Conops (Asiconops) braunsii Kröber, 1915

Stuke, Jens-Hermann, 2019, New conopid records from the Afrotropical Region (Diptera: Conopidae). Part 2: Conopinae excluding Physocephalini, Israel Journal of Entomology (Oxford, England) 49 (2), pp. 277-349 : 301

Conops (Asiconops) braunsii Kröber, 1915

( Figs 41–45)

Conops braunsii Kröber, 1915 b: 44 .

Conops castaneus Brunetti, 1925: 104 , n. syn.

Holotype of Conops braunsii KrÖber, 1915 (examined): ♀ bearing following labels: (1) “Ost-Afrika / Lindi / Fülleborn S.”; (2) “Type”; (3) “ Conops ♀ / braunsii Kröb. / O. Kröber det. 1914”; (4) “Zool. Mus. / Berlin ” ( ZMHB).

Lectotype of Conops castaneus Brunetti, 1925 (examined), herewith designated: ♀ bearing following labels: (1) “ Syntype ”; (2) “Mt. Mlanje, / Nyassaland / 7.XII.1912. / S.A. Neave.”; (3) “Press. By. / Imp. Bur. Ent. / Brit. Mus. / 1924-306.”; (4) “ Conops / castaneus / Brun Type ♀ / Det. E. Brunetti 1924”; (5) “ Lectotypus / Conops castaneus ♀ / Brunetti, 1925 / des. Stuke 2019” ( NHML).

Material examined: Malawi: 1♀, Nyasaland, Limbe, ix.1916, R.C. Wood, des. as syntype of C. castaneus , det. as C. braunsii by Camras 1999 ( NHML NHMUK 010922054); 1♀, Nyasaland, Mlanje [= Mulanje], 26.ii.1913, S.A. Neave, des. as syntype of C. castaneus , det. as C. simplex by Camras 1962 ( NHML NHMUK 013644299); 1♀, Nyasaland, Mlanje [= Mulanje], 27.ii.1913, S.A. Neave, des. as cotype of C. castaneus , det. as C. simplex by Camras 1999 ( NHML NHMUK 013644297); 1♀, Nyasaland, Mlanje [= Mulanje], 7.iii.1913, S.A. Neave, des. as syntype of C. castaneus ( NHML NHMUK 013644301); 1♀, Nyasaland, Mlanje [= Mulanje], 7.iii.1913, S.A. Neave, des. as syntype of C. castaneus , det. as C. simplex by Camras 1999 ( NHML NHMUK 013644300); 1♀, Nyasaland, Mlanje [= Mulanje], 19.iii.1913, S.A. Neave, des. as syntype of C. castaneus , det as C. simplex by Camras 1999 ( NHML NHMUK 013644302); 1♀, Nyasaland, Ruo Valley, 1000–2000 ft, 4.iii.1913, S.A. Neave, des. as syntype of C. castaneus ( NHML NHMUK 013644303); 1♀, Nyasaland, Ruo Valley, 1000–2000 ft, 5.iii.1913, S.A. Neave, des. as syntype of C. castaneus ( NHML NHMUK 013644298). Zimbabwe: 1♂, Salisbury [= Harare; 17.84°S 31.05°E], ii.1948, P. Miles ( BMSA).

Remarks: The original description of C. castaneus was based on 3♂ and 9♀ specimens which have to be treated as syntypes. However, Camras (1962, 2001) pointed out that the type material consists of more than one species. My examination found three of the specimens are of C. ferruginosus and eight are C. braunsii . Therefore it is necessary to fix a lectotype to clarify the status of the species known as castaneus . The specimen I have selected is one of the braunsii specimens from the type series of C. castaneus , which has now been labelled as the “Type” of castaneus . This is in contrast to all of the other specimens which are labelled “Cotype” with the exception of one specimen of C. ferruginosus which is also labelled “Type”. The lectotype is conspecific with C. braunsii and therefore Conops castaneus Brunetti, 1925 is placed as a junior synonym of Conops braunsii Kröber, 1915 (n. syn.).