LEPIDOPTERISTS’ SOCIETY OF AFRICA METAMORPHOSIS ISSN 1018-6490 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Bennie Coetzer Acting President [email protected] Alf Curle Secretary [email protected] Alf Curle Treasurer [email protected] Bennie Coetzer Stock Custodian [email protected] Peter Roos Publicity [email protected] Mark C. Williams Conservation matters [email protected] Hermann Staude Editor [email protected] Martin Krüger Tvl. Museum [email protected] Lindsay Durham Social Secretary [email protected] Steve Collins East Africa Branch [email protected] Alan Gardiner Zimbabwe Branch [email protected] Alan Heath Cape Branch [email protected] Torben Larsen West Africa Branch [email protected] Renier Terblanche North West Branch [email protected] EDITORIAL Editor: Hermann Staude, Technical Editor: Andy Gray, Scientific advisers: Mark Williams, Martin Krüger, Rolf Oberprieler, Stephen Henning, Henk Geertsema, Alan Gardiner, Dick Vane Wright, Axel Hausmann. MEMBERSHIP The aims of The Lepidopterists’ Society Of Africa are to promote the scientific study and the conservation of Lepidoptera in Africa, and to provide a communication forum for all people who are interested in African Lepidoptera. Metamorphosis, which is the official journal of the Society, publishes original scientific papers as well as articles of a less technical nature. Membership of the Society is open to all persons who are interested in the study of Lepidoptera. There is no geographical limit to membership. There are four categories of membership: South Africa Rest of Africa Overseas Surface mail Air mail Sponsor Member R500.00 pa R500.00 pa R500.00 pa US$ 200.00pa Full Member R100.00 pa R125.00 pa R150.00 pa US$ 45.00 pa Juniors & pensioners R70.00 pa R87.50 pa R105.00 pa US$ 22.50 pa Affiliate members (Societies, R100.00 pa R125.00 pa R150.00 US$ 45.00 pa Museums, Schools etc.) Back issues of Metamorphosis are still available @ R20.00 per copy or US$12.00 for outside South Africa. Fees for outside South Africa are higher due to increased postage. Membership is annual per calendar year and fees are due on January 1 of each year. CORRESPONDENCE General: The Hon. Secretary, P. O. Box 477, Jukskei Park, 2153, South Africa, e-mail - [email protected] Metamorphosis: The Editor, P. O. Box 398, Magaliesburg, 1719, South Africa. e-mail - [email protected] Membership fees: The Hon. Treasurer, P. O. Box 477, Jukskei Park, 2153, South Africa, e-mail - [email protected] Covers. Front: Orbamia octomaculata (Wallengren,1872) photographed in situ, Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve, Mpumalanga. Back:Zamarada transvisaria (Guenée, [1858]) photographed in situ, Legalameetse Nature Reserve, Northern Province. [Photo’s H.S. Staude] September 1999 METAMORPHOSIS, Vol.10 No.3 97 AN ILLUSTRATED REPORT OF 510 GEOMETRID MOTH TAXA (LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE) RECORDED FROM 28 PROTECTED AREAS FROM THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN PARTS OF SOUTH AFRICA By H. S. Staude Insect Research Foundation of Africa (IRFA) P. O. Box 398, Magaliesburg, 1791, South Africa [email protected] Abstract. Between 1991 and 1999, 28 Nature Reserves and protected areas in the eastern side of South Africa were surveyed for geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). The 510 species and subspecies that were found in these reserves are illustrated in colour and 1402 records of their occurrence in the 28 reserves recorded. The family Geometridae is briefly introduced. The following new genus/ specific name combinations are made: Mauna homales (Prout, L.B., 1922); Heterorachis roseifimbria mozambica Prout, L.B., 1930. The status of the following taxa is reversed: Eupithecia rubidimixta Prout, L.B., 1916; Comibaena coryphata (Felder, 1875); Heterorachis roseifimbria Prout, L.B., 1930. The reasons for the above taxonomic changes are given. Key words: Lepidoptera, Geometridae, South Africa, Nature Reserve, conservation, bio-diversity, survey. INTRODUCTION Studies to determine the diversity of Geometridae in South African protected areas have been minimal, and only a few reports on such studies have been published (Staude in Williams,1993, Staude in Woodhall, 1994, Joannou, Staude & Woodhall, 1995). These reports covered only single surveys in single reserves and were not illustrated. Likewise unpublished reports, mainly to satisfy permit requirements, by Duke N. J., Kroon D. M., Krüger M., and Staude H. S., report on single reserves only and with the exception of Staude, unpublished, 1993,1994, are not illustrated. Two illustrated reports, one on the Bombycoidea and Notodontoidea of Northern Kwazulu-Natal, and the other on the Bombycoidea of the Northern Province appeared in January 1999 and April 1999 respectively (Joannou, unpublished). These reports are not only illustrated but they also report on taxa found in all the protected areas surveyed for a given region. This approach produces a document, which seems to be far more useful to conservators than non-illustrated single reserve reports, and is followed here. This document forms part of an ongoing survey of the Geometridae occurring in nature reserves and other protected areas in South Africa. The aim of the survey is to establish which of the South African taxa enjoy some form of protection through the conservation of their habitat. In addition, the ongoing work aims to highlight endangered and vulnerable species and to establish which species do not occur in protected areas. 