. Annals of the South African Museum = Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum. Natural history. REVISION OF THE GENUS COLOPHON GRAY 371 It will be shown in the following section that the distinction between relict and refuge habitats and their biome is crucial to the understanding of the history of an area where relicts, in the broad sense, occur. It will also be shown that the biota of the Cape high mountains are in refuge, and do not represent a relict in the spatial sense. OBSERVATIONS ON LIVE SPECIMENS Very little is known of the biology of the Colophon species, and observations are restric
. Annals of the South African Museum = Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum. Natural history. REVISION OF THE GENUS COLOPHON GRAY 371 It will be shown in the following section that the distinction between relict and refuge habitats and their biome is crucial to the understanding of the history of an area where relicts, in the broad sense, occur. It will also be shown that the biota of the Cape high mountains are in refuge, and do not represent a relict in the spatial sense. OBSERVATIONS ON LIVE SPECIMENS Very little is known of the biology of the Colophon species, and observations are restricted to a few live specimens in nature (Fig. 3) and in captivity. In October 1977 several high-mountain areas were visited, both in the Swartberg and Langeberg ranges. Although on that occasion no live specimens were seen, it was possible to mark two sites for further studies. The indications of the prospective sites (one in each range) were fragments of dismembered specimens of Colophon beetles found in debris and under stones. Large numbers of ground-traps with preservative were set in both areas but they yielded no specimens of Colophon, although later several specimens were sighted within a few metres of operating traps. It was concluded that none of the baits used, including fermenting banana, had any attraction for these species. During three subsequent years the two selected sites were visited five times. On three occasions live specimens were seen and observed; each time some of the specimens were taken live to Pretoria, where they were observed for periods of up to 84 days. Our scanty knowledge comes from these field and laboratory observations of live specimens. \ ±-~ J > if3 .-?. i^H A Fig. 3. Colophon izardi Barnard, male, in its natural environment in the Langeberg Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
