Hendrik Sithole

Landscape-scale surveys reveal patterns of floral visitation by species of Scarabaeidae (Coleoptera) in the Kruger National Park, South Africa

Insect visitors were sampled from flowers of nine sympatric tree and shrub species in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, using a landscape-scale survey approach. Two species of Terminalia L., Terminalia prunioides Lawson and Terminalia sericea Burchell (Combretaceae) together comprised 53% of the flowering trees and shrubs sampled. Scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) comprised a majority of visitors to flowers of the two Terminalia species (90% and 88%, respectively). Statistical comparisons indicate that both the composition and abundance of scarab floral visitors differ between T. prunioides and T. sericea, and between these species and sympatric flowering tree and shrub species. Individual species of Scarabaeidae show markedly different patterns of abundance: 42% were found on flowers of one tree species, 45% were found on flowers of two or three tree species, and the remaining four scarab species were common and occurred on four or more of the tree species sampled.

Natural history of the African riverine tiger beetle Chaetodera regalis (Dejean) (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae)

The tiger beetle Chaetodera regalis (Dejean) (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa. We studied activity patterns, ecological interactions, and behaviour of this species along four major rivers in Kruger National Park, South Africa. During the dry season, small numbers of adult beetles are found on sand bars along perennial rivers. In the rainy season, adults are found in large numbers on a broad spectrum of substrates (including clays, coarse and fine sands and gravels, and black organic soils) and geomorphological features (sand flats, mud flats, sand bars, beaches, riverbanks, and dry and wet sandy streambeds) in riverine areas. Predatory, defensive, thermoregulatory, and reproductive behaviours are described. This species may prove to be a useful indicator of the health of African riverine systems: adults are abundant in high-quality riverine areas; adults and larvae may be adversely affected by human activities; and adults are easily detected, even by novice surveyors.

Efficient Evaluation of Biodiversity Concerns in Protected Areas

Monitoring is a vital component of keeping protected areas in desired states. Lack of robust designs, however, impedes efficient monitoring. We ask two questions—how does effort at a specific site as well as number of sites in a plant community influence richness, abundance, and diversity indicators. Large mammal herbivory biodiversity influences are a key concern for managers of Mokala National Park. We anticipated that changes in biodiversity indicators (vegetation, ants, and birds) associate with herbivore intensity of use of landscapes. We identified flat deep sandy plains and undulating shallow rocky hills as focal landscapes. Our focus was on finding optimized effort at survey sites as well as the number of sites. Monitoring to evaluate change in diversity and abundance needs far less effort than evaluating change in richness. Furthermore, given the variance at the landscape level, monitoring of species abundance and diversity allows easier detection with less effort and at shorter intervals between surveys than that required for richness. Even though a mechanisms-based approach directs monitoring, conservationists need to evaluate feasibility. In our case, measurement of richness is unlikely to detect herbivore effects. In general though, we have illustrated that focused monitoring designs can robustly evaluate conservation objectives.

Natural history of a South African insect pollinator assemblage (Insecta: Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera): diagnostic notes, food web analysis and conservation recommendations

ABSTRACT We describe activity patterns, relative abundances and pollen transport by insect floral visitors in the Skukuza Ranger District, Kruger National Park, Republic of South Africa, based on field surveys conducted during the early rainy seasons of years 2006 to 2012 (inclusive). Diagnostic notes, illustrations and natural history observations are provided for species in the families Buprestidae, Cerambycidae, Cleridae, Lycidae and Scarabaeidae (Coleoptera), Muscidae, Platystomatidae and Tabanidae (Diptera), Apidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae, Sphecidae and Vespidae (Hymenoptera), and Pieridae and Thyrididae (Lepidoptera) that transported pollen of tree or shrub species. Observations on floral phenology and pollination syndrome are presented for 27 flowering tree or shrub species. To provide a foundation for studies of the effects of drought and climate change on pollination services in the Kruger National Park, we applied methods of food web analysis to characterise this plant-pollinator assemblage. The food web analysis shows moderate levels of redundancy in plant-pollinator interactions (with connectance values averaging 0.19 for plant species and 0.20 for pollinator species), suggesting that pollination services in this system may exhibit some resilience to environmental perturbations. Possible conservation strategies for maintaining pollination services in this ecological system are discussed, including habitat management to conserve larval or nesting areas for social and solitary bees and scarab beetles, as well as further inventories and long-term monitoring of pollinator species.

A synopsis of the genus Cypholoba Chaudoir (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Anthiini) known to occur in the Republic of South Africa

Abstract Nearly one third of the described species of Cypholoba Chaudoir (Coleoptera: Carabidae) are known to inhabit the Republic of South Africa. A key and diagnostic notes are provided for their identification, as well as notes about way of life for some of the species based on observations in the Kruger National Park. Fifteen species and subspecies of the genus are recorded from the Republic of South Africa; adult specimens of each species and subspecies are illustrated and information about the distribution of each species in the Republic of South Africa is summarized and mapped: Cypholoba alstoni (Péringuey), Cypholoba alveolata (Brême), Cypholoba amatonga Péringuey, Cypholoba fritschi (Chaudoir), Cypholoba gracilis gracilis (Dejean), Cypholoba gracilis scrobiculata (Bertoloni), Cypholoba gracilis zuluana Basilewsky, Cypholoba graphipteroides graphipteroides (Guérin-Méneville), Cypholoba leucospilota semilaevis (Chaudoir), Cypholoba macilenta (Olivier), Cypholoba notata (Perroud), Cypholoba oberthueri seruana Strohmeyer, Cypholoba opulenta (Boheman), Cypholoba rutata (Péringuey), and Cypholoba tenuicollis aenigma (Dohrn).

The genus Anthia Weber in the Republic of South Africa, Identification, distribution, biogeography, and behavior (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Abstract A key is presented for the identification of the four species of Anthia Weber (Coleoptera: Carabidae) recorded from the Republic of South Africa: Anthia cinctipennis Lequien, Anthia circumscripta Klug, Anthia maxillosa (Fabricius), and Anthia thoracica (Thunberg). For each of these species, illustrations are provided of adult beetles of both sexes as well as illustrations of male reproductive structures, morphological redescriptions, discussions of morphological variation, annual activity histograms, and maps of occurrence localities in the Republic of South Africa. Maps of occurrence localities for these species are compared against ecoregional and vegetation maps of southern Africa; each species of Anthia shows a different pattern of occupancy across the suite of ecoregions and vegetation types in the Republic of South Africa. Information about predatory and foraging behaviors, Müllerian mimicry, and small-scale vegetation community associations is presented for Anthia thoracica based on field and laboratory studies in Kruger National Park, South Africa.