A new Copelatus with small eyes from the Eastern Cape Wild Coast, South Africa (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)
Bilton David T., Mlambo Musa C.
Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 62(1): 15-21, 2022
Published online: 12th April 2022
Views: 2155
Abstract: A new diving beetle, Copelatus mkambati sp. nov., is described from the
Mkambati Nature Reserve in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The new
species is compared with other Afrotropical taxa with two elytral striae and no
submarginal stria (the macellus species group of Copelatus Erichson, 1832).
A combination of small eyes, rather weak pigmentation, flattened, subparallel
habitus, relatively large head and collecting circumstances all suggest that the
new species may be semisubterranean in lifestyle.
Key words: aquatic Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Copelatus, new species, South Africa