Endemic and apterous short-horned grasshoppers of South Africa

The research carried out at the HLMD on extant invertebrates focuses primarily on the insect order Orthoptera (grasshoppers) and aims at describing yet unknown species. Hereby, the geographical focus lies on the Cape region of South Africa, which is characterized by its enormous and globally unique plant diversity and is home to a large number of still undescribed invertebrate species. Three species have been described so far in the apterous grasshopper genus Betiscoides Sjöstedt, 1923, which is endemic to the Cape region of South Africa. Recent morphological and genetic studies of collected individuals revealed that the intergeneric differentiation is much higher than previously known. The description of the newly discovered species provides the basis for further studies on possible co-evolutionary or host-specific processes between Betiscoides and species of the plant family Restionaceae.

Responsible for the project at the Landesmuseum:

Dr. Daniela Matenaar