Synonymy of Rhamphidera Skelley with Bancous Pic, termitophilous fungus beetles (Coleoptera: Erotylidae)

ThegenusBancousPic,originallydescribedintheHeteromera(Rhysopaussidae)andlatertransferred to Cucujiformia (incertae sedis), was found to be congeneric withRhamphideraSkelley (Erotylidae).Bancous is here placed in the family Erotylidae (Erotylinae, Tritomini) and Rhamphidera is moved into synonymy. This synonymycreates twonewcombinations:Bancousperplexus (Skelley) andBancous eureka (Skelley).Bancous is redescribed and a lectotype is designated for Bancous irregularis Pic. 108 Volume17,No. 1-2,March-June, 2003, INSECTAMUNDI termitophilouserotylid).UsingDelkeskamp’s (1962) key to tritomine genera, they would be identified as the genus Latosia Delkeskamp, with which they share the broad head and flattened, sickle-shaped mandibles.BancousandChasmatoderaare immediately recognizableby theirpronotal shapewhichhas the basal margin notched near each posterior angle and a large depression on the disc near each notch. Chasmatodera has an entire lateral margin, while Bancoushasaconstricted lateralmargin (Figs. 1, 3). It is interesting to note thatLatosia has two species that are still only known from the type specimens. Bancous irregularisPic 1946 Bancous irregularis Pic 1946: 124 Diagnosis: Body dark brown; antennae, palpi and tarsi not as dark, not contrasting in color; dorsal surface nodulose (Fig. 1), strongly microreticulate. Flight wings absent. Metatibiae weakly widened, almostparallel-sided (Fig. 2). Lectotype Data: “ [blue paper] MUSÉUMPARIS, Côted’Ivoire,RÉSERVEdeBANCO,R.PAULIAN& G. DELAMARE/ [hand written] Bancous n. gen./ [handwritten,underlined]Co-TYPE/ [redpaper]CoTYPE/ [handwrittenonlinedpaper]Bancous irregularis [last word illegible]/ Bancous irregularis Pic/ [red paper] LECTOTYPE, Bancous irregularis Pic, des. 2002 Skelley&Alonso-Zarazaga/ [white paper, blackborder]Erotylidae:Tritominae:Tritomini,det. P.E.Skelley2002/”depositedintheMuseumNational d’HistoireNaturelle,Paris. Remarks: Pic (1946) did not indicate how many specimenswerestudied,nordesignateanyspecimen asatype.Paulian (1947) indicatedtheoriginal series included several specimens and illustrated various body parts of a male. The only specimen studied, apparentlyafemale,wasintactandbearsalabel, “CoType”.Sincenospecimenhasbeenvalidlydesignated andsincethere isstrongevidenceshowingmorethan one specimen was available to Pic for the original description, we are here designating a lectotype for Bancous irregularis Pic, to fix the concept of this species. This is the only species in the genus for which a malehasbeenreported(Paulian1947).Unfortunately, the other specimens collected and studied by Paulian (1947)werenot located.However,Paulian’s descriptionandillustrationsofvariousbodypartsare quite informative. The lectotype ofB. irregulariswas relaxed in an attempt todetermine itsgenderandsearch for flight wings. The specimen appeared to be female, with Figures 1-3. 1-2. Bancous irregularis Pic, lectotype. 1) dorsal view; 2) ventral view. 3) Bancous perplexus (Skelley), dorsal view of Equatorial Guinea specimen. 3 1 2 109 INSECTAMUNDI,Vol. 17,No. 1-2,March-June, 2003 reduced terminalia, and no hint of flight wings was discovered.Flightlessness inerotylidsappears relativelycommonforspeciesoccurringinstablehabitats ornicheswhere the foodsource is eitherabundantor not highly ephemeral. Flightlessness in a social insect colony is not so unusual, as numerous other inquiline beetles have lost flight wings. They may disperse by phoresy or not at all. Some termites are knowntohavemultiplequeensorrecruitnewqueens when needed, thus a colony may live for decades. Skelley(1999:262)brieflydiscussesthisphenomenon forB.eureka, presentinga“winged-morph”hypothesis of dispersal. Bancousperplexus (Skelley1994) Chasmatodera perplexa Skelley 1994: 235-240. Rhamphidera perplexa (Skelley), Skelley 1999: 260-261 Bancous perplexus (Skelley),NewCombination Diagnosis: Body dark brown; antennae, palpi and tarsinotasdark,butnotcontrastingnotably incolor; dorsal surfacesmooth,nitidous (Fig.3).Flightwings present, fullydeveloped.Metatibiaeverybroad,triangularoralmost circular, apexweaklysinuate (Fig. 3, and Skelley 1994: fig. 3). Specimensstudied:Bancousperplexus isknown from3 specimens; one each fromZambia andCameroon(Skelley1999);andanewlydiscoveredspecimen. Labeldataforthethirdspecimenfollows: “/Fernando Poo, Santa Isabel, XI-1919, M. Escalera/ Bancous sp.nov. Alonso-Z. det. 2002/M.N.C.N.,MADRID/”. This locality isnowknownastheislandofBioko,near the capital city Malabo in Equatorial Guinea. The specimen was found wrongly identified as an Arthropterus sp. during a survey of the Paussinae (Carabidae) inthecollectionoftheMuseoNacionalde Ciencias Naturales, Madrid. As with other known membersof thisspecies, it isa female.Labeldataand deposition of the third specimen are presented so future workers may locate all known specimens to betteranalyzesubtlevariabilityoncemorespecimens areavailable. Bancous eureka (Skelley1999) Rhamphidera eureka Skelley 1999: 261-262 Bancous eureka (Skelley),NewCombination Diagnosis: Body light brown; antennae, palpi and tarsi very pale, contrastingwith rest of body; dorsal surfacesmooth,nitidous.Flightwingsabsent.Metatibiaebroad, triangular, apex strongly sinuate (Skelley 1999, fig. 20). Specimens studied:Only known froma series of three specimens collected in theBelgianCongo from the nest of a fungus growing termite, Protermes prorepens (Sjöstedt) (Skelley1999).