Introduction

The Scythrididae fauna of the Afrotropical region was recently reviewed (BENGTSSON, 2014), on the basis of thorough examination of available materials preserved in various museum and private collections. The majority of existing materials, comprising almost 4000 specimens, originate from just a few countries, namely South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Yemen, and Oman. Additional records of Scythrididae material from South Africa and Namibia were recently published (NUPPONEN, 2018). Altogether 81 species of Scythrididae are so far reported from Namibia.

The present article is based on new materials of Scythrididae collected during November–December 2019 in the course of a Finnish-Estonian expedition to Namibia. The aim of the trip was to investigate nocturnal Scythrididae by various types of light traps, which have turned out effective, but hitherto used only few times in the southern hemisphere.

Material and methods

The Finnish-Estonian expedition to Namibia was made during 22-XI-02-XII-2019. The investigated area covered the Northern and Central Namibia at ten collecting sites at altitudes of 760 m to 1645 m above sea level. The habitats of collecting sites were various bushy savannas (Figs. 1-2). Altogether 24 species embracing 1505 specimens of Scythrididae were recorded during the trip. The material was collected by light trapping at night. Three to five light traps were used every night, with various UV-tube and led-lamps, as well as 160 W incandescent lamps. Larger insects were removed from trapped material. The remaining portion, mainly microlepidoptera, was transported to Finland. Timo Nupponen sorted the material and transferred the Scythrididae to the corresponding author for determination. The material is deposited in the research collection of T. & K. Nupponen (Espoo, Finland). The types are available for loan via Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Finland (FMNH), or directly from the corresponding author. The coordinates are presented in decimal degrees.