Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014 Reedbeds (Phragmites mauritianus) occur in dense stands along some sections of the Revuboe River (Plates 2.5 & 2.6). It is the preferred habitat for a number of specialised species such as the Lesser Swamp Warbler (Acrocephalus gracilirostris), while also providing important roosting habitat for certain dryland species (e.g. weavers, bishops, swallows).

Plate 2.6 Typical reed beds found on site

Granite outcrops generally occur on the hills in the region and are characterised by large boulders and a dense woody cover in the form of Closed Zambezian Undifferentiated Woodland (refer to Plates 2.2 & 2.7). It provides important habitat for rupiculous (rock loving) species such as certain birds and reptile species. These habitats will be largely impacted on, as they are located on the hills which will become the mine pits

Plate 2.7: Rocky outcrops typically occur on ridges amongst Closed Zambezian Undifferentiated Woodland

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 3 Tete Iron Ore Project Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014 Dambos occur as linear open areas of hydrophilic grasslands with rushes and sedges, which contrast with surrounding woodland, in this case the mopane woodlands (Figure 2.1 and Plate 2.8). A Dambo is essentially is a plateau wetland, which is “a seasonally waterlogged, predominantly grass-covered, depression (i.e. vlei)”. They may be substantially dry at the end of the dry season, revealing grey soils or black clays, but unlike flooded grassland, they retain wet lines of drainage through the dry season. They are inundated (waterlogged) in the wet season but not generally above the height of the vegetation and any open water surface is usually confined to streams, rivers and small ponds or lagoons at the lowest point, generally near the centre.

Parts of the dambos will be affected unless certain infrastructure is re-located, especially the Ruoni south waste dump, and the TSF (refer to Figure 2.1).

Plate 2.8: A typical dambo which can be found on site.

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 4 Tete Iron Ore Project Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014 3. METHODS

3.1. Terrestrial Invertebrate sampling methodology

3.1.1. Assessment approach

We believe that the core of any environmental/biodiversity assessment must be a rigorous, effective and efficient sampling protocol - no amount of hi-tech equipment, specialised software, complex analysis and fancy presentation can make up for inadequately designed or poorly executed sampling. Our approach is thus:

1) to survey, in a quantified manner and using internationally accepted sampling protocols where available, several invertebrate taxa - such as ants, butterflies, ground beetles, leafhoppers and termites - that are recognised as biodiversity and ecological indicators were used. Some methods may be impractical in certain areas (e.g. wetlands and wetland fringes) and some taxa will occur only in particular habitats, so not all methods and taxa are necessarily covered for each project or site. The data obtained for these groups can then be used as a sound baseline to set rehabilitation targets, against which to measure the success of restoration processes.

2) where appropriate, to survey for red-listed, rare or sensitive species (SCC) in the indicator taxa as well as in other groups such as mygalomorph spiders, scorpions, dragonflies and damselflies.

While no standardised protocols exist for sampling several of the indicator taxa we have selected, many years combined experience of ant sampling was brought together under the auspices of the IUCN in the formulation of the Ants of the Leaf Litter (ALL) protocol (Agosti et al. 2000). This provides a defined sampling protocol to be applied worldwide and hence allows meaningful comparisons of the ant fauna of geographically widely separated sites. We have chosen this protocol as the basis for our sampling and, although there are some modifications and additions to the sampling methods to allow effective sampling of other taxa, the ant data produced are compatible with other ALL protocol datasets from around the world.

Our protocol is consistent with IFC Performance Standard 6 (IFC 2012) and provides detailed information equally applicable to assessment of relative sensitivities of sites and to monitoring of project impacts or restoration progress over time: for a given level of required confidence in predictions the same level of sampling is required whether communities are being assessed in terms of differences over time or space.

3.1.2. Focal taxa for invertebrate survey

A wide range of invertebrate taxa were proposed as invertebrate indicators in the scoping report (Ekoinfo 2012):

 Scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones)  Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae)  Millipedes (Diplopoda)  Damselflies and Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata)  Bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera)  Antlions (Insecta: Neuroptera)  Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera)  Butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera)  Ants (Insecta: Hymenoptera – Formicidae)

However, given the huge diversity within many of these taxa, it would be prohibitively costly and time-consuming to effectively evaluate all of these in the course of an EIA survey; a more limited subset of these groups was thus selected, based on prior experience of suitability as indicators,

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 5 Tete Iron Ore Project Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014 ease of sampling and reliability of identifications. Three groups were omitted entirely from focussed sampling, while a subset of the proposed taxonomic group was selected in the case of another two groups (spiders and bugs). The taxa on which the present surveys were focused were thus:

 Scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones)  Mygalomorph Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae, Mygalomorphae)  Damselflies and Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata)  Leafhoppers (Insecta: Hemiptera, Cicadellidae)  Butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera)  Ants (Insecta: Hymenoptera – Formicidae)

Sampling of other taxa, including groups such as Neuroptera (antlions, owlflies etc), cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) and beetles (Coleoptera), was carried out on an ad hoc basis when specimens of potential interest were encountered.

