Protozantaena birdi Bilton, 2022

Bilton, David T. & Mlambo, Musa C., 2024, A distinctive new species of Protozantaena Perkins, 1997 from lowland Namaqualand, South Africa (Coleoptera, Hydraenidae), Zootaxa 5424 (3), pp. 383-388 : 386

Protozantaena birdi Bilton, 2022

Described from two localities in the Eastern Cape Great Escarpment ( Bilton 2022), this species was recently discovered much further east, close to Rhodes in the Drakensberg (see Fig. 2A ): 8/ii/2022 South Africa, Eastern Cape, Drakensberg, tributary of Rifelspruit River, 30˚51ʹ35.94ʹʹS 28˚00ʹ51.87ʹʹE, 1932 m, D.T. Bilton leg. At this site, numerous specimens were washed from saturated mosses in the margins of a small stream beside a fall.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Protozantaena species, distribution and habitat.A) Distribution of Protozantaena in Southern Africa, green symbol = P. gigantea sp. nov., red symbol = P. labrata Perkins, 1997, blue symbols = P. birdi Bilton, 2022, star indicating new locality in the Eastern Cape Drakensberg; B–C) Type locality and habitat of P. gigantea sp. nov., South Africa, Northern Cape Province, Namaqualand, Swart Doring River on N7 ca. 30 km south of Garies (photos Andy Foggo).