Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 98. (Budapest 2006)

Gattolliat, J.-L. ; Sartori, M.: The mayflies of Ghana (Insecta: Ephemeroptera)

ANNALES HISTORICO-NATURALES MUSEI NATIONALIS HUNGARICI Volume 98 Budapest, 2006 pp. 5-28. The mayflies of Ghana (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) J.-L. GATTOLLIAT & M. SARTORI Museum of Zoology, Palais de Rumine, Place Riponne 6, CH-1014 Lausanne, Switzerland E-mail: jean-luc.gattolliat@vd.ch Abstract - In the late 1960, S. ENDRŐDY-YOUNGA and B. ENTZ sampled insects of different orders from various areas of Ghana. Nearly 1000 imagoes of Ephemeroptera were collected. We were able to identify 26 taxa, mostly to the species level. With 9 species, Baetidae is by far the most diversified family. Povilla adusta NAVÀS, 1912 (Polymitarcyidae), Procloeon cylindroculum KlMMLNS, 1955 (Baetidae) and Tricorythus sp. (Tricorythidae) are the most common and most abundant taxa. As the mayfly fauna of Ghana was poorly prospected, 21 of the 26 taxa constitute new reports for this country. Eight species are also new for West Africa, some of which have never been mentioned since the original description. We also illustrate three species that are possibly new to science. With 8 figures. Key words - Ghana, Ephemeroptera, new records. INTRODUCTION The Ephemeroptera fauna of West Africa is still insufficiently known, although some genera have been studied in detail mainly by ELOUARD, WUILLOT and GILLIES (see references below). In this context, the mayflies of Ghana have been particularly underworked, due to several reasons, both historical and political. At the moment, the following Ephemeroptera are known to occur in Ghana (in chronological order): Elassoneuria sp. (nymphs) (BERNER 1954); Dicercomyzon fémorale DEMOULIN, 1954 (DEMOULIN 1970); D. marginatum KlMMINS, 1957 and D. costale KIMMINS, 1957 (KlMMINS 1957); Adenophlebiodes sp. (PETERS & EDMUNDS 1964) (nymphs); Povilla adusta NAVÀS, 1912 (PETR 1970); Cloeon smaeleni LESTAGE, 1924 and C. perkinsi BARNARD, 1932 (GILLIES 1980Z?); Exeuthyplocia minima (ULMER, 1916) (HIDEUX 1987); and Adenophlebiodes massirius ELOUARDHlDEUX et ELOUARD, 1991 (ELOUARD-HIDEUX & ELOUARD 1991). In the Hungarian Natural History Museum (HNHM) in Budapest there is a rather important collection of Ephemeroptera gathered mainly by Dr SEBASTIAN ENDRŐDY-YOUNGA in the late 1960's. The collector worked in Ghana as an ento-