3.1.3. Detailed description of sampling methods

Site visits

A wet season site visit was carried out from 15-27 March 2013, but due to cessation of rain and high temperatures, conditions were drying rapidly so that for many taxa lower activity levels more typical of the dry season were apparent by the end of the surveys and dry season forms of several butterfly species were observed. Unfortunately earlier sampling was not feasible, as access to the site in the rainy season is very challenging, and river crossings impossible.

A dry season site visit was carried out from 3-9 September 2013, during which further butterfly and Odonata sampling was carried out as well as focussed follow-up surveys for taxa of importance noted during the wet season survey.

An additional late wet season visit was undertaken from 10-17 April 2014, with the main aim being to survey the newly proposed Haul Road 6, although the opportunity was also taken to carry out some additonal surveys on Tenge Hill and in the mopani woodland site (between the proposed ROM and TSF sites) studied in 2013.

Sampling protocol

The planned sampling of terrestrial invertebrates at the project site aimed at surveying a representative area of each main habitat type using a detailed sampling protocol that would enable both a sensitivity assessment and a baseline measure of biodiversity in key indicator groups to allow monitoring of impacts and rehabilitation.

The core of the ALL protocol, from which the sampling was developed, is the collection and analysis of twenty 2-litre leaf litter samples and twenty 48-hour pitfall trap samples collected at 10 metre intervals along a 190 metre transect at each site to be surveyed; this is estimated to generally result in an approximately 70 percent complete inventory of the ant fauna, with sufficient predictive power to reliably estimate the total number of ant species using software such as EstimateS (Colwell 2013). After consideration of the habitats present and in order to allow similar data to be obtained for other indicator taxa in the Baobab Iron Ore Project site, we used the following methods, which included some additions and modifications to the ALL protocol, at each of the four sites that were surveyed in detail during the wet season site visit:

 Leaf litter samples were omitted due to the extremely stony nature of the soil at three of the four survey sites; standard leaf litter sampling requires chopping of the leaf litter and surface soil layers with a sharp panga (machette) and this was not possible under the conditions encountered. Low daytime surface activity of ants due to the rapidly drying leaf litter layer after the end of the rainy season meant that the alternative of collecting and

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 6 Baobab Resources (Pty) Ltd Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014 sifting un-chopped surface litter (which was tested at the Tenge Hill site) did not yield adequate samples.

 Twenty 48-hour pitfall trap (see Figure 3.1) samples, with traps set at 10 metre intervals along a 190 m transect,

 Twenty 20-minute hand-collected ant samples, each along a transect of up to 50m in length starting near to one of the pitfall traps,

 Two full person-days of hand-netting for butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies,

 Ten 1-day fermenting-banana baited trap (see Figure 2.2) butterfly samples, with traps set up by 9 am, emptied and reset at 3:00pm1 and taken down and emptied again at approximately 4:30 pm. Ten traps were placed at 20 m intervals along the transect at heights varying from 0.5 to 4 metres above the ground,

 Ten sweep-net leafhopper samples, each comprising 100 sweeps along a 50 metre transect, and from which leafhopper and other insect specimens are extracted using specially-constructed extraction boxes (see Figure 3.3). This is lower level of sampling than normally used by AfriBugs for leafhiopper surveys was neccessitated by budgetary constraints; the results of the survey are expected to provide an indication of how much additional sampling whould be required for effective use of this group as an indicator.

 Scorpions were surveyed by daytime searches, which included rock-turning, visual burrow location and searching of leaf litter and other habitats, as well as night-time surveys using ultraviolet light (see Figure 3.4), considered the most effective and environmentally-friendly means of surveying for scorpions (Lowe et. al. 2003). Quantified sampling was not attempted as this can be very labour-intensive and conditions during the survey were not ideal due to high levels of moonlight.

60 standard samples were thus collected from each of the four survey sites. After sorting, processing and identifying the specimens collected, similar analyses can then be applied to the dataset for each taxon, thus giving consistency to the overall results.

AA BB

Figure 3.1: A: Plastic cup pitfall trap (80 mm internal diameter) flush with ground and partially filled with 50 ml of 3:1 ethanol:propylene glycol; the cover limits debris falling into the trap and reduces evaporation of the preservative through shade, B: trap used for hot climates with reflective paint on cover; rubber snake serves to minimise disturbance of traps by baboons.

