West-africa

Guides

Cneorhinini
Cneorhinini is a tribe of weevils in the subfamily Entiminae, family Curculionidae. The tribe was established by Lacordaire in 1863 and contains multiple genera distributed across West Africa and other regions. Members of this tribe are broad-nosed weevils, a characteristic feature of the Entiminae subfamily. The genus Ascopus, included in this tribe, has been documented from Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone.
weevil tribe Entiminae Curculionidae Coleoptera West-Africa
Dicranoclista
Dicranoclista is a genus of bee flies (family Bombyliidae) comprising four described species distributed disjunctly across North America and Africa. The genus was established by Bezzi in 1924 and belongs to the subfamily Anthracinae. Species occur in diverse habitats from the western United States and Canada to West Africa and Sudan.
bee-fly Bombyliidae disjunct-distribution western-North-America West-Africa
Gyranusoidea
Gyranusoidea is a genus of encyrtid parasitoid wasps established by Compere in 1947. The genus contains species that are primary parasitoids of mealybugs (Pseudococcidae), with several species deployed as biological control agents for agricultural pest management. Gyranusoidea tebygi is the most extensively studied species, introduced from India to West Africa in 1987 to control the invasive mango mealybug Rastrococcus invadens, where it established readily and achieved significant pest suppression. Other species such as G. indica have been reported as parasitoids of additional mealybug pests including Maconellicoccus hirsutus.
Encyrtidae parasitoid biological-control mealybug Rastrococcus classical-biological-control Hymenoptera agricultural-pest-management Togo India West-Africa hyperparasitism interspecific-competition Gyranusoidea-tebygi Gyranusoidea-indica
Neogoveidae
Neogoveid Harvestmen
Neogoveidae is a family of small, eyeless harvestmen (Cyphophthalmi) distributed across tropical regions of West Africa and the Neotropics. Members range from 1 to 4.5 mm in body length and exhibit distinctive morphological features including a heavily granulated dorsal scutum, laterally projecting ozophores, and variable adenostyle morphology. The family shows substantial undescribed diversity, with many species awaiting formal description.
harvestmen mites tropical eyeless soil-dwelling cave-dwelling West-Africa Neotropics cryptic-diversity
Petrolisthes armatus
Green Porcelain Crab
Petrolisthes armatus, commonly known as the green porcelain crab, is a small porcellanid crab native to the southwestern Atlantic, particularly Brazil. The species has established invasive populations along the southeastern United States coast, where densities can exceed 30,000 individuals per square meter. Genetic studies confirm it as a single monophyletic species with exceptional geographic range spanning the Atlantic and eastern Pacific. It is frequently parasitized by the bopyrid isopod Aporobopyrus curtatus, which causes parasitic castration.
invasive-species filter-feeder parasite-host intertidal porcelain-crab oyster-reef symbiosis planktonic-larvae visual-ecology crustacean decapod anomura porcellanidae southwestern-atlantic eastern-pacific southeastern-united-states bopyrid-parasite Aporobopyrus-curtatus estuarine mangrove sponge-symbiosis gaze-stabilization achromatic-vision larval-transport oyster-bed ballast-water aquaculture monophyletic cryptic-species-complex parasitic-castration zoea megalopa pleopod spermatophore chelliped carapace granulated olive-green blue-coloration Farol-Island Brazil Georgia South-Carolina Florida Panama Costa-Rica Ecuador Peru Baja-California Caribbean Gulf-of-Mexico West-Indies Ascension-Island Bermuda Bahamas West-Africa rock-rubble soft-sediment shallow-subtidal lower-intertidal density-30000-per-square-meter 6-8-mm 0.5-g orange-spot four-segmented-cheliped antennae-outside-eyes vestigial-fourth-leg-pair feathery-mouthparts zooplankton scavenger pheromone-settlement-cue 3-mm-sexual-maturity 17%-parasite-prevalence branchial-chamber-parasite synchronous-growth-parasite-host castration visual-noise caustic-flicker polarization-sensitivity optomotor-assay tidal-creek spectrally-narrow-environment mitochondrial-DNA genetic-variability exceptional-range pre-Canal-Panama 1859 1930s-Florida lineage warm-temperate-Atlantic species-complex half-crab squat-lobster-relative true-crab false-crab Decapoda Malacostraca Arthropoda Crustacea Gibbes-1850 Porcellana-armata green-porcelain-crab Petrolisthes-armatus
Phereoeca praecox
Phereoeca praecox is a species of moth in the family Tineidae, first described by Gozmány & Vári in 1973. Records indicate presence in West Africa (Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone) and at least two confirmed records in South Carolina, USA. The species belongs to a genus whose members are commonly known as clothes moths or related tineids, though specific ecological details for this species remain poorly documented in accessible literature.
