scholarly journals Range expansion of the economically important Asiatic blue tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, in South Africa

Author(s):  
Nkululeko Nyangiwe ◽  
Ivan G. Horak ◽  
Luther Van der Mescht ◽  
Sonja Matthee

The Asiatic blue tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, a known vector of bovine babesiosis and bovine anaplasmosis, is of great concern in the cattle industry. For this reason, detailed knowledge of the distribution of R. microplus is vital. Currently, R. microplus is believed to be associated mainly with the northern and eastern Savanna and Grassland vegetation in South Africa. The objective of the study was to record the distribution of R. microplus, and the related endemic Rhipicephalus decoloratus, in the central-western region of South Africa that comprises Albany Thicket, Fynbos and Savanna vegetation. In this survey, ticks were collected from 415 cattle in four provinces (Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western Cape and Free State provinces) and from the vegetation in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa between October 2013 and September 2015. More than 8000 ticks were collected from cattle at 80 localities of which R. microplus was present at 64 localities and R. decoloratus at 47 localities. A total of 7969 tick larvae were recorded from the vegetation at 20 localities of which 6593 were R. microplus and 1131 were R. decoloratus. Rhipicephalus microplus was recorded in each of the regions that were sampled. Rhipicephalus microplus is now present throughout the coastal region of the Eastern Cape province and at multiple localities in the north-eastern region of the Northern Cape province. It was also recorded in the western region of the Western Cape province and one record was made for the Free State province. The observed range changes may be facilitated by the combined effects of environmental adaptability by the tick and the movement of host animals.

Author(s):  
Marius Schneider ◽  
Vanessa Ferguson

The Republic of South Africa, known as South Africa, occupies the most southern tip of Africa with a coastline stretching from the border of Namibia on the Atlantic Ocean (south-west coast) of Africa, down to the tip of Africa and then north along the south-east coast to the border of Mozambique on the Indian Ocean. South Africa is bordered by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and Mozambique and surrounds the small landlocked Kingdom of Lesotho in the east-central region of South Africa. The total area of South Africa is approximately 1.22 million square kilometres (km), with a population of an estimated 58.78 million (2019). The country is divided into nine provinces, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Northwest, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo. Gauteng Province is the most densely populated province with approximately 809.6 people per square kilometre, Kwa-Zulu Natal being the second most densely populated at 120.7 people per square kilometre, with Western and Eastern Cape following substantially behind at 59.1 and 51.1 people per kilometres respectively. There are three capitals in South Africa: Pretoria in the Gauteng province (administrative), Cape Town in the Western Cape (Legislative), and Bloemfontein in the Free State (Judicial). The


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 100538
Author(s):  
Mandla Yawa ◽  
Nkululeko Nyangiwe ◽  
Ishmael Festus Jaja ◽  
Charles T. Kadzere ◽  
Munyaradzi Christopher Marufu

Koedoe ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Heyns

A population of Xiphinema bolandium from the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area in the Eastern Cape Province was studied, and the four juvenile stages described and figured for the first time. New distribution records are listed from several localities in the Western Cape Province, mostly from vineyards and peach orchards, as well as from fynbos.


Bothalia ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. F. O. Marasas ◽  
Ingrid H. Schumann

Descriptions are given of South African isolates of  Pithomyces sacchari (Speg.) M. B. Ellis, Pithomyces chartarum (Berk. Curt.) M. B. Ellis and  Pithomyces karoo  Marasas Schumann, sp. nov.  P. sacchari and P. chartarum were isolated from Medicago sativa L. seed.  P. chartarum was also isolated from dead leaves of Lolium perenne L. and  Sporobolus capensis (Willd.) Kunth. plants from artificial pastures in the eastern Cape Province.  P. karoo was isolated from stems of Gnidia polycephala (C.A. Mey.) Gilg and  Rhigozum trichotomum Burch, from the Karoo, Cape Province and from Avena sativa L. stubble collected in the Orange Free State.


