Abstract
A new high altitude montane species of Trichostetha Burmeister, 1842 is described from the Elandsberg range of the Western Cape interior. This represents the 14th species of the genus and the first to be reported with a description of its larva. It is a significant addition to the growing number of species that exhibit no adult feeding behaviour and a short period of activity restricted to the onset of summer. Larvae dwell in rock crevices, feeding on decomposing plant matter. The genus Trichostetha is heterogeneous and the complex variability observed in some species, especially T. capensis (Linnaeus, 1767), requires the re-instatement of taxa that were recently synonymised. Thus, T. bicolor Péringuey, 1907 is here re-proposed as a separate species and T. capensis hottentotta (Gory & Percheron, 1833) as a separate subspecies. Conversely, T. alutacea Allard, 1994 is recognised as a dark variety of T. signata (Fabricius, 1775) and is, consequently, synonymised with this species.
Highlights
The genus Trichostetha Burmeister, 1842 is endemic to southern Africa and currently consists of 13 species and four subspecies (Holm and Marais 1992; Holm and Stobbia 1995; Sakai and Nagai 1998; Holm and Perissinotto 2004)
With the exception of T. fascicularis (Linnaeus, 1767), which is subdivided into a number of subspecies and is widespread throughout South Africa and in the southern part of Botswana (Holm and Perissinotto 2011), all the other species are fairly stable and restricted to small distributional ranges (Holm and Marais 1992)
It is clear that some species are associated with different plant species (e.g. T. coetzeri Holm & Marais, 1988 and T. fascicularis maraisi Stobbia, 1995), while others do not seem to feed at all in their adult stage (i.e. T. dukei Holm & Marais, 1988, T. hawequas Holm & Perissinotto, 2004, T. curlei sp. n. and T. calciventris Stobbia, 1995)
Summary
The genus Trichostetha Burmeister, 1842 is endemic to southern Africa and currently consists of 13 species and four subspecies (Holm and Marais 1992; Holm and Stobbia 1995; Sakai and Nagai 1998; Holm and Perissinotto 2004). Several species in this genus have only been described recently, from poorly sampled areas or from isolated mountain peaks (Holm and Perissinotto 2004). Observations in these areas have escalated during the past few years and as a result another undescribed species has been discovered in the Cape region. The new species reported here was collected both in the adult and third instar larval stage This provides an opportunity to describe for the first time the larva of a representative of this genus
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