′ E; alt. 1207 m; 14 Jun. 2013; T. Pape and N. Scharff leg; Malaise trap #1; ZIN • 3 ♀♀; Bagamoyo env., Ruvu River; 6.47965° S, 38.8293° E; 10 and 13 Sep. 2012; D. Gavryushin leg.; ZMUM • 1 ♂; Mikumi village; 7.40° S, 36.99° E; 5–7 Dec. 2015; N. Vikhrev leg.; ZMUM • 1 ♂; Nyasa Lake, Matema; 9.50° S, 34.01° E; 15 Dec. 2015; N. Vikhrev leg.; ZMUM • 1 ♂; Morogoro env.; 6.85° S, 37.67° E; 15 Dec. 2015; N. Vikhrev leg.; ZMUM .

Notes

Grichanov & Mostovski (2009) examined male and female types of Thinophilus bipunctatus (NMSA) and noted that there are no principal differences from the description of T. maculatus, and the two names may be synonyms. Thinophilus bipunctatus was previously recorded from DR Congo, Namibia, and South Africa, usually from wet material (in ethanol). Unnoticed in the original description, its types have a distinct prescutellar spot in addition to six lateral spots on the mesonotum. Thinophilus maculatus was previously recorded from Gabon, Namibia and South Eastern Desert of Egypt, sometimes from females only. Both species were in fact found in the same countries as widely distributed and common T. indigenus Becker, 1902 . The key characters formerly used included only colour characters, e.g., the number of dark spots on the mesonotum (Parent 1936; Grichanov 1997). The rather abundant material examined shows that this feature is variable and invisible on wet specimens. The male genitalia examined are identical in all listed specimens, corresponding with the pictures of T. indigenus from Iranian Baluchistan published by Negrobov (1978). Therefore, I consider all three names as synonyms.

Thinophilus indigenus was mentioned by Rossi & Leonardi (2018: 111), as a host for the Laboulbeniales fungus Stigmatomyces ligabuei W. Rossi, 1986, found in Sierra Leone and Sudan.

Distribution

Afrotropical: Angola, Benin, Cape Verde Is., * Comoros, DR Congo, * Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, * Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, * Kenya, * Madagascar, * Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles (Aldabra), Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Yemen. Palaearctic: Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Mongolia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Turkey. Oriental: China, India, Nepal, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand. First reliable records from Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.