Spilophorus ( Prospilophorus ) cervinus Bourgoin, 1921

Spilophorus ( Prospilophorus) cervinus Bourgoin, 1921 View in CoL

( Figs 2 View Fig , 3 View Fig , 15 View Fig )

Spilophorus cervinus Bourgoin, 1921: 84 View in CoL ; Marais & Holm 1992: 73; Kajčík 1999: 30.

Spilophorus ( Prospilophorus) cervinus Bourgoin. Holm & Perissinotto 2010: 50 View in CoL ; Krajčík 2024: 226.

Data records. Types: HT ♀, [ Congo-Kinshasa]: Maniéma, Kindu [ S02° 55’ E25°52’], 1917, L. Burgeon ( MNHN) GoogleMaps . Other records. Cameroon: 1♀, South, Obout, 04-1997, inside ants nest ( TGMF) ; Congo-Kinshasa: 1♀, Uele, Dingila [ N03°44’ E26°06’], 31/VII/1933, J.V. le Roy ( MRAC) GoogleMaps ; 1♀, Equateur, Bonula Sabouga [ N01°05’ E19°58’], VII/1926, R.P. Hulstaert ( MRAC) GoogleMaps ; 1♂, Wenga Ifomi, E. Quineaux ( MNHN) ; 1♀ ( 14.5 mm), ibidem, E. Quineaux, R. Mus. Hist. Nat. Belg. I.G. 10.565, G. Ruter det. 1962, Spilophorus ( Pseudospilophorus) cervinus Bourgoin, Ex View in CoL Collection Dr Vincent Allard, received from Christophe Allard 21.II.2015 ( GBEG) ; Congo-Brazzaville: 1♀, Kola, Kouilou, X.2000, Bruno Le Rü ( BLLF) ; 1♀, Kinanga, Kouilou, I.2025, local col- lector leg. ( BLLF) .

Distribution. This species occurs mainly in the northern regions of Congo-Kinshasa ( DRC), reaching also the central part of Cameroon and southern Congo-Brazzaville to the west ( Fig. 15 View Fig ).

Remarks. Bourgoin (1921) reported in its original description that the HT was “Un mâle”. However, a dissection of this specimen, currently reposited in the MNHN, has revealed that it is actually a female (O. Montreuil pers. comm.). With the exception of the single male, rather old and worn, illustrated in Fig. 2 View Fig , all the other specimens traced thus far are also females and characterized by an externally tridentate protibia, with the proximal tooth usually much reduced in size by comparison with the other two. Only fully ornamented specimens are currently known for this species, with yellow-ochraceous to brownish-grey tomentum covering most of elytra and scutellar surfaces as well part of pronotum. In the latter, most often there are two symmetric elongate spots close to the lateral margins, but at least in one Cameroonian female these can be more extensive, converging towards the centre and merging to form an almost continuous discal band. The size of this species ranges from 13.4-15.0 mm in TL to 5.8-7.6 mm in MW ( Bourgoin 1921; Holm & Perissinotto 2010). Adults appear to be active pretty much throughout the year and a female was found on one occasion inside an “ants nest” (TG data records) and another “resting on leaves” in dense rainforest (B. Le Rü pers. comm.). The larva and other immature stages remain completely unknown.