Lepidoptera Tineidae clothes-moths West-Africa South-Carolina scarce-data
Stenocoris
rice bugs
Stenocoris is a genus of true bugs in the family Alydidae, commonly known as rice bugs. The genus contains more than 20 described species distributed across Africa and the Americas. Several species are significant agricultural pests of rice, feeding on developing grains and causing yield loss and quality reduction. The genus is characterized by slender body form typical of the Alydidae family.
rice-pest agricultural-pest West-Africa Hemiptera Alydidae
Trachyuropoda
Trachyuropoda is a genus of soil-dwelling mites in the family Trachyuropodidae, comprising over 30 described species. These mites belong to the suborder Uropodina and are found in forest litter and soil habitats. They have been studied as indicators of soil fauna diversity in West African ecosystems.
soil-mite Uropodina forest-litter West-Africa bioindicator
Zaprionus
Fig Flies
Zaprionus is a genus of fruit flies in the family Drosophilidae, distinguished by conspicuous white longitudinal stripes across the head and thorax. The genus is divided into two subgenera based on stripe number: Zaprionus (even number of stripes) and Anaprionus (odd number of stripes). Species occur primarily in Africa and southern Asia, with several species showing invasive expansion. The genus is taxonomically nested within the paraphyletic genus Drosophila.
Drosophilidae fruit-flies invasive-species zebra-stripes Afrotropical Oriental agricultural-pest fermenting-fruit parasitoid-host kleptoparasitism oviscapt-structure egg-filaments fig-pest grape-pest berry-pest tropical subgenus-Zaprionus subgenus-Anaprionus competitive-displacement secondary-pest monitoring vinegar-trap range-expansion Mediterranean-invasion New-World-invasion Hawaiian-Islands Southeast-Asia West-Africa polyphagous decomposer nutrient-cycling Pachycrepoideus-vindemiae Spalangia-endius Leptopilina-boulardi interspecific-competition developmental-plasticity temperature-effects fungal-interactions Pichia-kudriavzevii Coquillett-1901 taxonomic-revision molecular-phylogenetics foreleg-spines trichome-structures light-polarization cuticular-pigmentation species-groups-armatus-inermis-vittiger-neglectus species-subgroups-armatus-tuberculatus-vrydaghi-montanus-spinosus-inermis-tuberculatus-sepsoides-davidi-indianus-ornatus-proximus-sexvittatus-vittiger species-complexes-armatus-hoplophorus-vrydaghi-sepsoides-tuberculatus-davidi-indianus-ornatus-proximus-sexvittatus-vittiger Z.-africanus Z.-armatus Z.-bogoriensis Z.-burlai Z.-camerounensis Z.-campestris Z.-capensis Z.-cercociliaris Z.-cercus Z.-davidi Z.-enoplomerus Z.-flavofasciatus Z.-fumipennis Z.-gabonicus Z.-ghesquierei Z.-grandis Z.-hoplophorus Z.-inermis Z.-indianus Z.-kolodkinae Z.-koroleu Z.-lachaisei Z.-lineosus Z.-litos Z.-mascariensis Z.-momorticus Z.-montanus Z.-multistriatus Z.-multivittiger Z.-neglectus Z.-niabu Z.-obscuricornis Z.-ornatus Z.-proximus Z.-pyinoolwinensis Z.-santomensis Z.-sepsoides Z.-seguyi Z.-serratus Z.-sexstriatus Z.-sexvittatus Z.-silvistriatus Z.-spinilineosus Z.-spinipes Z.-spinoarmatus Z.-spineus Z.-spinosus Z.-taronus Z.-tsacasi Z.-tuberarmatus Z.-tuberculatus Z.-verruca Z.-vittiger Z.-vrydaghi Z.-aungsani Z.-arduus Z.-badyi Z.-orissaensis