Chordodes ferox, a new record of horsehair worms (Nematomorpha, Gordiida) from South Africa

By

Schmidt-Rhaesa, Andreas
Perissinotto, Renzo

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2016

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

566

Pages

1-11

Subjects

Chordodes ferox , Nematomorpha , new records , praying mantid hosts , South Africa

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.566.6810

 

Abstract

Three females and one male specimen of a previously unconfirmed species of horsehair worms (Nematomorpha) from South Africa are described using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The females correspond to the description of Chordodes ferox Camerano, 1897, a species previously described from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa) and an adjacent, not further specified region of the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville). Characteristic is the presence of enlarged and elevated simple areoles around the base of a thorn areole, in combination with further cuticular characters. This is the latest of a total of six species of horsehair worms reported from South Africa so far. Two species of praying mantids, Polyspilota aeruginosa (Goeze, 1778) and Sphodromantis gastrica Stål, 1858, have been identified as hosts of C. ferox, while its distribution range in the region and the period of adult emergence from the host remain largely unknown.