Hypochera purpurascens Reichenow, 1883: 221

Frahnert, Sylke, Turner, Donald A. & Bracker, Cordula, 2023, Type specimens and type localities of birds (Aves) collected by Gustav Adolf Fischer (1848 - 1886) in East Africa, Zootaxa 5334 (1), pp. 1-84 : 55

Hypochera purpurascens Reichenow, 1883: 221 .

Now: Vidua purpurascens ( Reichenow, 1883) ; but see Blake et al. (1968: 393).

Syntype: ZMB 30709 , skin, former mount, male, collected in “Usegua”, 02.[18]82 .

Syntype: ZMB 2000.32618 , skin, male, collected in “Usegua”, 02.[18]82 .

Syntype: ZMB 2000.32790 (Fischer no. 568), skin, male, collected in “Usegua”, 02.[18]82 .

Type locality: “Usegua” [ Useguha country, Tanga Region, Tanzania] and Lindi [Lindi, Lindi Region, Tanzania], from the original description, and ascertained as “Usegua” [Useguha country, Tanga Region, Tanzania], the locality of the syntypes.

Remarks: In the original description no type was chosen, and there were no inventory numbers for specimens provided, but measurements for one specimen and the localities “Usegua” and Lindi were given.As there is a description only for the male, the female of this series (ZMB 2000.32619) is excluded from the type series. These specimens were obtained for Fischer, but apparently were not inventoried when they arrived in Berlin. The whereabouts of possible specimens collected at Lindi (also mentioned in Fischer 1885a) are unknown, and the possibility that they were only observations cannot be discounted. Therefore, ZMB 30709, ZMB 2000.32618 and ZMB 2000.32790 are designated here as syntypes and the type locality is determined as “Usegua” [Useguha country, Tanga Region, Tanzania]. However, Vidua purpurascens is a bird of low rainfall areas and parasitizes Lagonosticta rhodopareia (Heuglin) , itself a bird of semiarid bush country. “Usegua” is not a known locality for this species, and as the provenance of these specimens is largely unknown, there remains much uncertainty concerning both the type locality and true identity of all specimens.