Description and ecology of a new species of Eriopeltastes Burmeister & Schaum, 1840 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Trichiini), from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

A dedicated “Bioblitz” survey of the Ntinini Nature Reserve was organized and coordinated by Ezemvelo KwaZuluNatal (EKZN) Wildlife, during the period 16–18 November 2010. The main aim of the Bioblitz was to provide biodiversity data that could assist in assessing the necessity of a formal proclamation for the protection of the reserve, within the scope of the integrated Biodiversity Conservation Planning of EKZN Wildlife. A new species of the South African endemic genus Eriopeltastes was discovered during the early part of the survey. As virtually all species of this genus are regarded as micro-endemic, mountain relicts extremely susceptible to habitat disturbance/destruction, a rapid description of the new discovery is presented here, to provide support towards the conservation of its unique habitat that may be threatened by land use change in the near future. The first author wrote the taxonomical part of this study, including the description of the new species. The second author contributed all natural history and ecological observations. The description of morphological characters follows the terminology used by Krikken (1984) and Ricchiardi et al. (1999). Specimen length was measured from the anterior margin of the clypeus to the apex of the pygidium. Specimen width represents the maximum width of the elytron. Photos of the holotype were taken with a Nikon Coolpix P6600 fixed to one of the eyepieces of a Wild dissecting microscope. Photos were processed with photo stacking technique, using Combine ZP (freeware free software by Alan Hadley, http://www.hadleyweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk). Finally, the background was removed from the photos using Adobe Photoshop, in order to increase clarity of resolution. Collections are abbreviated as follows: DMSA—Natural Science Museum, Durban, South Africa; ISAM—Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town, South Africa; PCER– Private Collection Enrico Ricchiardi, Turin, Italy; PCRP—Private Collection R. Perissinotto & L. Clennell, Durban, South Africa. Geographical abbreviations are as follows: ECA—Eastern Cape Province; FRS—Free State Province; KZN—KwaZulu-Natal Province; and MPU—Mpumalanga Province.