98 METAMORPHOSIS, Vol.10 No.3 September 1999 One of the major stumbling blocks to this exercise is that the family is relatively poorly worked taxonomically and a number of taxa remain unnamed. In addition, taxonomic work conducted, over the years, is very scattered with the last comprehensive works being Janse, 1932, 1935 and Prout in Seitz, 1934- 1938 (incomplete). Further some genera within the family are very large and complex. The result is that many taxa have often been misidentified in reports, the literature, and in museums. Some work towards addressing the problem of the large, complex genera has already been undertaken: D. S. Fletcher revised the genera Cleora (Fletcher, 1967) and Zamarada (Fletcher, 1974); A. Hausmann (Zoologische Staatssammlung, München) is currently revising the genus Scopula; M. Krüger (Transvaal Museum) revised the complex tribe Macariini (Krüger, submitted). The latter author is also currently tackling the general taxonomic backlog in the geometrid subfamily Ennominae and has described or is in the process of describing, over 100 new species from the Afrotropical region (Krüger, 1997, 1998/a, 1998/b,1999/a, 1999/b; Krüger, submitted). Scoble,1999, provides a complete catalogue of all the valid geometrid names of the world, which will prove to be an invaluable tool in this kind of work. The problem, however, of producing accurate identifications on a scale as is required by diversity studies such as this one, remains. There is no single comprehensive identification source for African Geometridae. In order to help towards alleviating the problem the author has now photographed over 900 African geometrid type specimens housed in: The Natural History Museum, London (BMNH); The Zoologische Staatssammlung, München; The Humbolt University Museum, Berlin; The National Museums Of Kenya, Nairobi; the Natural History, Museum, Pretoria; and the South African Museum, Cape Town. This photographic material is integrated into the Staude collection of dried specimens and, together with the published literature, forms the basis of identification for this report. This report is based on actual specimens housed in the Staude collection. Sight records are not included as they would compromise the empirical value of the document. Included in the report are photographic plates illustrating all the identified taxa. This is deemed important as it will make it easier to incorporate taxonomic changes, additions and corrections, in future. The photographic plates, it is hoped, will also enable conservators to identify some geometrids that occur in their reserves. For the sake of those readers not familiar with moths of the family Geometridae a short introduction is given: GEOMETRIDAE Moths of the family Geometridae (commonly called loopers) belong to the order Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies). Both the family’s scientific and common names refer to the particular way of locomotion that their larvae have adopted, whereby they seem to be measuring the earth. The larvae are often called "inch-worms". Geometridae are characterised by the presence of structurally unique tympanal organs at the base of the abdomen and eight subfamilies are currently recognised (Minet & Scoble, 1999). The Geometridae are highly successful animals and occur in all terrestrial biomes that support some plant life. More than 21 000 species have been described world-wide (Scoble, 1999) September 1999 METAMORPHOSIS, Vol.10 No.3 99 with around 1000 species occurring in South Africa and new species are still being discovered regularly. Five subfamilies, based on differences in the wing-venation, are recognised in southern Africa (Vári & Kroon, 1986). Most species can be readily placed into these subfamilies based on external characters present in the eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. However, there are many exceptions and their monophyly is still uncertain, with at least one (Oenochrominae) certainly polyphyletic (Scoble, 1994). Geometrinae The predominantly green colour of members of this subfamily is produced by the highly unstable pigment geoverdin (Cook et al. 1994), resulting in the green fading very quickly, even in older living specimens. These moths are commonly known as 'emeralds' (Pinhey, 1975). In southern Africa they are well represented in all major biomes and are the second most numerous subfamily (Vári & Kroon, 1986). The eggs are typically elliptical in shape and are dorso- ventrally flattened. The larvae feed on a number of plant families with most monophagous species, at least in South Africa, using plants belonging to the families Anacardiaceae, Rubiaceae and Mimosaceae (Duke & Duke, 1998). Polyphagous species are often flower feeders, and are widely distributed. The larvae typically have a bifid head and often have a pair of similar-looking thoracic processes.