Desert Bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Thaumastellidae): New records and review of the distribution and habitat of this relict group
Author
Kment, Petr
Department of Entomology, National Museum of the Czech Republic, Cirkusová 1740, CZ- 193 00 Praha 9 - Horní Počernice, Czech Republic
Author
Jacobs, Dawid H.
Oppenheimer Generations, Research and Conservation, P. O. Box 61631, Marshalltown, 2107, South Africa & Department of Zoology & Entomology, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
Author
Carapezza, Attilio
University of Palermo; corresponding address: via Sandro Botticelli 15, 90144 Palermo, Italy
Author
Deckert, Jürgen
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity, Berlin, Germany
Author
Rider, David A.
Department of Entomology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, USA
Author
Kóbor, Péter
Plant Protection Institute, HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research, Martonvásár, Hungary
text
Zootaxa
2024
2024-11-26
5541
2
144
162
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5541.2.2
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.5541.2.2
1175-5326
14240928
1937CADB-82C4-48E0-AAE9-E2CFB9F084DE
Thaumastella
new species
(
Figs 9–10
,
13
)
Material examined.
SOUTH AFRICA
:
Western Cape
:
about
45 km
SSE of the town
Beaufort West
,
1 ♂
1 ♀
,
unbaited pitfall traps
,
D. Jacobs
lgt. & det. (
DHJS
). This species has the general facies of
Th. elizabethae
, but the male genital capsule shows significant differences
.
Habitat.
The locality where it was collected is more or less
400 km
ESE of the
type
locality of
Th. elizabethae
. It is situated in the Gamka Karoo of the Lower Karoo Bioregion of the Nama Karoo Biome (
Mucina & Rutherford 2006
). It is a dry part of the Karoo with an annual rainfall of about
170 mm
. The vegetation of the area can be classified as Stony plains vegetation (
Fig. 8
). This community occurs on stony footslopes away from mountains. Tall shrubs are sparsely scattered in a lower matrix of Karoo bushes. The canopy cover is sparse (about 30%). The cover is dominated by
Ruschia spinosa
[
Aizoaceae
] and
Pentzia incana
[
Asteraceae
]. Other characteristic species are
Euphorbia stellispina
[
Euphorbiaceae
],
Hermannia desertorum
[
Malvaceae
],
Limeum aethiopicum
[
Limeaceae
] and
Pteronia adenocarpa
[
Asteraceae
] (D. Jacobs, pers. observ.).
Distribution
(
Figs 9, 10
).
South Africa
:
Western Cape
(this paper).
Note.
The new species will be described later by D. Jacobs.