Thaumastella, Kment & Jacobs & Carapezza & Deckert & Rider & Kóbor, 2024

Kment, Petr, Jacobs, Dawid H., Carapezza, Attilio, Deckert, Jürgen, Rider, David A. & Kóbor, Péter, 2024, Desert Bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Thaumastellidae): New records and review of the distribution and habitat of this relict group, Zootaxa 5541 (2), pp. 144-162 : 155-156

Thaumastella new species

( Figs 9–10 , 13 )

Material examined. SOUTH AFRICA: Western Cape: about 45 km SSE of the town Beaufort West , 1 ♂ 1 ♀, unbaited pitfall traps, D. Jacobs lgt. & det. ( DHJS). This species has the general facies of Th. elizabethae , but the male genital capsule shows significant differences .

Habitat. The locality where it was collected is more or less 400 km ESE of the type locality of Th. elizabethae . It is situated in the Gamka Karoo of the Lower Karoo Bioregion of the Nama Karoo Biome ( Mucina & Rutherford 2006). It is a dry part of the Karoo with an annual rainfall of about 170 mm. The vegetation of the area can be classified as Stony plains vegetation ( Fig. 8 ). This community occurs on stony footslopes away from mountains. Tall shrubs are sparsely scattered in a lower matrix of Karoo bushes. The canopy cover is sparse (about 30%). The cover is dominated by Ruschia spinosa [ Aizoaceae ] and Pentzia incana [ Asteraceae ]. Other characteristic species are Euphorbia stellispina [ Euphorbiaceae ], Hermannia desertorum [ Malvaceae ], Limeum aethiopicum [ Limeaceae ] and Pteronia adenocarpa [ Asteraceae ] (D. Jacobs, pers. observ.).

Distribution ( Figs 9, 10 ). South Africa: Western Cape (this paper).

Note. The new species will be described later by D. Jacobs.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Landscape where an undescribed Thaumastella species was collected near Beaufort West in the Karroo, South Africa. (Photo: D. H. Jacobs).

FIGURES 9–11. Distribution maps of Thaumastella species: 9—general view; 10—detailed distribution of Th. aradoides Horváth, 1896 in North Africa and Near East; 11—detailed distribution of Th. elizabethae Jacobs, 1989, Th. namaquensis Schaefer & Wilcox, 1971 and Thaumastella sp. nov. in Namibia and South Africa.

FIGURES 12–13. Comparison of distribution of Thaumastella aradoides Horváth, 1896 (12) and the South African species of Thaumastella (13), Th. elizabethae Jacobs, 1989, Th. namaquensis Schaefer & Wilcox, 1971 and Thaumastella sp. nov., compared to ecoregions according to Shorthouse (2010).