This study lists a total of 13 species of Atherigona Rondani, 1856 from Angola, 9 of which were previously recorded: Atherigona (Atherigona) bedfordi van Emden, 1940; Atherigona (Atherigona) campestris Deeming, 1971; Atherigona (Acritochaeta) cogani Deeming, 1981; Atherigona (Atherigona) laevigata (Loew, 1852); Atherigona (Atherigona) lineata ssp. lineata (Adams, 1905); Atherigona (Atherigona) lineata ssp. ugandae van Emden, 1940; Atherigona (Atherigona) matilei Deeming, 1977; Atherigona (Atherigona) mirabilis ssp. mirabilis Deeming, 1971; Atherigona (Acritochaeta) orientalis Schiner, 1868; and Atherigona (Atherigona) ruficornis Stein, 1913. One previously described species, Atherigona (Atherigona) albistyla Deeming, 1971, has now been added as a new record. Three species are newly described: Atherigona (Atherigona) adelinahae Magoai, sp. nov., Atherigona (Atherigona) angolaensis Magoai, sp. nov., and Atherigona (Atherigona) cuanavaleensis Magoai, sp. nov. A key to the males of Atherigona species is provided, along with brief generic diagnoses of the new species and illustrations of most Angolan species.

Not applicable

The Afrotropical spider fly genus Africaterphis Schlinger, 1968 (Acroceridae, Philopotinae) is revised, including the description of Africaterphis stefanfoordisp. nov., bringing the total number of species in the genus to three.

Stegopterus Burmeister & Schaum, 1840 is a Trichiini genus endemic to the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Until now, it has been regarded as comprising only four species, namely S. vittatus (Fabricius, 1775), S. suturalis (Gory & Percheron, 1833), S. septus Burmeister & Schaum, 1840 and S. obesus Burmeister, 1842. Our study of historical specimens housed in museums and private collections, along with new specimens collected recently, has revealed that there are at least 15 species in this genus of which 11 are new, with S. obesus relegated to incertae sedis (see updated species list below). What is most interesting is that the genus has radiated within a rather restricted region, between the South and West coasts and the Cape Fold Mountains (CFM). This reflects a typical Fynbos distribution, similar to that already described for other insect groups. On the basis of synapomorphy, Stegopterus has now been subdivided into two species groups, namely “vittatus” and “septus.” In this work, 11 new species are described, diagnosed and illustrated, and their geographic distributions are mapped: Stegopterus agulhassp. nov., S. cochraneaesp. nov., S. endroedyisp. nov., S. fuscussp. nov., S. hexrivierisp. nov., S. kromrivierisp. nov., S. lamellussp. nov., S. langebergicussp. nov., S. pallidulussp. nov., S. paardebergisp. nov., S. rotundicepssp. nov. A key for accurately identifying species of Stegopterus is provided. Lectotypes are designated for the following species: S. septus Burmeister & Schaum, 1840, Trichius suturalis Gory & Percheron, 1833 (now S. suturalis) and Cetonia vittata Fabricius, 1775 (now S. vittatus).

A Rapid Assessment Protocol (RAP) for non-canopy spiders was used to collect replicate samples from four lowland rainforest sites for a proof-of-concept comparison of spider assemblages from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (hereafter, Congo) and Panama. Collecting was done at two 0.25 ha sites in Panama and two 0.25 ha sites in Congo. At each site, three 0.01 ha plots were randomly located, and within each we did 1 person-hour of aerial sampling (sweeping and beating/brushing) and two person-hours of ground sampling (field sieving of leaf litter). The samples yielded 350 adult spiders belonging to 29 spider families. The Panama samples yielded more adult spiders (235 vs. 115) and more spider families (24 vs. 14) than the Congo samples. Overall, the dominant five spider families in these non-canopy samples were Theridiidae (24%), Salticidae (15%), Linyphiidae (11%), Oonopidae (10%), and Pholcidae (7%), with the 20 remaining families each making up less than 5% of the total adults. The three most abundant families in Congo were Theridiidae, Oonopidae, and Thomisidae, while the top three in Panama were Salticidae, Theridiidae, and Linyphiidae. An NMDS ordination analysis of the four plots failed to show significant differences between any of the four assemblages, but when the plots were analyzed by region, there was a significant difference in the family-level assemblages between the continents. This paper shows proof-of-concept that this RAP can produce statistically valid data from brief sampling trips by teams with inexperienced collectors and simple, inexpensive sampling equipment.

The Bombyliidae genera Enica Macquart, 1834 and Nomalonia Rondani, 1863, restricted to South Africa, are synonymized. Currently, one species of Enica is known from South Africa, Enica longirostris (Wiedemann, 1819), and six Nomalonia species are newly combined with Enica: Enica clavicornis (Hesse, 1956), comb. nov.; Enica eremophila, (Hesse, 1975), comb. nov.; Enica henicoides (Hesse, 1956), comb. nov.; Enica imitata (Hesse, 1956), comb. nov.; Enica sporanthera (Hesse, 1956), comb. nov.; and Enica syrticola (Hesse, 1956), comb. nov. A new species, Enica adelphesp. nov. from the Richtersveld in the Northern Cape of South Africa, is described. All Enica species are redescribed and a dichotomous key with photographic references is provided for ease of identification. Specimen occurrence data and photographs are provided for each species. Each species of Enica occurs in at least one of three biodiversity hotspots in South Africa, i.e., Succulent Karoo, Cape Floristic Region, and Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany, with E. longirostris occurring in all three.

