Omorgus lindemannae ( Petrovitz, 1975 )

Omorgus lindemannae ( Petrovitz, 1975) View in CoL

( Fig. 1D)

= Trox (Omorgus) glaber Scholtz, 1980 View in CoL , junior objective synonym ( Pittino, 2005).

We discovered seven previously undetected specimens of Omorgus lindemannae View in CoL in the TMSA and the SANC, five of which were collected in two distantly separated caves during four separate collecting events. Four specimens were collected in the Lanner Gorge Cave, South Africa, and one specimen in the Gcwihaba Cave, Botswana. The Lanner Gorge Cave and its fauna were characterised by Braack (1989) and is discussed under Omorgus zumpti View in CoL below. The Gcwihaba Cave is home to at least three species of insectivorous bats with a total population of ca. 30,000 –90,000 individuals ( Dandurand et al., 2019; Seamark & Pretorius, 2018). The bats are responsible for a thick deposit of guano ( Dandurand et al., 2019). Mazebedi & Hesselberg (2020) presented the results of a survey of the Gcwihaba Cave’s terrestrial macroinvertebrates, but they did not report any Trogidae View in CoL .

Omorgus lindemannae clearly is a troglophile. Its relation to guano has not yet been reported, but we cautiously suggest that it may be a bat-guanophile, based on the enormous deposits of bat guano in both these caves. Pittino (2005: 75) denoted Omorgus lindemannae to be a “ very rare species. ”

These are new records of a trogid species in a cave and possibly associated with bat guano.

The collecting and other label data of the Omorgus lindemannae museum specimens discovered by us are presented below. The first four entries represent the five cave specimens. The entries as a whole define a further range extension of this trogid (e.g. Frey, 2009). Ever since its two descriptions ( Petrovitz, 1975; Scholtz, 1980, as synonym), this species had been known only from two localities in south-central Tanzania (Lindi and Rukwa Regions), one specimen from each locality. Pittino (2005) reported the next known specimen, from the Limpopo province of South Africa, which represented a huge range extension. Our newly detected specimens further extend the known distribution of Omorgus lindemannae to Botswana and to the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

BOTSWANA

North West District

– 1 ♀ Gcwihaba Cave [as “Drotsky's Cave”], -20.024°, 21.354°, 1969-10-03, W Haacke &O Prozesky|| Trox zumpti Haaf , det. CH Scholtz, 1980 ( TMSA). — Misidentified as Omorgus zumpti by Scholtz (1980: 36).

New country record.

SOUTH AFRICA

Limpopo

– 1 ♂ Kruger National Park, Luvuvhu River, Lanner Gorge Cave [as “Cave N2, Pafuri”], ca. -22.450°, 31.150°, 1983-08-29, L Braack ( TMSA).

– 1 ♂ Kruger National Park, Luvuvhu River, Lanner Gorge Cave [as “Lanner Gorge, Cave N2”], ca. -22.450°, 31.150°, 1983-09-26, L Braack ( SANC).

– 2 ♀ Kruger National Park, Luvuvhu River, Lanner Gorge Cave [as “Pafuri cave”], ca. -22.450°, 31.150°, 1993-12, CH Scholtz ( TMSA).

Mpumalanga

– 1 ♀ Kruger National Park, Skukuza, -25.00°, 31.59°, 1995-02-25, UV light trap, S Endrödy-Younga ( TMSA).

New provincial record.

KwaZulu-Natal

– 1 ♀ Ndumo Game Reserve, ca. -26.87°, 32.25° [centroid], 1960-12, G van Son || Trox zumpti Haaf , det. CH Scholtz, 1980 ( TMSA). — Misidentified as Omorgus zumpti by Scholtz (1980: 36).

New provincial record.