Ophryodera Chaudoir, 1860

Serrano, Artur R. M. & Capela, Rúben A., 2013, The tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae, Cicindelinae) of Angola: a descriptive catalogue and designation of neotypes, Zootaxa 3731 (4), pp. 401-444 : 420-422

Ophryodera Chaudoir, 1860 (Bull. Moscou 33: 314)

An Afrotropical tiger beetle genus characterized by the large to very large size and short antennae. There are no revisionary works on its assemblage of species. Some species are apparently polymorphic, which may be the basis of the description of several subspecies. By now the genus is represented in Angola with certitude by seven forms.

Ophryodera foliicornis foliicornis W. Horn, 1896 (Deutch. Ent. Zeitschr.: 64)

Distribution in Angola

Old records:

— Angola (without locality) (Werner 2000b).

Remarks. A tiger beetle species known for certain only from Tanzania. The presence of O. foliicornis in Angola needs confirmation. The specimen figured in Werner (2000b, Fig. 220. 3) could be a new subspecies. Some specimens collected in Tanzania were found on open patches of white sand in Miombo forest (Werner op. cit.).

Ophryodera rufomarginata rufomarginata (Boheman, 1848) (Insecta Caffr. 1: 3)

Distribution in Angola

Old records:

—Malanje (=Malange) (MALANJE) (131), Cuango (= Quango) (LUNDA NORTE) (117) (Quedenfeldt 1883 sub Cicindela rufomarginata ).

— Angola (without locality) (Ferreira 1965).

Remarks. A polymorphic tiger beetle species exhibiting several elytral patterns drawings more or less unique

to each population. This fact gave origin to the description of several subspecies. The old records given above

could refer totally or partially to some of the next forms (see comments in Wellman & Horn 1908, p. 509).

Ophryodera rufomarginata bohemani Péringuey, 1888 [Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) 2: 220]

Distribution in Angola

Old records:

— Type locality: Angola (without locality), 1♀, BMNH.

—Huilla (=Missão da Huila) (HUILA) (356) [Putzeys 1880 sub Ophryodera rufomarginata ; Wellman & Horn 1908 sub Cicindela (Ophryodera) rufomarginata bohemani ].

New localities reported: 36 km W Quipungo (HUILA) (337) (P. Schüle pers. comm.). Remarks. An endemic tiger beetle subspecies of Angola. This form apparently is restricted to the region of

Huila. Peter Schüle (pers. comm.) found the adults near Quipungo on meadows and arable fields.

Ophryodera rufomarginata bradshawi Péringuey, 1888 [Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) 2: 220]

Distribution in Angola

Old records: none.

Material examined: Estrada de Cassamba (MOXICO) (289), Estudos Apícolas do Ultramar leg., 3.X.1957, 2♂, reg.nº 2921, IICT.

Remarks. A new record to Angola ( Fig. 3A ). This large-sized subspecies is present throughout South Africa (Transvaal), Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia (Werner 2000b). The two specimens from Angola are similar to the ones figured in Werner (2000b, p. 35, Figs 218a, 218a-1). The type of habitat where the specimens were taken is unknown.

Ophryodera rufomarginata distanti (Heath, 1905) (The Entomologist 38: 97)

Distribution in Angola

Old records:

— Type locality: Angola (without locality), type specimens?, BMNH?

—Duque de Bragança (Bayão leg.) (=Calandula) (MALANJE) (112) [Putzeys 1880 sub Ophryodera rufomarginata ; Wellman & Horn 1908 sub Cicindela (Ophryodera) rufomarginata distanti ].

—Bihe (=Cuito) (BIÉ) (234), Kuango (LUNDA/MALANJE) (Indeterminable), Lunda (=Dala) (LUNDA SUL) (197), Chipeyo (=Chipeio, Pedra do) (BENGUELA) (253) [Wellman & Horn 1908 sub Cicindela (Ophryodera) rufomarginata distanti ].

