Scrapter nitidus ( Friese, 1909 )

Davies, G. B. P., Eardley, C. D. & Brothers, D. J., 2005, Eight new species of Scrapter (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Colletidae), with descriptions of S. albifumus and S. amplispinatus females and a major range extension of the genus, African Invertebrates 46, pp. 141-141 : 177

Scrapter nitidus ( Friese, 1909)

Polyglossa nitida: Friese 1909: 124 . (Type locality: Steinkopf, Namaqualand , Northern Cape)

Polyglossa (Strandiella) nitida Friese : Friese 1925: 514.

Scrapter nitidus (Friese) : Cockerell 1936: 481.

Scrapter nitidus (Friese) : Eardley 1996: 43–45.

Material examined: 1 ^ KENYA: Rukinga Ranch, Pikapika Lodge (03°55.1S: 39°24.5E), 25.vi.2003, W. Kinuthia, D. Martins, C. Eardley and B. Gemmill ( SANC) .

Remarks: Basic measurements of this specimen are: head length 1.7 mm, head width 2.1 mm and mesoscutum length 1.3 mm. This single specimen keys out to S. nitidus in Eardley’s (1996) key and agrees excellently with Eardley’s redescription of the species. Davies compared the Kenyan specimen against S. nitidus specimens from Villiersdorp and Ceres (Western Cape, South Africa) and, despite careful examination, could find no meaningful differences between them. Identifying features of the Kenyan specimen include the presence of a clypeal sulcus, slit-like facial fovea, ‘concertina-like’ propodeal triangle sculpture (see Eardley 1996, fig. 2), entire metabasitibial plate, dense mesoscutal punctation, black prepygidial fimbria and raised ocellar triangle. The specimen has an all-black metasoma, simple claws and antennae that extend to the tegulae.

S. nitidus was previously believed to extend from the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg foothills southwards to Western Cape and then northward to Namaqualand, Northern Cape. Most specimens have been collected in the Fynbos and Succulent Karoo biomes ( Eardley 1996). Rukinga Ranch is part of Tsavo Game Reserve, southern Kenya, and is an enormous and unexpected range extension of S. nitidus and the genus itself. The most northerly record to date of Scrapter was of S. absonus from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. It is important to note here that Cockerell (1944: 805) described S. ugandica from Madi in Uganda. This Cockerell species, and several others, were unfortunately overlooked during the revision of Eardley (1996). These taxa will be dealt with in a forthcoming publication, but it is sufficient to observe that S. ugandica is not a Scrapter species, but rather a ctenoplectrinid ( Apidae ), and the range extension of Scrapter to East Africa stands. Rukinga Ranch is a dry, hot, low-lying area dominated by Commiphora woodland (Eardley pers. obs.). Very few Scrapter species have been recorded from savanna. The remarkable discovery of Scrapter in East Africa suggests there are probably other Scrapter species distributed up through Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya.