Before we turn into 2020, I am taking this moment to summarize my field trip to South Africa and Namibia with #TeamDiptera member Allan Cabrero in September 2019.
This trip included a visit to the amazing Diptera collection at the KwaZulu-Natal Museum (NMSA) and conduct field-work in coastal areas of eastern South Africa and the Namib Desert in Namibia at the Ameib Private Nature Reserve (web-site) and the Gobabeb Namib Research Institute (gobabeb.org).
I would like to thank Jason Londt and John Midgley from the NMSA for allowing us to collect under their Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife permits in KwaZulu-Natal and Tricia Pillay for access to the collection at the NMSA. In Namibia, I would like to thank the Namibian National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST) and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) for issuing collecting and export permits. Furthermore, the staff at the Gobabeb Namib Research Institute was very helpful as always and in particular, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Leena Kapulwa, and Eugene Marais assisted in many ways.
Here are some of the habitats we visited:
1. Coastal forest at Umlalazi Nature Reserve (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) where Ommatius sp. (Asilidae) was collected.
2. Leeward side of vegetated coastal dunes at Umlalazi Nature Reserve where Euscelidia natalensis Dikow, 2003 (Asilidae) was collected.
3. Dry, open Acacia bushveld at Ameib Private Nature Reserve (Erongo, Namibia) where Anasillomos chrysopos Londt, 1983, Sisyrnodytes sp. (see photo below), Afroscleropogon sp., and Empodiodes namibiensis Londt, 2012 (see photo below) (all Asilidae) were collected.
4. Dry, open Acacia bushland at ≠Gaingu Conservancy with Grosse Spitzkoppe in the back (Erongo, Namibia) where Anasillomos chrysopos Londt, 1983 and Remotomyia brunales Londt, 1983 (see photo below) were collected. The ≠ symbol in the reserve name denotes a click sound in the Khoekhoegowab language.
5. Small dunes along dry Kuiseb riverbed in Namib-Naukluft National Park at Gobabeb Namib Research Institute (Erongo, Namibia) where Acnephalomyia sp. (Asilidae) and an undescribed genus of Mydidae were collected.
6. Hope Mine Wash in Namib-Naukluft National Park near Gobabeb were Anasillomos chrysopos Londt, 1983, Corymyia sp., and an unidentified genus of Willistonininae (all Asilidae) were collected. This is the 1st record of the genus Corymyia from Namibia – all four known species occur in western South Africa. The Willistonininae specimens are likewise extremely interesting as they do not fit into the currently known Afrotropical genera – more work needs to be done on these specimens!
7–8. Kahani Dunes in Namib-Naukluft National Park near Gobabeb were Stichopogon hermanni Bezzi, 1910, Sporadothrix sp., Torasilus sp., and an undescribed genus of Mydidae were collected. Photo 8 shows a dry leaf of Stipagrostis sabulicola (Poaceae), which was used as a perch by Sporadothrix sp. If you look closely, you can see two impressions from the rim of my collecting net on the sand – I caught one fly and walked on the dune for a few minutes before I circled back to this specific site. A 2nd fly was now sitting on the same perch and was collected.
9. An unnamed dune near Gobabeb with Allan catching flies. No asiloid flies were collected here, but a number of other Diptera including large flesh flies (Sarcophagidae, see photo below).
10. Dry, very wide Kuiseb riverbed near Swartbank in Namib-Naukluft National Park north of Gobabeb where an undescribed genus of Mydidae and a species of Therevidae were collected.
11. Dry, wide Kuiseb riverbed and small sand dunes at a field-site 20 km N of Gobabeb in the Namib-Naukluft National Park where an undescribed genus of Mydidae was collected (see photo below).
12. For the 4th time, I visited this site in the Namib Desert at the eastern-most edge of the Namib sand sea on the C14 north of Solitaire (Khomas, Namibia) in the Namib-Naukluft National Park and collected Stichopogon hermanni Bezzi, 1910, Anypodetus sp., and Afroholopgon sp. (all Asilidae). The Afroholopogon species is especially interesting and was collected for the 1st time here and likely is a new species.
I was able to collect the following genera / species (I still need to identify some taxa to the species level):
Apioceridae: –
Asilidae: Acnephalomyia sp., Afroholopgon sp., Afroscleropogon sp., Anasillomos chrysopos Londt, 1983, Anypodetus sp., Corymyia sp., Empodiodes namibiensis Londt, 2012, Euscelidia natalensis Dikow, 2003, Ommatius sp., Remotomyia brunales Londt, 1983, Sisyrnodytes sp., Sporadothrix sp., Stichopogon hermanni Bezzi, 1910, and Torasilus sp.
Mydidae: undescribed genus.
I was also able to collect several species of bee flies (Bombyliidae), micro bee flies (Mythicomyiidae), hover flies (Syrphidae), shore flies (Ephydridae), quasimodo flies (Curtonotidae), house flies (Muscidae), flesh flies (Sarcophagidae), stiletto flies (Therevidae), and horse flies (Tabanidae).
Below are some of the photographs of flies in nature taken with an Olympus OM-D EM-5 Mark II and a f/2.8 60 mm macro-lens (= 120 mm focal length in 35 mm photography):
13. Crane-fly species Maekistocera filipes filipes (Fabricius, 1805) (Tipulidae) basking on a tree trunk in Umlalazi Nature Reserve (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). See iNaturalist observation: 63658122. (identification by Jon Gelhaus.)
14. Mating pair of Ephydridae (shore flies) at Tugela River mouth (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). See iNaturalist observation: 63672413.
15. Sisyrnodytes sp. (Asilidae) at Ameib Private Nature Reserve (Erongo, Namibia) feeding on a plant bug. See iNaturalist observation: 63672673.
16. Unfortunately, I didn't get a better photo of this small Stenopogoninae species (Asilidae). I only saw this female fly and collected another female. After studying the specimen in the lab for a considerable time, I was able to identify it as Empodiodes namibiensis Londt, 2012. I believe this record is the southernmost record of the primarily northern Namibian species (see Londt 2019 doi:10.3897/AfrInvertebr.60.33075 Fig. 16 (/article/33075/element/2/110/)).
17–18. Remotomyia brunales Londt, 1983 (Asilidae) at ≠Gaingu Conservancy and Grosse Spitzkoppe area. These flies were very fast and I wasn't able to get very close – photo 18 is a crop of 17 to show fly more clearly in the center of the photo. This is my 1st time collecting flies of this genus on which I published in one of my 1st articles with Jason Londt in 2000 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.11581).
19. Flesh-fly species Khowaba atrox Pape, 1991 (Sarcophagidae) resting upside down on Stipagrostis sabulica (Poaceae) on high dunes near Gobabeb. See iNaturalist observation: 63291181. (identification by Thomas Pape and Daniel Whitmore.)
20–21. Undescribed genus and species of Mydidae (Syllegomydinae) at field-site at Kuiseb riverbed 20 km N Gobabeb. Photo 20 shows an overview of where the fly is resting (in center of photo) and since I was able to get closer and closer without disturbing the fly, I was able to take a close-up as well. This photo also showcases that even if you get just a few centimeters above the ground, you can rest in much cooler environments. From crouching down to photograph this (and other insects) during exceptionally hot unseasonal weather, my knees got extremely hot on the sand ...
Other impressions and encounters in South Africa and Namibia:
22–24. The KwaZulu-Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg (South Africa) is a great place to see wonderful exhibits including Diptera, meet up with old friends and colleagues, and study flies in the amazing collection, which is undoubtedly the most important collection of true flies in Africa. I first worked at the NMSA when I was an international student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal studying entomology and spent every free hour I had at the collection 20 years ago. This is where my taxonomic research on assassin flies really began under the tutoring of Jason Londt.
25. Jason Londt and I at Doreen Clark Nature Reserve just outside Pietermaritzburg (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, photo by Allan Cabrero).
26. Same as above with Allan Cabrero (photo by Jason Londt).
27. A free-living antlion larva (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) on coastal dunes at Umlalazi Nature Reserve (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). See iNaturalist observation: 63658711.
28–30. Beautiful subtropical, coastal forest and mangrove at Umlalazi Nature Reserve (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa).
31–32. Catching flies with giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis Linnaeus, 1758) and seeing ancient rock paintings at Ameib Private Nature Reserve (Erongo, Namibia).
33. A Common Namib Day Gecko (Rhoptropus afer Peters, 1869, Gekkonidae) hiding in shade under a rock in dry wash near Gobabeb (Erongo, Namibia). It was extremely hot at this field-site!
34. Solifuge Solpugiba lineata (C.L.Koch, 1842) (Arachnida: Solifugae: Solpugidae) at Kahani Dunes near Gobabeb (Erongo, Namibia). See iNaturalist observation: 63673759. (identification by Dewald du Plessis.)
35. One of the highlights of this trip was to see a Namaqua Chameleon (Chamaeleo namaquensis Smith, 1831) on the dunes at the eastern-most edge of the Namib sand sea on the C14 north of Solitaire (Khomas, Namibia).
36. Myself and beautiful Euphorbia sp. at Hope Mine Wash in central Namib Desert (photo by Allan Cabrero).
37–38. It's always great to be back at the Gobabeb Namib Research Intitute in the Namib Desert.
39. Before heading back home, it is advised to have German-style cheesecake (here with Rooibos tea and freshly squeezed juice mix) in Windhoek.
Posted by Torsten Dikow.
Update 1 2021-03-30: Observations on iNaturalist and some identifications were added.
Update 2 2021-07-18: Some identifications were added.
Update 3 2021-10-05: Some identifications were added.