Zootaxa 3267: 65–68 (2012) ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Correspondence ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2012 · Magnolia Press ISSN1175-5334(online edition) Platyonitis oberthueri Janssens, 1942 and Epionitis tarsatus Balthasar, 1942 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Onitini) — synonymy confirmed Ě Č ALEŠ BEZD K1 & FRANTIŠEK X. J. SLÁDE EK2 Č ě 1Biology Centre ASCR, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, CZ-370 05 eské Bud jovice, Czech Republic. E-mail: [email protected] Č ě 2Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, CZ-370 05 eské Bud jovice, Czech Republic. E-mail: [email protected] The genus Epionitis Balthasar, 1942 and species Epionitis tarsatus Balthasar, 1942, were described from a single female from “Ost-Afrika, Ussambara” [= NE Tanzania] (Balthasar 1942). Earlier the same year, Janssens (1942) established the new genus Platyonitis for P. oberthueri Janssens, 1942 based on two specimens (holotype male and paratype female) from “Manica” [= Manica, Mozambique]. Krikken (1974) synonymized both these names based on study of Janssens’s types and Balthasar’s description. However, he was not able to study the holotype of E. tar- satus, so he could not fully confirm the synonymy of both type species. Krikken (1974) stated on p. 202: “Several descriptive details of E. tarsatus, based on a single female, are strongly indicative of a synonymy, but since no information on the characteristic shape of the middle femora is given by Balthasar, I prefer to postpone my final decision on the matter”. During the preparation of the catalogue of primary types of Scarabaeoidea deposited in the collection of the ě National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic (e.g., Bezd k & Hájek 2009), we studied the holotype of E. tarsatus. Its comparison with the female paratype of P. oberthueri, as well as with additional specimens of this species from southern Kenya, allows us to fully confirm Krikken’s (1974) assumption and establish above-mentioned synon- ymy. Moreover, the corrected original spelling of P. oberthueri is selected here by the action of First Reviser and inconsistencies between the published type locality and the type locality labels of P. oberthueri are briefly dis- cussed. The following codes (after Arnett et al. 1993) identify the collections housing the material examined (curator’s names are in parentheses): č Č ě FSCC—František Sláde ek collection, eské Bud jovice, Czech Republic ISNB—Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium (Alain Drumont) MNHN—Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France (Antoine Mantilleri) ř NMPC—National Museum, Praha, Czech Republic (Ji í Hájek) For specimen labels, our remarks are found in square brackets: [p] – preceding data are printed, [hw] – preced- ing data are handwritten. Separate labels are indicated by a double slash “//” and lines within each label are sepa- rated by a slash “/”. 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. Accepted by A.B.T. Smith: 23 Mar. 2012; published: 12 Apr. 2012 65 FIGURES 1–5. 1–2: Epionitis tarsatus Balthasar, 1942: 1. habitus of the holotype, arrow indicates distinct crenulation of pos- terior 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. Ě (cid:0) 66 · Zootaxa 3267 © 2012 Magnolia Press BEZD K & SLÁDE EK 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. Bal- ♀ hasar 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 č ♂♂ (NM♀P♀C); “COAST♂. PR♀OV. / Sagala Hills, Voi env. / 5.12.-13.12.2009, Kenya / František Sláde ek lgt. [p]”,22 11 (FSCC), 1 1 (NMPC); “COAST. PROV. / Sagala Hills, Voi env. / 21.12.-23.12.2009, Kenya / František č ♀ Sláde ek lgt. [p]”, 1 (FSCC). Correct original spelling. Janssens (1942) spelled the name of this species in two different ways in the origi- nal work: P. Oberthuri (p. 8 – description of the species) and P. Oberthüri (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 objec- tively determined, P. oberthüri is selected here as an incorrect original spelling by the action of First Reviser (Arti- cle 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 Com- mission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999). Type locality. Janssens (1942) reported the type locality of P. oberthueri as “Manica” [= Manica, western ′ ′ Mozambique, coordinates: 18°56S 32°52E]. 