1 Some butterflies that had arrived early in the day would otherwise fly back down to the bottom of the trap in the late afternoon and could escape; this was prevented by a mid-afternoon collection of specimens.

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 7 Baobab Resources (Pty) Ltd Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014

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AA CC Figure 3.2: Butterfly traps set up in Open Zambezian Undifferentiated Woodland site. A: trap from below, B: close-up of top of trap with butterflies, C. close-up of bottom of trap with Charaxes butterfly feeding on fermenting banana bait.

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Figure 3.3: Sweep nets and extraction apparatus at mopani woodland site; insert A shows close-up of extractor, B shows debris remaining (mostly grass seeds at this site) after extraction process.

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 8 Baobab Resources (Pty) Ltd Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014

Figure 3.4. A scorpion (Hadogenese) fluorescing under ultraviolet light, illustrating the ease with which they can be located using this technique.

Sample sites

Detailed sampling was carried out at four sites (Ruoni North, site of proposed Waste Rock stockpile, Tenge Hill and Mopani Woodland), representing the main habitats (Closed Zambezian Undifferentiated Woodland, Open Zambezian Undifferentiated Woodland and Mopani Woodland) identified as of significance from a terrestrial invertebrate perspective; in addition opportunistic sampling was carried out at several other sites including the riverine fringe, as well as en route between sites when opportunity arose. Sampling sites and GPS tracks of the routes followed by the invertebrate assessment team are are illustrated in Figures 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7.

Haul routes

During the April 2014 survey, no standardised sampling was carried out as the aim was to cover as much as practical of the length of Haul Road 6 on foot or by inspection of points along the route where access by vehicle was possible. At each point inspected, or along the sections walked, habitats were assessed visually and searches were carried out for invertebrate species of potential conservation concern; sampling techniques included netting, digging, rock- & log-turning and other manual methods. The southern section of the road route (south of the Ncondezi River) was surveyed on 11, 12 &13 April 2014, while the northern sections between Tenge Camp and the Ncondezi River were surveyed on 14, 15 & 16 April 2014. From the 29 km to 46 km marks the route was accessed by road and inspected at various points along the route, while from the start to the 10 km the route was followed entirely on foot due to the lack of road access. In this way most of the route was covered, although a significant gap remains between 10 km-18 km as this section could not be accessed from the south due to strong flows in the Ncondezi river, and walking this section from the north would have had to be done at a speed that would not have allowed time for proper ssessment of habitats and searches for conservation-significant invertebrates. Inspection of satellite imagery suggests however that habitats in this section are not fundamentally different from those in the 4 km - 10 km section and extrapolation of results from the latter section can be used. A similar survey gap resulted between the 21 km and 29 km marks, but again this section appears sufficiently similar to the adjacent portions for detailed inspection not to be essential.

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 9 Baobab Resources (Pty) Ltd Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014

Figure 3.5. Survey sites and routes followed (red lines) during March 2013 terrestrial invertebrate surveys of the Baobab Iron Ore Project site (blue outline).

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 10 Baobab Resources (Pty) Ltd Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014

Figure 3.6. Survey sites and routes followed (red lines) during September 2013 terrestrial invertebrate surveys of the Baobab Iron Ore Project site (blue outline).

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 11 Baobab Resources (Pty) Ltd Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014

Figure 3.7. Routes followed (red lines) during April 2014 terrestrial invertebrate surveys of the Baobab Iron Ore Project haul routes, shown as yellow (earlier options) and blue (new option) lines. Haul routes are offset 100 m to the north and east to allow tracklogs to be distinguished.

Photographs

Photographs of each putative butterfly species (upper side and underside) were taken in the field immediately after capture or later in camp; some of the specimens were old and worn and had torn wings and lost a large proportion of their scales, so although the best available specimen was selected for photographing, some images are of poor quality. The photographs are presented in Appendix 1.

The reason for photographing the butterfly specimens was twofold:

 To allow tentative identifications of many of the butterflies collected to be carried out in the absence of the actual specimens while we awaited an export permit and

 To allow independent reviewers or future researchers to check the identifications presented in this report, at least for those species that can be reliably identified in this way.

Should additional budget become available to allow complete processing and identification of samples, once processing of ant and leafhopper samples has been completed and representatives of all species mounted, automontage images of each species identified should be prepared to illustrate the diversity of these groups and facilitate identification of samples collected in the future. Photographs are also presented in this report of all mygalomorph spider and scorpion species collected to aid in identifications and recognition of additional species encountered during future surveys. In all photographs the grid on the background card consists of 5 mm squares.

