Proandricus bourquini Plisko, 1996

Plisko, Jadwiga Danuta, 2003, Eleven new South African earthworms (Oligochaeta: Microchaetidae) with new information on some known species, and an inventory of the microchaetids of KwaZulu-Natal, African Invertebrates 44 (2), pp. 279-325 : 301-302

Proandricus bourquini Plisko, 1996

P roandricus bourquini Plisko, 1996 b: 298 .

Material examined: KwaZulu­Natal: Ncandu Forest Reserve (27º45'30"S: 29º42'30"E): at ca. 1830 m, grassland plateau near Ulumbi River , from moist soil, NMSA / Olig. 02357 29 January 1996, 1 juv, JDP ; NMSA / Olig. 02363 31 January 1996, 1 juv, JDP ; NMSA / Olig. 02343 on bank of Ulumbi River , from wet soil, 29 January 1996, 1 juv, JDP ; NMSA / Olig. 03489 Ncandu Forest (27º54'03"S: 29º41'36"E) valley, grassland, 23 October 2001, 1 cl, AJA, PN .

Remarks: This species is known from the type locality and its close vicinity in foothills of Drakensberg mountain range in KZN ( Fig. 7 ).

The belli species­group

To this group, characterized by spermathecal pores occurring only in two intersegmental furrows 11/12 and 12/13, and three variably thickened septa 4/5 7/8 8/9, are assigned: belli (Benham, 1892) , lovuus * sp. n., beddardi *, hlatikulu * Plisko, 2002, modestus * *, setosus * *, magdae Plisko, 1993 , perolofi Plisko, 1994 , and skeadi Plisko, 1993 .

Although the anatomical characters found in the species assigned to this group show similarity, their geographical distribution does not confirm a unity of the group. The species marked with one asterisk are known only from KZN: lovuus is known from the area of Richmond and Pietermaritzburg, hlatikulu and beddardi from limited number of sites in the north­eastern KZN. The species marked with two asterisks occur in KZN and also in the other provinces: setosus in the central and northern KZN and southern Mpumalanga; modestus is known from numerous sites of South Africa (see remarks under P. modestus ). It occurs in natural biotopes, and in agricultural fields into which it was probably introduced by humans.

No new material for hlatikulu has been collected since species description. The occurrence of species known from KZN is shown in Fig. 7.

P. belli , magdae , perolofi and skeadi are known only from the Eastern Cape province.

Figures

Fig. 7. The distribution of Proandricus species in KZN. 1 = adami; 2 = adriani; 3 = alatus; 4 = amphius; 5 = armstrongi; 6 = babanango; 7 = beddardi; 8 = bergvillensis; 9 = bourquini; 10 = bulwerensis; 11 = colletti; 12 = crookesi; 13 = entumeni; 14 = gracilis; 15 = hedothecus; 16 = hlatikulu; 17 = injasuti; 18 = ivari; 19 = jasoni; 20 = lovuus; 21 = marleyi; 22 = martensi; 23 = michelleae; 24 = modestus; 25 = oresbiosus; 26 = ortyi; 27 = pajori; 28 = richerti; 29 = setosus; 30 = thornvillensis.