Africa Wild

Leaf Beetle Leucastea sp.
Superfamily: Chrysomeloidea. Family: Megalopodidae. Subfamily: Megalopodinae.

© ExFmem
Imfolozi

Genus Leucastea:
Medium (about 5-10 mm), oblong, yellow or red and black leaf beetles. Punctured with coarse hair. Head exserted, constricted behind the protuberant eyes, the latter with the emarginate portion smooth. The antennae are thin, about as long as the head and pronotum. Pronotum is wider than long, rounded. The legs are quite short and strong, strongly pubescent, the femora unarmed.

Many species recorded from South Africa.

Larvae in the subfamily Megalopodinae typically bore inside of plant stems.
Adults feed on herbs or small shrubs; they cut off the tips of succulent shoots and feed on the sap.
Males and females produce a chrirping stridulation sound with mesoscuto-pronotal stridulatory devices. The function of the stridulatory device may be in disturbing predators.

Links:
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... stribution

Metallic Dung Beetle Garreta wahlbergi
Suborder: Polyphaga. Family: Scarabaeidae. Subfamily: Scarabaeinae. Tribe: Gymnopleurini






iMfolozi © Peter Connan

In Africa South of the Sahara, the tribe Gymnopleurini is represented by three genera: Garreta (12 African species of which 7 occur in South Africa); Allogymnopleurus (14 African species of which 3 occur in South Africa and 2 in Mozambique) and Gymnopleurus (32 African species of which 12 occur in South Africa and 5 in Mozambique).

Description
Body length 14 -21 mm. A day-flying, ball-rolling species.
Convex. Meatallic green or bronze. Clypeus with four denticles.

Distribution
Northeastern and central South Africa (common in KZN), Botswana, Mozambique, Eswatini, Zimbabwe.

Habitat
Moist and dry savanna.

Links:
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... i/download

Darkling Beetle possibly Afrinus sp.
Family: Tenebrionidae. Subfamily: Pimeliinae. Tribe: Tentyriini



Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park © ExFmem

In all the numerous Afrinus sp. the body is oblong, with the pronotum generally narrower than elytra, and the integument very densely and roughly sculptured. The antennae are very long. These beetles are tiny, some only 4 or 5 mm in body length.


Links:
https://journals.co.za/docserver/fullte ... 56D71533F9

Firefly Luciola sp.
Family: Lampyridae Subfamily: Luciolinae

Family Lampyridae

Distribution
Lampyridae are soft-bodied beetles that occur in all major regions of the world, but are absent from New Zealand and most of Australia. The Luciolinae are restricted to the warmer parts of the Old World, while Lampyrinae occur throughout the New World and in Eurasia and Africa.

Biology
Included among the Lampyridae are the typical fireflies, which may be luminescent as adults and larvae; however light organs are absent in many groups or in some species of typically luminescent genera, such as Photinus. Lampyrid larvae are predaceous, feeding on a variety of soft-bodied invertebrates, such as earthworms, snails and slugs or arthropods. It is likely that most lampyrids do not feed as adults, but those of some Photuris feed on other Lampyridae.

Subfamily Luciolinae

The Luciolinae are among the largest subfamilies of fireflies (Lampyridae). They seem to be all "flashing" fireflies.

Distribution
Members of the subfamily Luciolinae are restricted to the warmer parts of the Old World.

There is only one genus in SA, with 20 species.

Description
Both sexes of fireflies in this subfamily are winged. The head is not concealed by the pronotum.




Kruger Nat’l Park - Lower Sabie Camp by ExF


https://www.delta-intkey.com/elateria/www/lamp.htm

Tortoise Darkling Beetle Epiphysa flavicollis
Family: Tenebrionidae. Subfamily: Pimeliinae. Tribe: Adesmiini

© ExFmem
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Epiphysa species are predominantly crepuscular to nocturnal.

Subfamily Afreminae
Superfamily: Tenebrinoidea. Family: Anthicidae. Subfamily: Afreminae.

Afreminae is a very small group of beetles. The group is distributed in southern Africa (Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa and Angola).
Only three species are hitherto described, but there are also some undescribed taxa: Afremus madgei, Afremus picker, Dunbrodianus longicollis.

Characteristics
Body 4-6.5 mm long, ~2.4-3 times longer than wide. Dorsal surface densely pubescent.
Head not strongly constricted posteriorly to eyes, not forming narrow neck. Eyes entire, strongly prominent. Insertions of antennae dorsally exposed. Frontoclypeal suture present, slightly impressed. Antennae 11- to 12-segmented. Antennomeres 3 or 4 to 11 each with pair of flat, articulated rami at or near base. Terminal antennomere flattened and expanded apically, rarely subcylindrical. Mandibles long, unidentate.
Pronotum 0.9-1.3 times longer than wide, widest in anterior part. Base distinctly narrower than elytral base. Lateral margins slightly sinuate. Anterior angles not produced, basal angles broadly rounded. Procoxal cavities contiguous, broadly open externally and closed internally.
Elytra ~1.5-2.1 times longer than their maximum combined width. Punctures of disc irregular. Epipleura short or absent. Elytral apices meet at suture or separated by narrow gap; 1-2 terminal ventrites exposed. Mesocoxal cavities contiguous, open laterally. Metacoxal cavities narrowly separated, expanded laterally and meeting lateral margin of elytra. Hind wings with very small radial cell. Medial spur long and straight. CuA2 represented by short distal remnant.
Legs long, slender. Trochanterofemoral attachment oblique, and base of femur is separated from coxa. Metafemora often distinctly enlarged. Meso- and metatibiae spinose or granulate. Tibial spurs paired, long; those on metatibiae often strongly asymmetrical. Tarsal formula 5-5-4. Penultimate tarsomere distinctly bilobate. Claws long.
Abdomen with 6 ventrites. Ventrite I shorter than II. Ventrites I-VII with functional spiracles in their pleural membrane. Aedeagus of tenebrionoid type, symmetrical. Parameres fused, also partly fused to phallobase. Ovipositor, with the exception of baculi, slightly sclerotized.

Relationships of Afreminae to Other Tenebrionoidea
Nowadays Afreminae formally remains in Anthicidae, but phylogenetic relationships of this group are far from being completely clear.
Afreminae and genus Afremus were originally described as new subfamily and genus of Anthicidae (Levey 1985). The author noticed significant differences of Afremus from other Anthicidae.

Flower Beetle Afremus cf pickeri
Superfamily: Tenebrinoidea. Family: Anthicidae. Subfamily: Afreminae.


© ExFmem
This species might be Afremus pickeri or an undiscribed Afremus sp.

© ExFmem

© ExFmem

© ExFmem
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

The genus Afremus contains currently only two described species:
Afremus madgei Levey, 1985 - Zimbabwe
Afremus pickeri Levey, 1985 - Namibia


Description Afremus pickeri
Length 4.0 mm.
Colour: head, pronotum and underside pitchy, except for pronotal margins being narrowly yellow-brown. Elytra and legs yellow-brown.

Links:
http://tolweb.org/Afremus/145052

Blister Beetle Prionotolytta binotata
Family: Meloidae. Subfamily: Meloinae. Tribe: Lyttini

Southern Africa represents one of the most significant hot-spot areas of Meloidae biodiversity, with 11 genera endemic to this region and a large percentage of endemic species. Prionotolytta Péringuey, 1909, one of these endemic taxa, is widely distributed, occurring from Angola southwards to the Northern Cape and eastwards to Zimbabwe. Prionotolytta includes 11 species: bicolor (Angola); binotata (Namibia, South Africa: Northern Cape, Botswana, Zimbabwe); eremita (northern Namibia, southern Zambia, Botswana); hajekae (northern Namibia); melanura (southern Angola, northern and central Namibia); pretoriana (South Africa: Gauteng); robusta (South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal); streyi (northern Namibia); transvaalica (South Africa: Limpopo); zimbabweana (Zimbabwe); zumpti (southern Botswana).

© ExFmem
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park


Distribution
Botswana, Namibia, western South Africa, southern Zimbabwe.

Biology
In the Nama Karoo and Savannahs, blister beetle species show a very narrow above-ground activity of adults from January to April.

Links:
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... 5/download
http://www.meloidae.com/cs/obrazky/104/

Monkey Beetle
Family: Scarabaeidae. Subfamily: Melolontinae. Tribe: Hopliini

Typical feeding posture of an embedding species of monkey beetle, Rondevlei (Cape Town), October 2016 © arks


The 1000-odd species of South African Monkey beetles are most common in the floristically diverse winter rainfall regions of South Africa. South Africa is the global centre of diversification for monkey beetles (Scarabaeidae: Hopliini), with 98% of the 1040 species and 80% of the genera endemic to this country.

Monkey beetles show extreme sexual dimorphism and a diversity of secondary sexual traits (exaggerated hind leg morphologies, and colour of body parts).
Many embedding species show hugely thickened and swollen femora and tibia in males. These guys have some extraordinary hind leg weaponry such as excessive musculature, spines, rachets and extreme elongations. Non-embedders mostly show weak hind leg dimorphism.
Male-male combat is a common feature of many species of monkey beetle. Males, using their enlarged hind legs as weapons, will aggressively fight with rival males over females, and have also been observed to guard females post-copulation for extended periods of time). Non-embedding males in general also engage in male-male combat, however, these battles are far less combative, and involve brief tussling and wrestling.
Females are polyandrous mating with multiple males. Furthermore, the ratio of males to females within populations appears to be strongly male biased. Thus, competition between males is high.

Mating and feeding for most species of monkey beetle takes place on disc-shaped flowers (Asteraceae, Aizoaceae) which are large, and offer an ideal platform for feeding, mating and male-male combat. Flowers are thus focal points of monkey beetle activity. Monkey beetle emergence is timed to coincide with this ephemeral floristic resource during the spring months. Beetles only live for approximately 5-7 days, so the temporal pressures for reproduction are high, generating elevated competition between males for securing females in a limited period of time.

Within this environment, two monkey beetle feeding guilds occur: Embedding and Non-Embedding flower guilds. Female Embedders feed partially or wholly embedded inside the capitulum (in Asteraceae) or hypanthium (in Aizoaceae) of the flower, with the pygidium (the prominent last dorsal segment of the abdomen) being the only body part exposed. During this period they are inactive, remaining embedded in the same flower for up to a few days. Male Embedders are more active, searching for females. Non-Embedding species are fast-flying, active pollinators, visiting many flowers and feeding more superficially on pollen and nectar.
The feeding biologies of embedders and Non-embedders contrast strongly, particularly between females.
Female Embedders, feeding predominantly on disk-shaped daisies of Asteraceae and Aizoaceae, burrow deep into the flower head, feeding on pollen and/or ovules, and will remain embedded for extended periods of time. These (often large) flowers provide abundant resources (pollen and ovules) and an ideal platform for mating and male contests. Quite frequently females are buried so deeply that only a fraction of the pygidium is exposed. This crypsism by females will reduce the number of females readily visible to males, thus resulting in more intense competition for the ladies.
Non-embedders are generally associated with non-daisy type flowers, e.g. shallow bowl-shaped petaloid geophytes (Iridaceae) and flowers occurring in inflorescences, e.g. Rutaceae, Rhamnaceae, Orchidaceae. Females feed predominantly on pollen and nectar, and generally visit flowers for only short periods. Many Non-embedders are highly pilose and very active fliers, resembling pollinating bees and wasps in their foraging behaviour far more closely than beetles.

Toktokkie cf. Ocnodes sp.
Family Tenebrionidae. Subfamily Pimeliinae. Tribe Sepidiini

© Richprins

© Richprins
Marloth Park

The Sepidiini are a diverse tribe of ground-dwelling darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae) of the subfamily Pimeliinae Latreille. The tribe is widely distributed throughout the Afrotropical region. Some Sepidiini (mainly Ocnodes Fåhraeus, 1870 and Psammodes Kirby, 1819) are commonly known for their tapping behaviour (sexual communication), which accounts for their vernacular name 'toktokkies'.

Tenebrionids have antennae with 11 segments; their large compound eyes are notched by a ridge, and they have a 5-5-4 arrangement, which means that the front leg tarsus (the last part of the leg before the final claw) has five segments, the middle leg tarsus has five segments, and the hind leg tarsus has four segments.

The Sepidiini are defined by the following combination of characters (according to Koch 1955):
- cardo and stipes of maxillae and prelabium not covered by mentum,
- anterior margin of postgenae with a maxillary ridge or emargination,
- antennae with 11 segments,
- mesocoxae, in vast majority of cases, with visible trochantin (reduced in Sepidiina and a few Molurina),
- large scutellum, extending across entire width of mesothoracic peduncle,
- elytral base without vertical articulation face (the pronotum consequently freely movable on scutellum).

Ocnodes beetles are dark brown to black in colour. The anal sternite of the abdomen is marginate; males have a densely haired patch on the underside of the anterior femora; the tibiae have scattered, dark bristles; the apex of the posterior tibia is often dilated; the elytra smooth, without costae and globular. Ocnodes contains some of the largest darkling beetles in the world.

How to tell apart the genera Ocnodes and Psammodes (according to Koch 1955):
In Ocnodes the elytra are rarely costate (ridged), but if costate, the primary costa (ridge) never conceals the lateral interval. The tibia have scattered dark bristles. The upper surface of the anterior (front) tibia more or less sharply carinate, whilst the apex of the posterior (hind) tibia are often dilated (expanded). The basal segment (segment 1) of the posterior tarsi is longer than, equal to, or shorter than the ungula segment (segment that the claws are attached to). In the male, the underside of the anterior femora usually has a hairy to tomentose patch. The abdominal anal sternite is marginate at least basally. The prosternum is marginated. Mesosternum without distinct pre-episternal structure.
In Psammodes the elytra often with the primary costa concealing lateral interval, if no primary costa is present, then the rounding of the elytra conceals the lateral interval when viewed from above – at least on the front half. The tibiae usually with dense, often subtomentose, pale bristles. The upper surface of the anterior (front) tibia with carinae only on the apex. The posterior tibia not dilated apically. The basal segment (segment 1) of the posterior tarsi is longer than the ungal segment. The abdominal anal sternite is not marginate. The prosternum often with a collar-like prolongation of the anterior margin. Mesosternum usually with pre-episternal sulcus or edge.