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 12 Baobab Resources (Pty) Ltd Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014 Sample processing and identification

Scorpions and mygalomorph spiders

Identification of scorpion and mygalomorph spider species was carried out with the assistance of Ian Engelbrecht (Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) and Lorenzo Prendini (American Museum of Natural History) as well as by reference to Dippenaar-Schoemen (2002), Dippenaar-Schoeman & Jocqué (1997), Leeming (2003) and Raven (1985).

Damselflies and Dragonflies

Identification of Odonata was carried out with the aid of Tarboton (2013), Tarboton and Tarboton (2002, 2005) and, for problematic taxa, with assistance from Jens Kipping (BioCart).

Butterflies

Butterfly identifications were carried out as far as possible using Woodhall (2002) and with the assistance of Alan Gardiner (Southern African Wildlife College), an expert on southern and central African butterflies. A list of all species identified is presented in Appendix 1.

Ants and leafhoppers

Ant and leafhopper specimens were collected during March 2013 but sample processing was postponed until after the September site visit due to budgetary constraints, which also limited the level to which identification could be carried out. Identifications were therefore largely carried out to genus level, with morphospecies codes being assigned within each genus to each species collected; only where readily recognised species were noted were species names assigned. If funding becomes available the identification process will be continued as far as possible (within the constraints of current taxonomic knowledge) to species level. Detailed identification is essential both to allow proper comparison of different sites within the study area and to allow detection and monitoring of invasive species which may be introduced during the prospecting, construction and operational phases of a mining project. Identification to species level also allows confirmation of the discovery of new species, which will add to the knowledge of the fauna of the region. During sorting a species-by-sample matrix will be drawn up for each indicator group at each site and these will later be updated with the final species identifications; the matrices will form the basis for analysis of species richness and community composition at the various sites surveyed and will provide monitoring baselines for each indicator group. Ants will be identified by AfriBugs personnel using our reference collection and comprehensive library of African ant taxonomic literature, while leafhoppers will be identified by Michael Stiller (National Collection of Insects, Pretoria, South Africa).

Other invertebrates

Specimens of a number of additional invertebrate taxa of interest were collected during the surveys; these included beetles, ant-lions, owl-flies, webspinners (Embioptera) and cicadas. Specimens of these groups will be submitted to relevant taxon experts and any information obtained added to the site database.

Morphospecies codes

All unidentified invertebrate species in the AfriBugs collection are assigned codes to allow unambiguous reference to the material collected so that potential confusion when specimens from future surveys or other sites are discussed can be avoided. Within each genus the codes used follow a strict structure, starting with the AfriBugs collection coden (AFRC, see http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/codens/codens-r-us.html) followed by the ISO 3016-1 two-letter country code (mz for Mozambique) and then a morphospecies number. For example, in this report the specimens of the ant genus Mystrium, which cannot yet be assigned to a particular species

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 13 Baobab Resources (Pty) Ltd Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014 and which probably represent an undescribed species, are referred to as Mystrium AFRC_mz01.

3.2. Species of Conservation Concern

Species of Conservation Concern (SCC) in terms of the project area are defined as:

 Threatened species:  Species included in other international lists (e.g., 2012 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals).  Definitions include:  Critically Endangered (CR) - A taxon is Critically Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Critically Endangered (see Section V), and it is therefore considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.  Endangered (EN) - A taxon is Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Endangered (see Section V), and it is therefore considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.  Vulnerable (VU) - A taxon is Vulnerable when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Vulnerable, and it is therefore considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.  Near Threatened (NT) - A taxon is Near Threatened when it has been evaluated against the criteria but does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable now, but is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.  Sensitive species: Species not falling in the categories above but listed in:  Appendix I or II of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES2).  Appendix I lists species that are the most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants  Appendix II lists species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled.  Endemic species: Species endemic to the Tete Province or Mozambique in general. 3.3. Habitat mapping

Habitats were mapped using visual interpretation of patterns (and photo signatures) from a aerial photography, and were related to data gathered on the ground. Ancillary data in the form of a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and a geology map was also used in some instances to help differentiate between habitat types.

A biophysical description of the project area can be reviewed in the Faunal Assessment Report (CES 2014)

2 http://www.cites.org/

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 14 Baobab Resources (Pty) Ltd Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014 4. INVERTEBRATE FAUNAL SURVEYS

4.1. Introduction

Invertebrates include the arthropods, which constitute the majority (over 75%) of all described species of living organisms on earth (May 1988), and make up over 95% of all known animal species. Insects are the most diverse arthropod group and they alone make up at least 76% (probably over 90%) of all known animal species. Insects are vital to the functioning of the earth's ecosystems in their present form and help to maintain the balance that allows the vast diversity of life to coexist. For example, some insects assist plant species to reproduce and disperse, while others feed on the same plants and keep them in check, allowing room for other species. Other insects turn the soil or feed on decomposing matter, thus playing important roles in nutrient cycling. Virtually every aspect of ecosystem functioning is dependant in some way on insects, which are the main non-plant drivers of ecosystem dynamics; it is thus vital that insects and other arthropods be given due recognition in environmental assessments and conservation efforts.

