Review of Afraustraloderes rassei Bouyer, 2012: Description of its female and a new species of Pixodarus Fairmaire, 1887 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae)

Abstract

The original description of Afraustraloderes rassei Bouyer, 2012 included a female that is now recognized as a separate species belonging to the genus Pixodarus and here described as P. spiniscapus sp. n. The true female of A. rassei has also been obtained recently and is, therefore, here described. The synonymy of P. exasperates with P. nyassae, proposed earlier by Santos Ferreira (1980), is here supported. Conversely, the earlier inclusion of A. rassei in the tribe Hopliderini is rejected, on the basis of a key set of characters established by Quentin and Villiers (1972, 1975). Afraustraloderes rassei appears to be restricted to the Cape Floral Region, exhibiting larval development in trunks and roots of dead Proteaceae plants. Conversely, P. spiniscapus has so far only been recorded in the eastern part of South Africa and appears to be associated with bushveld vegetation.