Africa Wild

I don’t know if the article made things any clearer to me, as I still don’t know the differences between the genus Clonaria and Maransis. Even the description I posted earlier about the characteristics of the genus Clonaria is inaccurate according to this article, as one of the described species of Clonaria has antennae with 19 segments, not the 12-18 segments according to the other article. Also, my pics are not very distinct.


I enlarged the illustrations of the two genera, and tho’ they are of a particular species (do most species in each genus look like this one example???), Maransis does seem the better fit.

Maransis looks good on the photos here

http://phasmida.speciesfile.org/Common/ ... ID=1203747

The candidates would be:

M. aspericollis

M. bilineolata

M. browni Brock, 2005
Northern Cape; ENDEMIC

M. graminea

M. lineolata

M. nigroantennata

according to the list here: https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniver ... onchodinae

Maransis looks good on the photos here

http://phasmida.speciesfile.org/Common/ ... ID=1203747

The candidates would be:

M. aspericollis (no photo; distribution not a match)

M. bilineolata (dried spec.not similar in appearance; distribution a match)

M. browni Brock, 2005 (“image” is the drawing prev. posted; tho’ the distribution is a match :Northern Cape; ENDEMIC)

M. graminea (don’t find it on the species list of “species file.org”, but they do have this listing; •species gramineus (Bates, 1865)=synonym aspericollis (Bates, 1865)) The spelling differs graminea vs. gramineus. ???

M. lineolata (no image; distribution not a match)

M. nigroantennata (no image; distribution not a match)

according to the list here: https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniver ... onchodinae

The most likely would then be M. brownii
**************
Just to muddy the water, there is a similar looking one from Namibia (Clonaria natalis) with the Habitat listed as s.Africa - Nama Karoo
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11072435

Clonaria capelongata description does not match (wrong coloration) nor does C. natalis

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ite ... 2/mode/1up


3 Clonaria recorded from Namibia
http://www.biodiversity.org.na/taxondis ... p?nr=15873


We make it a M. brownii female ????

I'll drink to that (later... )

Will edit the existing entry.

Now, about those lynx spiders......

Klippies!

Re: lynx spiders

In “A check list of the spiders of the Kruger National Park, South Africa” by Dippenaar-Schoeman and Leroy (2003), the Family Oxyopidae lists these species:




None of those on the list match mine "exactly".








So…looking at O. affinis from your post:



It’s certainly much closer than the other 3 above listed as occurring in Kruger, and the only one in that entire Photo ID Guide* that comes very close, including the “unidentified spiders” pics. There seems to be much variation in colors/patterns in some of the same species, so it is certainly possible it’s a match.

I can write them all up as such and we can edit it as we know more, or enter as “possibly O. affinis”. Your call, my professor.


*Dippenaar-Schoeman, A. S., Haddad, C. R., Foord, S. H. & Lotz, L. N. (2020b). The Oxyopidae of South Africa, version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide, 57 pp., “A large number of specimens have been sampled but not yet identified.”

For me, the O. affinis is the only match.

I think, meanwhile all of them have been collected everywhere


You make the final verdict.

Stick insect edited.

Will go with O. affinis