"So important are insects and other land-dwelling arthropods that if all were to disappear, humanity probably could not last more than a few months. Most of the amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals would crash to extinction about the same time. Next would go the bulk of the flowering plants and with them the physical structure of most forests and other terrestrial habitats of the world. The land surface would literally rot." E. O. Wilson (1999)

4.1.1. Regional overview of Invertebrates

Very limited data are available on the invertebrates of Mozambique (Hatton et. al. 2001) and virtually nothing specific to the Tete region. Taxonomically scattered information is available on invertebrate species endemic to Mozambique and Ekoinfo (2012) listed some of these (a land snail, Gulella delgada, a dung beetle, Onitis janssenii, a water beetle, Haliplus watsoni, a long- horned beetle, Aphelogaster thomsoni, a mydas fly, Nomoneuroides melas, a millipede, Hadrobolus crassicollis, a centipede, Orphnaeus heteropodus and some undescribed butterflies),

For most of the groups targeted as indicators for the Baobab Iron Ore terrestrial invertebrate assessment, we were unable to locate any references that could provide predictions of probable species present or even approximate relative diversity levels. The data obtained to date on the main target groups of our survey are summarised below:

 Scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones)

A list of species of scorpion recorded from Mozambique is provided at http://eycb.pagesperso- orange.fr/scorpions/AFMozambique.htm and this was supplemented with information provided by Ian Engelbrecht (pers. comm.) to yield a total number of 27 species; as for most invertebrate groups, this almost certainly represents a substantial underestimate of the total diversity of the country.

 Mygalomorph Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae, Mygalomorphae)

Little is known about the mygalomorph spiders (tarantulas, trapdoor spiders, and funnel-web spiders) of Mozambique; Dippenaar-Schoeman (2002) indicates 11 species as having been recorded from the southern half of Mozambique, but this is almost certainly a gross underestimate resulting from low levels of sampling in this country, considering that at least 27 species have been reported from the very small, but well-collected, Gauteng Province in South Africa. No detailed listing appears to be available for northern Mozambique.

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 15 Tete Iron Ore Project Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014  Damselflies and Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata)

The conservation status of Odonata in Mozambique is probably better understood than that of any other invertebrate group, as all species known to occur in the country have been assessed by the IUCN Odonata Specialist Group; Mozambique is still however considered a very under-sampled country for Odonata (Jens Kipping, pers. comm.). According to the IUCN Red List 139 species of Odonata have been recorded to date from Mozambique; of these 2 (Chlorolestes elegans and Nepogomphoides stuhlmani) are regarded as Vulnerable and one (Urothemis luciana) as Data Deficient, the remaining 136 species are considered as of Least Concern.

 Leafhoppers (Insecta: Hemiptera, Cicadellidae)

Nothing appears to have been published on the diversity of leafhoppers in Mozambique. McKamey (2000) provided distribution data for Cicadellidae at country level but only four species were recorded for Mozambique. Although it must be borne in mind that the data summarised in McKamey (2000) covers the period 1758-1955 only, this extremely low number is an indication of the very limited amount of information available for invertebrates in Mozambique (in comparison, based on the same data, 183 species are listed for South Africa and 93 for Tanzania, another country recognised for having very limited data on invertebrates). It is very likely that many of the leafhopper species collected during this survey will represent the first records for the country and also that many will prove to be undescribed.

 Butterflies (Insecta: Lepidoptera)

Butterflies are probably the best-known invertebrate group both worldwide and in Mozambique and a comprehensive country list of 977 butterfly taxa for Mozambique has been compiled (Koçak and Kemal 2009), but this does not give specific information for regions within the country and yields an overestimate due to duplicate listing of species and nominate subspecies. Wikipedia provides another list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_butterflies_of_Mozambique) of butterfly species for Mozambique, based on data from Williams (2007) and Sáfián et. al. (2009) and indicates a total of 432 taxa for the country; excluding multiple subspecies from this list yields a species count of 422.

The total number of butterfly species recorded for Mozambique is thus approximately 420, and it is likely that as many as 150-200 of these would be expected to occur within the project area (Alan Gardiner, pers. comm.). Only two of the butterfly species known to occur in Mozambique (Lepidochrysops delicata and Teriomima williami) are included on the IUCN Red List, and at this stage both are considered Data Deficient.

