Octavius crucialis ( Kistner, 1967 )

Janák, Jiří, 2024, On Octavius from Maloti-Drakensberg and Golden Gate National Parks, South Africa (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Euaesthetinae), Zootaxa 5443 (4), pp. 495-522 : 499

Octavius crucialis ( Kistner, 1967)

Figs. 16–20 , 120 , 127

Turellus crucialis Kistner, 1967: 57 ,

Octavius crucialis ; Puthz, 1980: 27; Puthz, 1986: 200; Herman, 2001: 1857.

Type locality. South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal Province, Maloti-Drakensberg Park, Cathedral Peak National Reserve, Ogalweni forest .

Material examined (33 specimens). SOUTH AFRICA, KwaZulu-Natal: 15 ♂, 18 ♀: Maloti-Drakensberg Park , Cathedral Peak NR , Oqualweni Fern forest ; 28°56.6ʼS, 29°11.0ʼE, 1570m, 7.i.2019, J. Janák lgt., Berlese extraction, leaf & log litter, sifting ( TMSA, JJRC) .

Distribution. The species is known only from Ogalweni (= Oqualweni Fern) forest in Drakensberg Mountains, KwaZulu-Natal Province ( Fig. 120 ).

Bionomics. All specimens were collected in siftings of forest litter in a patch of an indigenous forest at the elevation of about 1600 m a.s.l. with the abundance of 2.1 specimens per kg of sifted material ( Fig. 127 ).

Figures

FIGURES 16–28. 16–20: Octavius crucialis (Kistner), Oqualweni Fern forest. 21–28: Octavius edroedyanus Puthz, 21–23, 25, 27, Oqualweni Fern Forest; 24, 26, 28, Gudu forest. 16, 21, habitus; 17–18, 22–24, aedeagus ventral; 19, 25–26, male sternite VIII; 20, 27–28, male sternite IX. Scale 0.5 mm: 16, 21; scales 0.1 mm: remaining figures.

FIGURES 113–121. Octavius undulatus Janák, sp. nov.; 113–116, 118–119, holotype; 117, paratype. 113, habitus; 114, fore parts; 115, fore parts lateral; 116–117, aedeagus ventral; 118, male sternite VIII; 119, male sternite IX. Scale 0.5 mm: 113; scales 0.1 mm: 114–115; 116–117; 118–119; o: ommatidium. 120: Distribution of Octavius – subgroup A. 121: Distribution of Octavius – subgroup B.

FIGURES 122–127. 122–123: Golden Gate. 124–125: Royal Natal: 124, Gudu forest, 125, Devilʼs Hoek. 126–127: Cathedral Peak: 126, Rainbow gorge, 127, Oqualweni Fern forest.