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°30S 38°07E]. 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°57S 37°21E]. 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 Mozam- bique (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: Platyonitis oberthueri Janssens, 1942 Epionitis tarsatus Balthasar, 1942, newsynonymy Distribution. Kenya, Tanzania. Platyonitis smeenkorum Krikken, 1974 Platyonitis parentii Zunino, 1974, synonymy by Zunino (1975) Distribution. Kenya. Platyonitis bicuariensis Ferreira, 1976 Distribution. Angola. TAXONOMIC STATUS OF EPIONITIS TARSATUS Zootaxa 3267 © 2012 Magnolia Press · 67 Acknowledgements ř We are very grateful to Alain Drumont (ISNB) and Ji í Hájek (NMPC) for the opportunity to study the material under their care. Richard Sehnal (Velenice, Czech Republic) took the habitus photographs and Antoine Mantilleri (MNHN) kindly provided us with digital photographs of the labels attached under the holotype of P. oberthueri. Vladimír Švihla (NMPC) gave valuable comments on early versions of the manuscript and Paul Schoolmeesters (Herent, Belgium) supplied us with some literature that was difficult to obtain. The present study was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (grant DC08P02OUK004). References cited Arnett, H.R., Jr., Samuelson, G.A. & Nishida, G.M. (1993) The Insect and Spider Collections of the World. Flora and Fauna Handbook No. 11. Second Edition. Sandhill Crane Press, Gaineůsville, 308 pp. Balthasar, V. (1942) Nové rody a druhy coprophagních scarabaeid . (Neue Arten und Gattungen der coprophagen Scarabae- iden). Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae,20,188–206 (in German with Czech introduction). ě Bezd k, A. & Hájek, J. (2009) Catalogue of type specimens of beetles (Coleoptera) deposited in the National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic. Scarabaeoidea: Bolboceratidae, Geotrupidae, Glaphyridae, Hybosoridae, Ochodaeidae and Trogidae. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae, 49, 297–332. Davis, A.L.V., Frolov, A.V. & Scholtz, C.H. (2008) The African Dung Beetle Genera. Protea Book House, Pretoria, 272 pp. Ferreira, M.C. (1962) Chave para a determinação dos Coleópteros de Moçambique. I. Família Scarabaeidae. Revista da Facul- dade de Ciéncias de Lisboa, 2aSérie, 10, 69–102. Ferreira, M.C. (1972) Os Escarabídeos de África (sul do Saára). I. Revista de Entomologia de Moçambique, 11 (1968–1969), 5–1088. Ferreira, M.C. (1976) A new species of Platyonitis Janssens from Angola (Coleoptera Scarabaeidae). Navorsinge van die Nasionale Museum Bloemfontein, 3, 177–180. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1999) International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Fourth Edi- tion. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London, 306 pp. Janssens, A. (1942) Contribution a l’étude des coléoptères lamellicornes coprophages. V. Quelques Onitides nouveaux ou peu connus. Bulletin du Musée Royal d’Histoire Naturelle de Belgique, 18, 1–9. Krikken, J. (1974) A new species of Platyonitis Janssens from Kenya, with notes on the genus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Zoologische Mededelingen, 48, 195–203. Krikken, J. (1977) Notes on African Onitini, mainly from southeastern Kenya (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Zoologische Mede- delingen, 51, 141–170. Zunino, M. (1974) Una nuova specie di Platyonitis Janss. (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea). Bolletino del Museo dell’Università di Torino, 5, 33–38. Zunino, M. (1975) Sul genere Platyonitis Janss. (nota sinonimica) (Coleoptera Scarabaeoidea). Bolletino della Società Entomo- logica Italiana, 107, 47–48. Ě (cid:0) 68 · Zootaxa 3267 © 2012 Magnolia Press BEZD K & SLÁDE EK