A new Copelatus with small eyes from the Eastern Cape Wild Coast, South Africa (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)

A new diving beetle, Copelatus mkambati sp. nov., is described from the Mkambati Nature Reserve in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The new species is compared with other Afrotropical taxa with two elytral striae and no submarginal stria (the macellus species group of Copelatus Erichson, 1832). A combination of small eyes, rather weak pigmentation, flattened, subparallel habitus, relatively large head and collecting circumstances all suggest that the new species may be semisubterranean in lifestyle.

Automated summary

A new diving beetle, Copelatus mkambati sp. nov., is described from South Africa, with comparisons made to other Afrotropical taxa. The characteristics and potential lifestyle of the new species are discussed.