Blepharodera ciliata Burmeister, 1838

Blepharodera ciliata is mottled with brown; the adult females measure up to 30 mm in length and males up to 25 mm with a wing-span of 65 mm; nymphs are mottled with grey and resemble the apterous females, except for size. This species is usually found under the sand near the stems of plants and both adults and nymphs have been collected on the beach under the stems of Tetragonia decumbens and Arctotheca populifolia during October to December.

Original description:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/82123#page/102/mode/1up

Female llustrated in:
Prins, A. J. (1983): Morphological and biological notes on some South African arthropods associated with decaying organic matter. Part 1. Chilopoda, Diplopoda, Arachnida, Crustacea and Insecta. Annals of The South African Museum 92. Pages: 53-112
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40685424#page/109/mode/1up

Photo of male type on Cockroach Species File:
http://cockroach.archive.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1173496

iNat observations: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/653279-Blepharodera-ciliata/browse_photos?order_by=created_at&quality_grade=any

Posted on January 11, 2024 06:38 PM by traianbertau traianbertau

Comments

Only one other species in genus: shiny black with a cream rim, and fringe of setae on body sides (FG Insects SA 3 ed). Blepharodera discoidalis

A sandveld endemic genus?
So far iNat data has them as allopatric:
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/map?taxa=653280,653279#9/-33.344/18.51
but GBIF has discoidalis to Darling area.

Posted by tonyrebelo 25 days ago

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