 Ants (Insecta: Hymenoptera – Formicidae)

The ant fauna of Mozambique is extremely poorly known, although detailed surveys are currently being carried out in Gorongoza National Park, which will go some way toward rectifying this situation. A preliminary checklist of species based on data from the now unavailable Ants of Africa (http://antbase.org/ants/africa/contents.htm) website has only 102 species, which is clearly a gross underestimate, given that the incomplete results from current surveys in Gorongosa already list 141 species. South Africa is known to have at least 431 ant species (data downloaded from the www.antbase.org distribution database, now also unavailable, in 2005) and estimates based on AfriBugs sampling suggest that the total for the country is probably at least double this number; Mozambique could be expected to have similar ant diversity, in the region of 800 species.

No IUCN Red Listed ant species are recorded for Mozambique, although it is possible that Tetramorium microgyna, a parasitic species known from South Africa and listed by the IUCN as Vulnerable, could occur in Mozambique as its host species (Tetramorium sericeiventre) is listed for this country.

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 16 Tete Iron Ore Project Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014  Other invertebrates

As for the focal groups discussed above, there is very limited information available on the expected diversity or presence of conservation-important species in other invertebrate groups. In summary, there is virtually no published information on which to base predicted diversity at, or sensitivity of, the Baobab Iron Ore Project site, and the only solution to the deficiency of data is to carry out surveys that are sufficiently detailed to have a reasonable chance of detecting species and communities of significance.

4.1.2. Recorded Invertebrate species from the project area

The results of the terrestrial invertebrate sampling carried out at the Baobab Iron Ore project site during March 2013 are summarised below with reference to each of the taxonomic groups studied and habitats assessed.

 Scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones)

Five scorpion species were collected during the 2013 wet season survey, one additional species was found during the 2014 dry season survey (see Plate 4.1) and another in the 2014 wet season survey.

1) Hadogenes granulatus was widespread in rocky areas, particularly on Ruoni North and South in Closed Zambezian Undifferentiated Woodland, but also on dykes running through Open Zambezian Undifferentiated Woodland and in rocky areas within Mopane Woodland; the critical habitat criterion for this species is the presence of rocky outcrops with suitable cracks to act as refuges. Although all Hadogenes species are protected in South Africa, the protection is specifically against the threat of over-collecting related to the pet trade, rather than against habitat loss or transformation.

2) Opisthacanthus rugiceps is an arboreal species which uses cracks in tree trunks as refuges and is widespread both regionally and in the project area; specimens were found in Open and Closed Zambezian Undifferentiated Woodland and even in the exploration camps. As in the case of Hadogenes, all Opisthacanthus species are protected in South Africa, but the protection is specifically against the threat of over-collecting related to the pet trade, rather than against habitat loss or transformation.

3) Opistophthalmus glabrifrons – although other members of the species complex, currently classified under O. glabrifrons, occur over a wide range in southern Africa, this type form occurs only north of the Zambezi River. The find is taxonomically significant as the species is currently undergoing investigation and is due to be split into several species; the Baobab Iron Ore Project material is essential to “anchor” the type of the species and allow the correct assignation of the original name. As in the case of Hadogenes and Opisthacanthus, all Opistophthalmus species are protected in South Africa, but the protection is specifically against the threat of over-collecting related to the pet trade, rather than against habitat loss or transformation.

4) Uroplectes flavoviridis - this is also currently considered a widespread species, but like Opistophthalmus glabrifrons may soon be split into several species; the type locality is also in the Tete region and the material collected will again prove of value in resolving taxonomic issues. Specimens were collected in various localities, including diverse habitats such as Ruoni South and the Mopani Woodland site, so the species is probably widespread in the project area.

5) Uroplectes planimanus - two specimens of this widespread species were found on Haul Road 6 near the 29 km mark; note that this species is not illustrated in Plate 4.1.

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 17 Tete Iron Ore Project Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014 6) Uroplectes AFRC_mz01 (c.f. chubbi) - two females of this species were collected in leaf litter on Tenge Hill during March 2013; the species is undescribed and related to Uroplectes chubbi. Twenty additional specimens, including adult males, were collected on Tenge Hill during September 2013 and have been sent to Lorenzo Prendini at the American Museum of Natural History to be included in the material on which the new species is being described.

7) Uroplectes sp. cf vittatus / fischeri was located only during the dry season survey; specimens were found on Ruono North, Tenge Hill and within an area of Mopani Woodland.

AA BB CC DD

EE FF GG HH

II JJ KK LL

Plate 4.1: Dorsal and ventral views of scorpion species collected during March and September 2013: A-B, Hadogenes granulatus male, C-D, Opisthacanthus rugiceps, E-F, Opistophthalmus glabrifrons, G-H, Uroplectes flavoviridus, I-J, Uroplectes AFRC_mz01 (c.f. chubbi). K-L, Uroplectes sp. cf vittatus/fischeri. Grid = 5 mm

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 18 Tete Iron Ore Project Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014  Mygalomorph Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae, Mygalomorphae)

Two mygalomorph finds of taxonomic significance were made during the surveys:

1) An undescribed species of Ceratogyrus (Horned Baboon Spider) (Plate 4.2); this species is known in the pet trade, but has been traded as a supposed hybrid between C. brachycephalus and either C. sanderi or C. darlingi, under the name Ceratogyrus brachycephalus “hobby form”. While it has been believed for some time that the specimens traded under this name did in fact represent a separate species (Ian Engelbrecht, pers. comm.), confirmation of this required wild-caught material from within the natural range of the species, which was unknown until now. Specimens of this species were encountered in all habitat types surveyed throughout the project area, but they appeared particularly abundant on the rocky koppies, especially Ruoni North and Ruoni South. Males reared from the immature specimens captured will provide the necessary taxonomic information to allow formal description of the species. All Ceratogyrus species are protected in South Africa due to threats from the pet trade.

AA BB

Plate 4.2: Undescribed Ceratogyrus species, common throughout the study site, and particularly abundant on Ruoni North and South. A; Dorsal view, B; Defensive posture.

2) An undescribed sheetweb spider (Plate 4.3) in the family Dipluridae which at this stage cannot be identified further than family level; we suspect it is a member of the subfamily Euagrinae, but it was initially unclear whether it was a member of the genus Euagrus (to which the female specimens keyed, but which is a New World genus that has not previously been recorded from Africa), or possibly represented an undescribed genus, as the specimens collected during the wet season survey did not include any mature males. The specimens found display several unusual characteristics, most notable of which is that they have only 6 eyes; they are the first known mygalomorph spiders from Africa to display this trait (all other known African mygalomorph species have eight eyes, though there are species from other parts of the world that also have 6 or fewer eyes).

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 19 Tete Iron Ore Project Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014 Adult male specimens were needed to confirm the subfamily and genus-level placement of this species, which we are currently referring to as Dipluridae sp. AFRC_mz01, so 30 live specimens were collected and transported to South Africa in September 2013 so that adult males could be reared. To date one male has been reared from these specimens; it is clear from the lack of mating spurs that the spiders do not belong to the genus Euagrus (which has males with strongly developed mating spurs on the second pair of legs), but have males that are more similar to those of Masteria (a genus in the subfamily Masteriinae, known from Central America, Indonesia and Australia) although they do not fit this genus in several other key characters (Raven 1979, 1985). We therefore conclude that these spiders are not members of any spider genus previously recorded from Africa and almost certainly represent a new genus. An additional 34 live specimens were collected during the April 2014 survey to supplement those previously taken to South Africa to ensure that sufficient male specimens are obtained for purposes of description of the new taxon.

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 20 Tete Iron Ore Project Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014

AA BB

DD

CC EE Plate 4.3: Mygalomorph spider species. A. Undescribed sheetweb spider (Dipluridae sp. AFRC_mz01), abundant under rocks on Ruoni North and South, B. Trapdoor spider (Idiops AFRC_mz01), sparsely distributed on Ruoni North, Ruoni South and Tenge Hills, C. Cyphonisia AFRC_mz01, D. Idiops AFRC_mz03, E. Heligmomerus AFRC_mz01. Grid = 5 mm

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 21 Tete Iron Ore Project Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014

In addition, three species of Idiops and one species each of Heligmomerus and Cyphonisia were also collected. One Idiops species (Idiops AFRC_mz01) was found in small numbers on rocky hills (Ruoni North and Tenge Hill), another (Idiops AFRC_mz02) was abundant in clay-rich soil in shallow depressions in the Mopani Woodland site and the third (Idiops AFRC_mz03) was found on the banks of a small river traversed by Haul Road 6. Heligmomerus AFRC-mz01 was found in mopane woodland along Haul Road 6, while Cyphonisia AFRC_mz01 was found in the same area of the Mopani Woodland site as Idiops AFRC_mz03. All three Idiops species, as well as the Heligmomerus and Cyphonisia. are likely to be undescribed and like many trapdoor spiders may have localised distributions, but they do not have the same taxonomic significance as the diplurid species mentioned above. Several immature specimens of Pterinochilus, initially thought to be P. lugardi, a baboon spider that builds a burrow with a think silken flap “trapdoor”, were also collected in various habitats within the project area during the 2013 dry season survey. However, collection of a subadult and a mature female specimen in hollows of mopani trunks along Haul Road 6 in April 2014 confirmed that these spiders are in fact P. murinus, also a fairly widespread species.

