Lepisiota capensis

Distribution
Wachkoo et al. (2021) - The nominal form of L. capensis does not occur naturally in India, despite its implied presence by the use of the name L. capensis reported by Bingham (1903). The species referred to in the latter paper, with abundant yellowish erect setae is clearly not L. capensis, which has sparse dark (brown or black) erect setae (see Mayr 1862, 1865; Arnold 1920) and is distributed in southern Africa (not from the Himalayas through to Northeastern Africa).

Bingham’s (1903) report was apparently based on an erroneous reporting of the presence of L. capensis with whitish setae in India and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) by Forel (1892, 1894), and the attribution of dense pilosity to L. capensis served only to perpetuate this error until today (Peter Hawkes & F. Hita Garcia, pers. comm.).

The Indian material currently and in the past attributed to L. capensis in fact represents a very different species, now known to be Lepisiota mayri.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Botswana, Comoros, Eritrea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, South Africa. Malagasy Region: Madagascar. Oriental Region: Sri Lanka. Palaearctic Region: Canary Islands, China.

Nomenclature

 *  capensis. Acantholepis capensis Mayr, 1862: 699 (w.) SOUTH AFRICA. Mayr, 1865: 57 (m.); Emery, 1877b: 366 (q.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1980: 542 (l.). Combination in Lepisiota: Xu, 1994c: 233. Current subspecies: nominal plus acholli, anceps, guineensis, issore, junodi, laevis, lunaris, minuta, simplex, simplicoides, specularis, subopaciceps, thoth. See also: Bingham, 1903: 316; Arnold, 1920a: 568.

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