Tarachodes (Barbachodes) afzelii (Stål, 1871)

Figs. 46–52

Chiropacha afzelii Stål, 1871: 396

= Tarachodes irrorata Gerstaecker, 1883: 79–80 .

= Tarachodes griffinii Giglio-Tos, 1911: 107 .

= Tarachodes bandanus Giglio-Tos, 1917: 98 .

Type localities. (C. a.) Sierra Leone; (T. i.) Accra, Ghana; (T. g.) Konakry, Guinea; (T. b.) Banda, Ghana.

Distribution. Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, DRC (Beier 1957b, 1968; Ene 1964; Gerstaecker 1883; Giglio-Tos 1911b, 1917a; Gillon & Roy 1968; Miles 2021; Prost & Roy 1986; Ragge & Roy 1967; Roy 1962a, 1963, 1964b, 1965a, 1967, 1969, 1970b, 1971b, c, 1975; Roy & Leston 1975; Stål 1871).

Records. CSC: 2 ♁♁, old camp, 10.–15.X.2000, C. J. Schwarz leg.; juv. ♀, old camp, X.2000, C. J. Schwarz leg.; ♁, old camp, X.–XI.2000, C. J. Schwarz leg.; ♁, old camp, X.–XI.2000, leg. juv. C. J. Schwarz; ♁, new station, 03.IV.–12.V.2017, M. Pohl leg. (genitalia preparation Schwarz No. 322); ♁, new station, 03.IV.–12.V.2017, M. Pohl leg.; ♁, new station, 22.IV.–06.VI.2018, M. Pohl leg. (genitalia preparation Schwarz No. 416); ♁, new station, 22.IV.–06.VI.2018, M. Pohl leg. (genitalia preparation Schwarz No. 474); ♁ ♀, new station, 22.IV.–06.VI.2018, M. Pohl leg.; ♁, new station, IV.–VI.2021, E. Frank leg. (genitalia preparation Schwarz No. 558).

Remarks. Most common Tarachodes species in the Guinea savanna and degraded forest habitats from Senegal to DRC. Recorded from the CNP by Gillon & Roy (1968). On stems and twigs of savanna trees (Fig. 51). Females practice maternal care by guarding the ootheca against invertebrate predators (Edmunds 1976).