The Caecidae found in shallow water sediment samples in Inhaca Island and Maputo Bay are described and illustrated. Three species are recorded: Caecum chinense, which is the most common; Caecum sepimentum, which was represented by a couple of specimens only; and Caecum inhacaense, a new species here described. The operculum of C. chinense is described and illustrated by SEM for the first time. The type specimens of the Indo-Pacific species Caecum amputatum Hedley, 1899, C. attenuatum Folin, 1879, C. berberense Ladd, 1972, C. chinense Folin, 1868, C. sepimentum Folin, 1868, C. maculatum Habe, 1963 and C. vertebrale Hedley, 1899 are illustrated. C. maculatum and C. berberense are newly synonymised under Caecum sepimentum.

Gulella inobstructa van Bruggen, 1965, was described from two adult shells from Magoebaskloof. Additional material shows that the range of variation in shell dimensions is quite considerable and that the type specimens indeed are far from typical, also as regards apertural dentition. This taxon is a narrow-range endemic in a limited area in Mpumalanga/Limpopo provinces, South Africa. The partly sympatric G. perspicua (Melvill & Ponsonby, 1893) has a shell that in many respects is similar to that of the above taxon. However, apart from various minor differences, the suture of G. perspicua is always excavated, so that shells of both taxa normally can be differentiated without undue trouble.

This paper focuses on five species of Polyplacophora (Mollusca) collected from Lavanono, southern Madagascar. Ischnochiton sirenkoi is described as a new species and is compared with the two Ischnochiton species known from Madagascar, I. yerburyi (E.A. Smith, 1891) and I. sansibarensis Thiele, 1909, and with all known Indian Ocean Ischnochiton species. Findings for the other species here discussed provide a significant extension of previously known geographical range. Chaetopleura chelazziana Ferreira, 1983 is reported for the first time in the chiton fauna of Madagascar. The taxonomic status of Callistochiton ashbyi (Barnard, 1963), previously considered a synonym of C. crosslandi Sykes, 1907, is discussed. This taxon, which was described from a unique intermediate valve from South Africa, is re-evaluated and recognized as a valid species, differing from C. crosslandi in several significant characters. We also present an unusual feature detected in almost all the specimens of Cryptoplax dupuisi Ashby, 1931, which are characterized by the absence of dorsal girdle spicules on the first four valves, a feature never reported in other chiton species. Type material of Callistochiton madagassicus Thiele, 1909, Chiton ashbyi (Barnard, 1963) is figured.

Wild molluscs from five sites and farmed oysters and abalone from one site each along the south coast of South Africa were examined for shell-boring Polydora and Dipolydora. One new species each of Dipolydora and Polydora are described. D. keulderae sp. n. belongs to the D. barbilla / D. bidentata group and was present at all the sites sampled. P. dinthwanyana sp. n. belongs to the P. ciliata / P. websteri group and was recorded only at Haga Haga, the most easterly site sampled. In total, five Dipolydora species (D. cf. armata, D. capensis, D. cf. giardi, D. keulderae and D. normalis) and three Polydora species (P. cf. ciliata, P. dinthwanyana and P. cf. hoplura) were recorded. All but D. normalis bored into mollusc shells and while the rest of the worms showed no host preference, the larger, subtidal Haliotis spp. and Turbo sarmaticus usually hosted the largest number of species at each site. D. normalis and P. dinthwanyana were recorded only at Haga Haga, P. cf. ciliata only at Port Elizabeth and the rest at all the sites. This study extends the known distributions of D. normalis, D. cf. armata and P. cf. ciliata in South Africa.