In total three additional mygalomorph spider species were collected during the 2014 wet season survey of Haul Road 6; these included Cyphonisia AFRC_mz01, Heligmomerus AFRC-mz01 and Idiops AFRC_mz03. There appear to be no records of Heligmomerus from Mozambique while of Cyphonisia there is only one doubtful record (C. kaesseri - nomen dubium) from this country according to the World Spider Catalogue (Platnick 2014). C. affinitata and C. rastellata are recorded from “East Africa” and could potentially be present in Mozambique. Both the Heligmomerus and Cyphonisia records therefore probably represent significant additions to knowledge of the mygalomorph fauna of Mozambique.

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 22 Tete Iron Ore Project Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014

BB

CC

AA DD

Plate 4.4: Trapdoor spider (Idiops AFRC_mz02), abundant in clayey soils in Mopani Woodland. A, habitat, B, closed burrow C, open burrow and D, dorsal view of the spider. Grid = 5 mm.

 Damselflies and Dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata)

None of the three Mozambican species of Odonata on the IUCN Red List were observed on the site, and as two (Nepogomphoides stuhlmanni and Chlorolestes elegans) require clear mountain streams (which were absent from the site) and the third (Urothemis luciana) has to date been recorded only near pans in the coastal region of northern Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa and adjacent areas in southern Mozambique, it appears highly unlikely that any would occur on the project site. It is possible that the broad Zambezian floodplain could result in coastal species such as U. luciana reaching far further inland than the maximum of about 80 km observed in South Africa, but it is highly unlikely even then that its range could extend upstream of the Lupata Gorge and reach beyond Tete to the project area.

Of the 23 Odonata species observed, 14 were collected in 2013 only during the wet season survey and five only in the dry season; only four species were collected during both surveys. Of the six species collected along Haute Route 6 during April 2014, only one had not been previously recorded in the project surveys. All Odonata species observed (see Appendix 1) were widespread and common species which, while they may be significant ecologically as predators, are not of particular conservation concern. The majority of specimens seen and the largest numbers of species captured were in clearings at the top of Tenge Hill (13 species) and in the Riverine Zone (10 species) along a stream running into the Revubu River just north of Tenge Hill, and on the banks of the Revubu River itself. Higher capture rates in these areas was as much a function of relative ease of capture due to perching and/or hill-topping behaviour as it was of abundance and diversity. It is thus likely that both the Open Zambezian Undifferentiated and Mopani woodlands

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 23 Tete Iron Ore Project Invertebrate Specialist Report – December 2014 are occupied by foraging individuals of many more species than were observed or captured in these habitats.

 Leafhoppers (Insecta: Hemiptera, Cicadellidae)

Leafhopper specimens from the 10 sweep-net samples collected at each of the four survey sites were sorted to morphospecies and will be identified as far as possible with the assistance of Michael Stiller (National Collection of Insects, Pretoria, South Africa), in order to provide an initial baseline measure of diversity within this indicator group and to allow statistical comparisons of abundance, diversity and community composition between habitats in the study site. Until the results of the detailed identification process are available, little can be said about the leafhopper communities associated with different habitats of the Baobab Iron Ore Project site. It was however obvious from observations in the field that the various vegetation types differ sufficiently in key characteristics so that distinct communities will be present in some areas. In particular, it is likely that due to strong differences in vegetation communities, such as the limited understory and very low abundance and diversity of grasses, the Closed Zambezian Undifferentiated Woodland community will be very different from the more open habitats, particularly those with more extensive grass cover (many specialised leafhopper species feed on grasses, while a different suite of species specialises on trees and shrubs). The incidence of leafhopper morphospecies by survey site is presented in Table A1.4 (Appendix 1). In total 96 morphospecies were identified (see Figure 4.1) and diversity appears to be higher in the closed woodland habitats (see Figure 4.2), probably as a result of higher diversity of broad-leaved plants, and lower in the Open Zambezian Undifferentiated Woodland and Mopani Woodland. Although the combined species accumulation curve for all four sites appears to be starting to level off, the individual curves (Figure 4.2) are still rising steeply, indicating a need for significantly higher sampling intensity for reliable estimation of diversity at each site. At least double the number of samples should be collected if monitoring of leafhopper diversity is to be carried out.

150 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70

Species 60 50 40 30 Baobab - all sites SS 20 ICE 10 MMM 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Samples

Figure 4.1: Leafhopper species accumulation curve for all sites combined with ICE and MMM diversity estimates generated using EstimateS.

Coastal & Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd 24 Tete Iron Ore Project