Zootaxa ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1864 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
PHILIP D. PERKINS

New species of Hydraenidae are described in the genera Prosthetops Waterhouse (1), Pterosthetops Perkins (1), Parasthetops Perkins & Balfour-Browne (13), and Mesoceration Janssens (24). New collecting locality data are given for the following species described by Perkins & Balfour-Browne (1994): Parasthetops aeneus, P. nigritus, P. spinipes, P. curidius, Mesoceration distinctum, M. rivulare, M. jucundum, M. splendorum, M. rubidum, M. fusciceps, M. languidum, M. dissonum, M. rufescens, and M. brevigranum. High resolution digital images of the holotypes of new species are presented (online version in color), and male genitalia are illustrated. Distribution maps are provided for all prosthetopine species in the genera Prosthetops, Pterosthetops, Parasthetops, and Mesoceration. The following 39 new species are described (type locality in South Africa unless otherwise given): Prosthetops gladiator (Eastern Cape Province, summit of Prentjiesberg); Pterosthetops hawequas (Western Cape Province, Hawaquas radio tower); Parasthetops benefossus(Western Cape Province, Wiedouw farm), P. buunicornus (Lesotho: Drakensberg, Sani Pass Valley), P. confluentus (Eastern Cape Province, Little Karroo, Baviaanskloof N valley), P. lemniscus (Lesotho: Drakensberg, Sani Pass Valley), P. namibiensis (Namibia: Windhoek, Eros Mt.), P. pampinus (Western Cape Province, Dorps River into Prins Albert, Swartbergpas), P. parallelus (Northern Cape Province, Richtersveld, Oemsberg), P. propitius (Lesotho: Drakensberg, Sani Pass Valley), P. retinaculus (Eastern Cape Province, Sundays River system, Letskraal), P. sebastiani (Lesotho: Drakensberg, Sani Pass Valley), P. semiplanus (Eastern Cape Province, Sundays River system, Letskraal), P. striatus (Northern Cape Province, Namaqualand, Kamieskroon), P. unicornus (Eastern Cape Province, Naudes Nek, 12 miles ENE Rhodes); Mesoceration barriotum (Western Cape Province, Cape-Swartberg, Seweweekspoort Kloof), M. bicurvum (Eastern Cape Province, Wildebees River), M. bispinum (KwaZulu-Natal Province, Weza, Impetyene Forest), M. compressum (Eastern Cape Province, S. coast, Dwesa forest reserve), M. concavum (Mpumalanga Province, Blyderiver Canyon), M. curvosum (KwaZulu-Natal Province, Umtamvuna River), M. disjunctum (Eastern Cape Province, Nature's Valley Reserve), M. drakensbergensis (Lesotho, Drakensberg, Sani Pass Valley), M. durabilis (Western Cape Province, 2 miles SW of Citrusdal), M. granulovestum (Western Cape Province, Cederberg, Eikenboom), M. incarinum (Lesotho, Drakensberg, Sani Pass Valley), M. integer (KwaZulu-Natal Province, Busheladi Stream on Lundy's Hill near Deepdale), M. littlekarroo (Western Cape Province, Little Karroo, Rus-en-vredewaterf), M. longipennis (Western Cape Province, W. Wiedouw farm), M. maluti (Lesotho, Drakensberg, Sani Pass Valley), M. natalensis (KwaZulu-Natal Province, Umkomaas River, where crossed by Himeville to Impendhle road), M. periscopum (Western Cape Province, Cederberg, Eikenboom), M. piceum (Western Cape Province, Cederberg, Eikenboom), M. rapidensis (Western Cape Province, S. W. Cape Mts., Hawequas SE), M. repandum (Western Cape Province, Cederberg, Eikenboom), M. reticulatum (Western Cape Province, Nuweberg Forest Station), M. semicarinulum (Western Cape Province, Groot Toren farm), M. tabulare (Western Cape Province, Platteklip Gorge, north face of Table Mountain), M. umbrosum (Western Cape Province, Wiedouw farm).


