title: Chordodes ferox, a new record of horsehair worms (Nematomorpha, Gordiida) from South Africa.
abstract: Three females and one male specimen of a previously unconfirmed species of horsehair worms (Nematomorpha) from South Africa are described using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The females correspond to the description of Chordodes ferox Camerano, 1897, a species previously described from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa) and an adjacent, not further specified region of the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville). Characteristic is the presence of enlarged and elevated simple areoles around the base of a thorn areole, in combination with further cuticular characters. This is the latest of a total of six species of horsehair worms reported from South Africa so far. Two species of praying mantids, Polyspilota aeruginosa (Goeze, 1778) and Sphodromantis gastrica Stål, 1858, have been identified as hosts of Chordodes ferox, while its distribution range in the region and the period of adult emergence from the host remain largely unknown.
authors.affiliation: Zoological Museum, Centrum für Naturkunde, University Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Rhaesa
authors.affiliation: SARChI Chair in Shallow Water Ecosystems, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa.
authors.forename: Renzo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perissinotto
keywords: Chordodes ferox; Nematomorpha; South Africa; new records; praying mantid hosts