—Bimbi (=Bimbe) (HUAMBO) (210) (Horn 1935 sub Cicindela rufomarginata distanti ; Monard et al. 1956 sub Cicindela (Ophryodera) rufomarginata distanti ; Ferreira 1965).

—Bihe (=Cuito) (BIÉ) (234) (Werner 2000b).

New localities reported: 6 km N Alto Hama (HUAMBO) (232); 75 km N Caconda (near Cuima) and 75 km

NE Caconda (HUAMBO) (280) (P. Schüle pers. comm.).

Remarks. A large-sized form with reduced elytral patterns and a distribution throughout Angola and southern D. R. of the Congo (Werner 2000b). Wellman & Horn (1908) “found [it] on white sand” and “flies rather heavily”. Peter Schüle (pers. comm.) collected it in open secondary forests.

Ophryodera rufomarginata maculatovittata (W. Horn, 1938) (Ent. Beih. 5:11)

Distribution in Angola

Old records:

— Angola (Werner 2000b).

New localities reported: Tundavala (Lubango) (HUILA) (335) (A. Kudrna pers. comm.).

Remarks. A polymorphic tiger beetle subspecies with a distribution throughout D. R. of the Congo, People`s Republic of Congo and Angola. Werner (2000b) indicated that this form lives in the forests of the Congo Basin. Tundavala, a mountain region (2200 meters of altitude) close to Lubango city, is covered by grasslands and shrublands. Taking into account the known distribution and the type of habitat it occupies, the Tundavala specimens (1♂, 1♀) were likely misidentified as this subspecies. It could be, instead, either of the two preceding subspecies (bohemani or distanti).

Ophryodera rufomarginata poggei (Harold, 1878) (Mitt. Münch. Ent. Ver. 2: 99)

Distribution in Angola

Old records:

— Type locality: “ Guinea interior, particularly near Kabebe” (=Lunda?), number specimens? —Dundo (LUNDA NORTE) (51), Saurimo (LUNDA SUL) (139) (Basilewsky 1955; Ferreira 1965). —Dundo (LUNDA NORTE) (51) (Alves 1956 sub Cicindela (Ophryodera) rufomarginata poggei ).

Material examined: Dundo (LUNDA NORTE) (51),?. X.1948, 2 ♂, reg.nº 2130, 3 ♀, reg.nºs 2145, 2148, IICT.

Remarks. In spite of some controversy on the type locality of this form, Kolbe (1885) stated that it is “Lunda” (=Dala) (LUNDA SUL). This tiger beetle was dedicated to the German explorer Paul Pogge who made expeditions to the northeastern territory of Angola in 1875–1876 and 1880–1884 (Crawford-Cabral & Mesquitela, 1989). No ecological data are known for this subspecies.

Ophryodera rufomarginata richteri (W. Horn, 1892) (Deutsch. Ent. Zeitschr.: 72)

Distribution in Angola

Old records:

— Type locality: West Africa ( Angola), 1♂, SDEI.

Material examined: Cascata das Mabubas (BENGO) (90), Estudos Apícolas Ultramar leg., 10.VIII.1957, 1♀, reg. nº 2860, IICT.

Remarks. An endemic tiger beetle subspecies of Angola. Only the male holotype was known until now. The identification of the Mabubas female specimen as O. r. richteri was made with some reservation ( Fig. 3 B). A male specimen would certainly help to confirm this identification or conversely, to show that it would be Ophryodera foliicornis W. Horn. No ecological data are known for this subspecies.

Figures

FIGURE 3. A) Habitus: Ophryodera rufomarginata bradshawi Péringuey, 1888, male, Cassamba, Estudos Apícolas do Ultramar leg., IICT. B) Habitus: Ophryodera rufomarginata richteri (W. Horn, 1892), female, Cascata das Mabubas, Estudos Apícolas Ultramar leg., IICT.