Hirundo semirufa Sundevall, 1850: 107

Dean, W. Richard J., Åhlander, Erik & Johansson, Ulf S., 2022, Avian type localities and the type specimens collected by Johan August Wahlberg in southern Africa, Zootaxa 5134 (4), pp. 521-560 : 548

Hirundo semirufa Sundevall, 1850: 107 .

VERBATIM TYPE LOCALITY: “ Hab. in Caffraria superiore.”

CURRENT STATUS: Cecropis semirufa semirufa ( Sundevall, 1850) ; Hirundinidae ( Dickinson & Christidis 2014: 478) .

TYPE MATERIAL: Sundevall, in his brief original description (1850: 107) gave no indication that he had more than a single specimen at hand. His acquisition catalogue, however, shows that there were two skins available. Gyldenstolpe (1926: 68–69) referred to NRM 569780 [7076] as a “type”, here treated as a lectotype designation of this study skin of a male collected 18 November 1841 at Magaliesberg. The paralectotype, NRM 90144785 [7077], is a female collected 11 December 1841 at Magaliesberg .

VERIFIED TYPE LOCALITY: Magalies Berge, junction of Hennops River and Crocodile River , southwest of Pretoria , Gauteng Province .

COMMENTS: The only entry in Wahlberg’s journal for this day (18 November 1841) is “fully occupied”. However, he recorded collecting a specimen of “ Hirundo senegalensis ” [in error for Hirundo (Cecropis) semirufa ] at Mooi River (Potchefstroom) on 8 November and then another specimen on 14 November on the southern edge of the Magaliesberg, close to Hartebeespoort. The Potchefstroom specimen has not been located in the collections. The restricted type locality suggested by Gyldenstolpe (1934) is unlikely. The confluence between the Crocodile and Hennops Rivers is well south of the track that Wahlberg was thought to have used when travelling from Holfontein to Hartebeesport (map B, p. 129 in Craig & Hummel 1992). If the type was collected on 18 November, the TL should be restricted to Hartebeespoort. If the type was collected on 14 November 1841, Wahlberg was camped at “Herman Potgieter’s farm” at Olifantsnek on this day and reached Hartebeespoort on the 15 November (see “Problems with labels and collecting localities” in the Introduction).