Bothalia ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. D. Duncan

Four new species of Lachenalia are described: L. karooica W.F.Barker ex G.D.Duncan from the Great Karoo and southwestern Free State, L. perryae G.D.Duncan from the Little Karoo and southern Cape, as well as L neilii W.F.Barker ex G.D.Duncan and L. alba W.F.Barker ex G.D.Duncan, both from the Nieuwoudtville-Calvinia District of the Northern Cape. In addition, a newsubspecies, L. marginata W.F.Barker subsp. neglecta Schltr. ex G.D.Duncan is described from the Western Cape.


1998 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-198
Author(s):  
A.G. Kirejtshuk ◽  
A.H. Kirk-Spriggs ◽  
P. Audisio

AbstractThe known Southern African species of the pubescens species-group in the genus Meligethes Stephens, 1830, are revised. A diagnosis of the M. pubescens species-group is given and eight new species are described from South Africa, Namibia and Botswana: M. argentarius sp. n. (Eastern Cape Province, Kwa-Zulu Natal), M. aurivestis sp. n. (Western Cape Province), M. eremita sp. n. (Namibia, Northern Cape), M. hermanniae sp. n. (Western Cape Province), M. massivus sp. n. (Northern Transvaal), M. namakwaensis sp. n. (Namaqualand, Western Cape Province, and southern Namibia), M. pecten sp. n. (Western Cape Province, Free State), and M. rufofuscus sp. n. (Namibia, Botswana, and northern South Africa). Redescriptions and line drawings of male and female genitalia, legs and habitus of M. pubescens Reitter, 1872, M. translatus Grouvelle, 1913, M. confertus Reitter, 1872, M. plumbeus Reitter, 1872, M. fuerschi Spornraft & Audisio, 1995 (= M. antlia Kirejtshuk, 1996, syn. n.), M. marshalli Grouvelle, 1915, and ecological data on most of the species dealt with (all probably using Sterculiaceae of the genus Hermannia as larval host-plants) are also included.


Author(s):  
Robert A. Gastaldo ◽  
Johann Neveling ◽  
John W. Geissman ◽  
Sandra L. Kamo ◽  
Cindy V. Looy

The contact between the Daptocephalus to Lystrosaurus declivis (previously Lystrosaurus) Assemblage Zones (AZs) described from continental deposits of the Karoo Basin was commonly interpreted to represent an extinction crisis associated with the end-Permian mass-extinction event at ca. 251.901 ± 0.024 Ma. This terrestrial extinction model is based on several sections in the Eastern Cape and Free State Provinces of South Africa. Here, new stratigraphic and paleontologic data are presented for the Eastern Cape Province, in geochronologic and magnetostratigraphic context, wherein lithologic and biologic changes are assessed over a physically correlated stratigraphy exceeding 4.5 km in distance. Spatial variation in lithofacies demonstrates the gradational nature of lithostratigraphic boundaries and depositional trends. This pattern is mimicked by the distribution of vertebrates assigned to the Daptocephalus and L. declivis AZs where diagnostic taxa of each co-occur as lateral equivalents in landscapes dominated by a Glossopteris flora. High-precision U-Pb zircon (chemical abrasion-isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry) age results indicate maximum Changhsingian depositional dates that can be used as approximate tie points in our stratigraphic framework, which is supported by a magnetic polarity stratigraphy. The coeval nature of diagnostic pre- and post-extinction vertebrate taxa demonstrates that the L. declivis AZ did not replace the Daptocephalus AZ stratigraphically, that a biotic crisis and turnover likely is absent, and a reevaluation is required for the utilization of these biozones here and globally. Based on our data set, we propose a multidisciplinary approach to correlate the classic Upper Permian localities of the Eastern Cape Province with the Free State Province localities, which demonstrates their time-transgressive nature.


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