Examination of recently collected material of predominantly ground-dwelling jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) mainly from the Free State and Northern Cape provinces, South Africa, lead to the discovery of 15 new species, which are described here: Cembalea triloris sp. n., Evarcha brinki sp. n., E. flagellaris sp.n., E. vittula sp. n., Icius pulchellus sp. n., Langona hirsuta sp. n., L. lotzi sp. n., Microbianor globosus sp. n., Pseudicius dependens sp. n., P. gracilis sp. n., P. karinae sp. n., P. maculatus sp. n., P. solitarius sp. n., Rhene lingularis sp. n. and Tanzania meridionalis sp. n. The unknown male of Rhene konradi Wesołowska, 2009, and the unknown females of Pellenes bulawayoensis Wesołowska, 1999, P. modicus Wesołowska & Russell-Smith, 2000, Phlegra etosha Logunov & Azarkina, 2006, P. karoo Wesołowska, 2006 and Thyene thyenioides (Lessert, 1925), are described for the first time. Nine species, Dendryphantes hararensis Wesołowska & Cumming, 2008, Menemerus pilosus Wesołowska, 2006, Pellenes geniculatus (Simon, 1868), P. modicus, Phlegra bresnieri (Lucas, 1846), P. etosha, P. karoo, Tanzania mkomaziensis (Wesołowska & Russell-Smith, 2000) and T. thyenioides, are recorded from South Africa for the first time. Apart from two records in the Northern Cape Province, Cembalea triloris sp. n. is also recorded from southern Namibia. Additionally, new provincial records for species previously recorded from elsewhere in South Africa are presented: 19 species are recorded from the Free State for the first time, five from the North West, and two from the Northern Cape. Thyenula oranjensis Wesołowska, 2001, described from the eastern Free State, is recorded from KwaZulu-Natal for the first time.

The medically important scorpion genus Hottentotta Birula, 1908 has long been a taxonomical challenge. This species-rich scorpion genus contains three lineages spread over most of Africa and part of Asia. The Maghrebian Hottentotta was historically recognised as a single species, H. franzwerneri (Birula, 1914), divided in two subspecies with disjunct distributions. A recent morphological study raised both Maghreb subspecies to species level, H. franzwerneri and H. gentili (Pallary, 1924). In this study we assess the phylogenetic relationships between specimens of the genus Hottentotta from Morocco using cytochrome oxidase 1 (CO1) mitochondrial DNA sequences. Our finding of H. gentili in the eastern portion of Morocco increases the known range of this taxon and significantly reduces the geographic distance that separates it from H. franzwerneri. Furthermore, we found four well supported clades in the Maghrebian Hottentotta. All H. franzwerneri specimens group in the franzwerneri clade, but H. gentili specimens group in three different clades. The Ziz valley clade form a sister group to the franzwerneri clade, specimens from the core range of H. gentili group in the central clade, while specimens from the southern distribution of the species group in the Low Draa valley clade, basal in our tree. These findings challenge current Hottentotta taxonomy because they imply paraphyly of H. gentili, although mitochondrial introgression cannot be excluded. Further studies are needed to fully comprehend the taxonomy of Hottentotta from this region and the role that colour characters play in scorpion species diagnoses.

Mormotomyia hirsuta Austen, 1936 is one of the most extraordinary and unusual looking Diptera and was placed by E.E. Austen into a family of its own, the Mormotomyiidae, upon its discovery in 1933. Adults superficially resemble small solifugids (sun spiders), having extremely long legs that are clothed, especially in males, in very long, closely-packed brown hair-like setae. The wings are reduced to dysfunctional straps, the halteres to small nodular processes, and the eyes are greatly reduced. M. hirsuta is cavernicolous in all life stages and guanobious at least in the larval stages. The phylogenetic position of the family has long been a subject of much speculation and disagreement. Until recently M. hirsuta had only been collected on two occasions: in May 1933 and December 1948, although there have been numerous unsuccessful rediscovery attempts. The species is apparently confined to the type locality and is, therefore, widely regarded as the “rarest fly in the world”. Here we report the rediscovery of adults, larvae and puparia at the type locality, a cave-like rock fissure at Ukasi Hill, Eastern Province, Kenya, in December 2010. This rediscovery has facilitated a more thorough examination and study of the immature stages using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This has revealed numerous microstructures not previously described by van Emden in 1950, and the larva and puparium are therefore re-described. An SEM study was conducted of the leg features of adults, specifically the form and structure of the tarsal claw and pulvillus, and these were compared to the same structures in examples of the true bat fly ectoparasitic families Nycteribiidae and Streblidae, and to the phoretic Mystacinobiidae. The basal sclerites of the wing are interpreted for the first time using SEM, the functional morphology of the larva, puparium and adult is discussed and notes are provided on the biology, development and cavernicolous habits of the species. The cuticular parts of the internal female reproductive tract are further described. They comprise a tubular vagina, two sclerotized spermathecae, paired accessory glands, and a small one-chambered sclerotized ventral receptacle. These are compared to species in the Mystacinobiidae, Sphaeroceroidea and Ephydroidea, and it is concluded that the structure of the female reproductive tract lends support to the inclusion of the Mormotomyiidae in the Ephydroidea.

