Catalogue |
Corresponding author: Kirstin A. Williams ( kwilliams@nmsa.org.za ) Corresponding author: Louwrens Pieter Snyman ( lokisnyman@gmail.com ) Academic editor: David Barraclough
© 2021 Kirstin A. Williams, Louwrens Pieter Snyman.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Williams KA, Snyman LP (2021) Tabanidae (Diptera) holotypes in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum collection: Part 1. Haematopota. African Invertebrates 62(2): 485-495. https://doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.62.76103
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All primary (name-bearing) types of Haematopota Meigen, 1803, deposited in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum (
Clegs, holotype, horse fly,
The Entomology Department of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum was established when Dr B. R. Stuckenberg was appointed in 1953 and is largely biased towards Diptera (
The collection of flies contains more than 2000 primary types and over 11700 secondary types. It is housed in almost 1000 wooden insect drawers together with an alcohol and slide collection.
Tabanids have both veterinary and medical importance as vectors of disease but some genera are also important pollinators (
Making museum records available in electronic format is one way of increasing access to specimen data. Another way is to provide images of the specimens. Due to the costs of posting specimens around the world and the unreliable nature of the postal service, many institutions do not allow their type specimens to be sent out on loan. If researchers do not have the money to visit the collections, then photographs are the best option for viewing the specimens.
Tabanidae are notoriously difficult to identify, with misidentifications not only present in recent publications, but also in molecular libraries (Williams et al. unpublished data). Due to the economic, medical and veterinary importance of Tabanidae, coupled with the seemingly renewed research interest in the Afrotropics, image-rich catalogues of type specimens are an invaluable research aid. Such catalogues will hopefully not only aid in identifications, but have downstream effects, increasing the accuracy of molecular libraries and reducing ambiguity in vector biology.
The Haematopotini type specimens, housed in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum collection, represent a single genus, Haematopota Meigen, 1803. The holotypes of Haematopota housed in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum collection, including information on the associated paratypes, are presented here in an image-rich catalogue.
This is the first in a series of publications on the primary types of the Tabanidae of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum. Information is provided on the species with comments on the physical condition of the specimens.
All the specimens were photographed using a Nikon D3200 digital SLR with an AF-S Micro Nikkor 105 mm 1:2.8G lens. Photos were stacked using Helicon Focus 7 software and images were manipulated using Photopea online software. Plates of the images were produced using Corel PaintShop Pro X8.
The label information stated for each holotype lists the new South African province names in square brackets where appropriate.
Haematopota anomala Travassos Dias, 1956: 24 figs 11 and 12.
South Africa • ♀; [Mpumalanga] Sabie River, Kaapmuiden, February 1954;
Haematopota anomala Travassos Dias, 1956; original combination.
The holotype was deposited in the collection at the South Africa Institute for Medical Research (SAIMR). Part of the fly collection of the SAIMR was donated to the Natal Museum (now KwaZulu-Natal Museum -
South Africa • ♀; Transvaal [Gauteng], Bapsfontein, November 1954;
Haematopota albihirta Karsch, 1877.
Pamela Usher identified the specimen as a synonym of Haematopota albihirta in 1962, although the synonomy was only published in 1972 (
South Africa • ♀; Eastern Cape, Karreedouw Mountains, west of Humansdorp, 14 October 1959; Collectors: B & P Stuckenberg;
Haematopota megaera Usher, 1965; original combination.
The publication lists seven female paratypes with the same collecting information in the Natal Museum (now KwaZulu-Natal Museum -
South Africa • ♀; [KwaZulu-Natal] Town Bush, Pietermaritzburg; Collectors: B & P Stuckenberg;
Haematopota mephista Usher, 1965; original combination.
There is no collecting date for this specimen on the label, but the publication records it as December 1961. The location is recorded as Town Bush Valley in the publication. There are eight female and one male paratypes listed in the publication but no indication where they were deposited. They are not in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum collection. There are two other specimens with the same collecting information as the type that were identified by Usher in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum collection. The specimen is in poor condition – both wings and the abdomen are glued to a card pinned below the thorax. The head and both hindlegs are missing.
South Africa • ♀; Eastern Cape, Naude’s Nek;
Haematopota montisdraconis Usher, 1965; original combination.
The holotype label does not contain a date or collector. In the publication, four paratypes are listed as having the same collecting information. Two of the paratypes have labels stating “Naudes Nek [sic], Barkly East District, Eastern Cape Province, 2350 – 2525 m, 19 Jan 1963// Collectors: B & P Stuckenberg”. It is therefore assumed that this information is the same for the holotype. The holotype and paratypes all have type labels with the name “Haematopota dracomontana, Usher” which is assumed to be the name Usher assigned before she published it as Haematopota montisdraconis. The four paratypes – two male and two female - listed in the publication are in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum collection. The specimen is in poor condition. The head lacks both antennae and is glued to a card pinned below the specimen. A piece of one of the wings is also glued to the card and the remainder of the wing is missing. The two male paratypes are in good condition (
South Africa • ♂; Eastern Cape, Aliwal North, Kapland, 8 December 1914?; Collector: Dr Brauns;
Haematopota ovazzai Travassos Dias, 1956; original combination.
The collection date on the label is difficult to decipher and is either 1914 or 1924. Both of these dates are feasible as Dr Brauns lived in the Eastern Cape from 1900 until his death in 1929. The locality recorded in the publication is Acineac-Nowa. Cabo. This appears to have been incorrectly transcribed by Dias. The locality of Aliwal North, Kapland, appears to be the correct name. This would agree with the locality of Aliwal North that is in the Eastern Cape Province. Apart from some inevitable fading colouration, the holotype is in a good state.
South Africa • ♀; Natal [KwaZulu-Natal], Cathedral Peak area, ca. 6800 ft, 6 February 1961; Collectors: B & P Stuckenberg;
Haematopota quathlambia Usher, 1965; original combination.
Apart from both wings which are glued to a piece of card, the specimen appears in good condition and well-preserved colour. There is only one other specimen of this species in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum collection.
South Africa • ♀; Cape Province [Northern Cape], Richmond, 24 November, 1916; Collector: G.A.H. Bedford;
Haematopota spectabilis Oldroyd, 1952; original combination.
The holotype was deposited at the then Onderstepoort Veterinary College. It is unclear how the specimen came to be in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum collection. There are five paratypes listed – none of these are in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum collection. One paratype is in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University (
♀: Reunion W, 22 December 1949;
Haematopota albihirta Karsch, 1877.
This species was synonymised with Haematopota albihirta by
We thank Mandisa Ndlovu for taking photographs and the input of the two reviewers.