Hapalogenius fuscipennis (Chapuis)

Beaver, Roger A, 2010, Taxonomic notes on the afrotropical genera Hapalogenius Hagedorn, Hylesinopsis Eggers, and Rhopalopselion Hagedorn (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae), ZooKeys 56, pp. 157-170 : 160

Hapalogenius fuscipennis (Chapuis)

Phloeotribus fuscipennis Chapuis 1869: 44.

Hapalogenius fuscipennis (Chapuis): Eggers 1927: 196.

Hylesinopsis fuscipennis (Chapuis): Wood and Bright 1992: 94.

Hapalogenius globosus Hagedorn 1912: 352; Eggers 1927: 196 (Synonymy).

Hapalogenius bimaculatus Eggers 1933: 22, syn. n.

Eggers (1933) distinguished his new species Hapalogenius bimaculatus from Hapalogenius fuscipennis by the presence of two flecks of dark setae on the posterior third of the elytra among the pale setae of the remainder of the elytra. I have compared the holotype of Hapalogenius bimaculatus (NHML) with a series of specimens of Hapalogenius fuscipennis from South Africa (NCIP, TMP). The series includes specimens in which the elytral setae are wholly pale, intermediates resembling Hapalogenius bimaculatus , and specimens in which the setae are almost entirely dark. In the absence of any other distinguishing characters, I conclude that Hapalogenius bimaculatus is a synonym of Hapalogenius fuscipennis . The shape of the median row of setae on the elytral interstriae varies from almost circular to somewhat elongate and truncate in different individuals. The species is known only from South Africa and Mozambique. Wood and Bright (1992) give Zimbabwe, but this appears to be in error for Mozambique. The only hosts recorded are Millettia grandis ( ‘Umzimbiti’ of Hagedorn 1912) (Leguminosae), and an unidentified tree ‘sandalo’. Hagedorn (1912) briefly described and illustrated the gallery system under bark.