All primary (name-bearing) and secondary types (paratypes) of Bartolomeudiasiella, Cydistomyia and Limata within the tribe Diachlorini and Hybomitra, Tabanus and Therioplectes within the tribe Tabanini, deposited in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum (NMSA) are documented: Cydistomyia (Amanella) cooksoni Usher, 1965; Cydistomyia (Amanella) grayi (Oldroyd, 1957), comb. nov.; Cydistomyia (Amanella) ignota Usher, 1965; Cydistomyia (Amanella) ingridina Usher, 1965; Cydistomyia (Amanella) shaka Usher, 1970; Cydistomyia (Amanella) zimbiti Usher, 1970; Limata kuhnelti Usher, 1967 [now Bartolomeudiasiella kuhnelti (Usher, 1967)]; Limata miranda Usher, 1968; Limata parafacialis Oldroyd, 1957; Tabanus crocodilinus Austen, 1912; Tabanus flavicoxa Usher, 1954; Tabanus nefas Usher, 1971; Tabanus postacutus Oldroyd, 1947; Tabanus saxicolus Usher, 1965 [now Hybomitra saxicolus (Usher, 1965)]; Therioplectes zumpti (Dias, 1956). The reference to the original publication, including the original name, the type locality and the collector, is provided for each species. In addition, brief remarks and colour photographs are provided. This is the second in a series of publications on the primary types of the Tabanidae of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum.

Lepidoptera are known to alter their behaviour and phenology in response to climatic conditions. Understanding these responses is important for the conservation of Lepidoptera species, especially those that are not widely distributed. Individuals of Dira clytus clytus, a South African endemic butterfly with a distribution in the southern parts of the country, were reared in captivity from the egg phase to the adult phase, to observe behaviour and phenology in the various life stages. Life history stages concurred with previous observations made on this subspecies, but additional photographs are presented for the various phases. There are clearly two pupal, and thus adult emergence, phases in spring and early summer. Four batches of eggs resulted from these adults, and the larvae from these eggs were also reared although none of them survived to the pupation phase. The timing of the two pupal phases was compared to climatic variables (temperature and rainfall) and it was found that pupation followed soon after cold temperature. This is indicative that D. c. clytus can change its phenology and voltinism in response to climatic conditions, which may allow for plasticity in responding to climate change. However, more research is required to understand how climate change would impact this endemic species.

As part of ongoing revisions of the Afrotropical Trachelidae, four new genera are described from southern Africa: Foordanagen. nov., with F. distinctasp. nov. from South Africa (Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape) as the type species, F. flavipodasp. nov. from the Free State, F. kasougasp. nov. from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and a fourth undescribed species from Zimbabwe; the monotypic Mushimanegen. nov., with M. tswibilinkisp. nov. from KwaZulu-Natal as the type species; Namaquellagen. nov., with N. aridasp. nov. from the Northern Cape as the type species and N. samanthaesp. nov. from the Western Cape; and Rukulukgen. nov. from South Africa, with R. gramineussp. nov. from the Northern Cape as the type species and a second undescribed species from KwaZulu-Natal known only from juveniles.

Forest restoration often involves monitoring programmes to determine whether biodiversity levels and ecosystem services have changed over time. This study investigated changes in ground-hunting spider communities (families Ctenidae, Lycosidae and Zodariidae) in an actively restored forest, an unrestored gravel mine, and two alternative land-use types (agroforestry system and an arable field) to assess whether a two-decade post-mine restoration programme has been successful in restoring biodiversity to levels of a reference natural forest. The overall activity density of ground-hunting spiders (based on both juveniles and adult specimens) was highest in the natural and the restored forest in the dry season and lowest in the arable field and agroforestry system in the wet season. The inverse Simpson index was highest at the gravel site in the wet season, followed by natural forest in both seasons and lower values in the restored forest. The community composition of spiders differed significantly between land-use types (open versus forest habitats) and the interaction between land use and season also differed significantly. The species Pardosa injucunda and Trochosa gentilis dominated the communities in the restored forest, but Africactenus monitor dominated the natural forest and Hogna gratiosa dominated communities in the gravel site. Surprisingly, active forest restoration promoted the activity density of ground-hunting spiders displaced by mining activities to levels even higher than in the reference natural forest after two decades. However, the community composition of the restored forest was more similar to the agroforestry system than to the natural forest. These results highlight the benefits of restoring former mining sites but also show the trade-offs in terms of restoration goals, as natural forest biodiversity of spiders was not achieved after 20 years.