The fauna of the plume moths of Lesotho is reviewed based on existing collections. Four new species are described: Platyptilia bowkeri, P. sochivkoi, Hellinsia basuto and Merrifieldia innae. In total, 16 species of Pterophoridae are found in Lesotho, with 15 of them being recorded in the country for the first time.

The following new species of Dryinidae are described from Kenya: Anteoninae: Anteon bytebieri, A. copelandi, A. shimbanum, A. whartoni: Dryininae: Dryinus copelandi, D. shimbanus; Gonatopodinae: Gonatopus baginei. The following new species of Embolemidae are described: Ampulicomorpha nzigidaherai, from Burundi and Kenya; Embolemus burundensis, from Burundi. Updated checklists of Dryinidae, Embolemidae and Sclerogibbidae of Kenya and Burundi are presented. Embolemidae are recorded for the first time in Kenya and Burundi. With the above new records, 39 species of Dryinidae, four species of Embolemidae and 12 species of Sclerogibbidae are now known from Kenya, and two species of Dryinidae, three species of Embolemidae and one species of Sclerogibbidae are known from Burundi.

Epimastax hesterae sp. n. is described from the Lopingian deposits of the Tarkastad Subgroup of the Beaufort Group. All described congeners are known from the Lower and Middle Permian (Sakmarian, Kungurian and Kazanian) of Central and East Europe.

A new parasitic fungus, Laboulbenia curtonoti sp. n., associated with the endemic Madagascan fly Curtonotum balachowskyi Tsacas (Diptera: Curtonotidae), is described and figured. The new species is one of the very few Laboulbeniales which penetrate the insect's cuticle by means of more-or-less developed rhizoids. A brief review of the 23 species of the genus Laboulbenia associated with Diptera is presented in a tabulated form.

Considering the precarious conservation status of the grassland biome in South Africa, effective assessment and monitoring is imperative. The potential use of terrestrial arthropods in ecological assessment has received much attention, but little headway has been made in formulating standardised bioassessment protocols. A suggested reason for this lack of progress is the high diversity of terrestrial arthropods and the high taxonomic expertise required. Sampling was carried out across 12 months in the Bloemfontein Dry Grassland vegetation type and the potential of using functional feeding groups (FFG) as taxonomic surrogates for family level arthropods was investigated. An F-test associated with an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) found a significant correlation between FFG and families for measures of richness, Shannon and Simpson diversity. Accumulation curves indicated that a higher proportion of FFG than families could be assessed with the same sampling intensity. Both families and FFG best fitted the stochastic normal and geometric series relative abundance distribution models, implying that there is no distinction between the taxonomic units with regard to abundance distributions. The reality remains that information does become lost when using surrogacy, so there will continue to be a need for specialist ecological proficiency for the highest risk assessments. It was concluded that for rapid monitoring and snap-shot assessments, FFG could be used as a valuable and reliable taxonomic surrogate.