Phoberus pusillus

Overview & Synopsis

Phoberus pusillus (Péringuey, 1908)(Fig. 1B)DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: HAUT-KATANGA. Scholtz (1980) reported an undisclosed number of Phoberus pusillus specimens from the Kakontwe and Mwanga Caves in the vicinity of Likasi. These beetles were collected by Narcisse Leleup (1912–2001), unrivalled collector of soil insects, but also a collector of bats in search of their ectoparasites (Van Cakenberghe et al., 2017). No fewer than 18 bat species have been recorded from these two caves, represented by both insect-feeders and fruit-eaters (Van Cakenberghe et al., 2017). We interpret this as that Phoberus pusillus is a troglophile, and probably a bat-guanophile.