South African Lagerstätte reveals middle Permian Gondwanan lakeshore ecosystem in exquisite detail.

Continental ecosystems of the middle Permian Period (273-259 million years ago) are poorly understood. In South Africa, the vertebrate fossil record is well documented for this time interval, but the plants and insects are virtually unknown, and are rare globally. This scarcity of data has hampered studies of the evolution and diversification of life, and has precluded detailed reconstructions and analyses of ecosystems of this critical period in Earth's history.

A reassessment of the genus Crass, 1947 (Ephemeroptera, Oligoneuriidae, Oligoneuriellini).

The distinction between the two closely related genera Ulmer, 1924 and Crass, 1947 has been much debated. First described from South Africa, seemed to be a clearly defined genus. However, as the known distribution of the genus widened and knowledge on it expanded, species delimitation based on morphology became less clear due to overlap in several apparently defining morphological characters, especially in the nymphs.

Habitat requirements affect genetic variation in three species of mayfly (Ephemeroptera, Baetidae) from South Africa.

This study investigates genetic diversity in three species of Ephemeroptera, one eurytopic and therefore widespread () and two stenotopic and thus endemic ( and ) species, all of which co-occur in the southern Great Escarpment, South Africa. Mitochondrial DNA was analysed to compare the genetic diversity between the habitat generalist and the two habitat specialists. showed no indication of population genetic structure due to geographic location, while both species revealed clear genetic differentiation between geographic localities and catchments, evident from phylogenetic analyses and high F values from AMOVA.

Redescription and lectotype designation of the endemic South African mayfly Lestagella penicillata (Barnard, 1932) (Ephemeroptera: Teloganodidae).

The imago and nymph of Lestagella penicillata are redescribed based on historic specimens and new material from Table Mountain slopes (Skeleton Gorge and Window Stream), Western Cape, South Africa. A male from Barnard's syntype series is designated as the lectotype. Wear-and-tear of mouthparts, particularly the mandibles, has led to errors in identification of diagnostic characters for the nymphs in earlier publications.

Cryptic variation in an ecological indicator organism: mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data confirm distinct lineages of Baetis harrisoni Barnard (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) in southern Africa.

Background: Baetis harrisoni Barnard is a mayfly frequently encountered in river studies across Africa, but the external morphological features used for identifying nymphs have been observed to vary subtly between different geographic locations. It has been associated with a wide range of ecological conditions, including pH extremes of pH 2.9-10.