Nata H. Watson, 1934

Muratov, Igor V., 2024, Life of a specialised and a non-specialised carnivore: Comparative behaviour and functional morphology of two species of terrestrial molluscs (Gastropoda: Rhytididae) in South Africa, Indago: Investigating nature and humanity in Africa (Oxford, England) 41 (10), pp. 1-13 : 2

Genus Nata H. Watson, 1934

Nata H. Watson, 1934: 158 ; Connolly 1939: 98, 99; Wenz in Wenz & Zilch 1960: 553; Richardson 1989: 45; Schileyko 2000: 747; Herbert & Kilburn 2004: 218; Herbert & Moussalli 2016: 18. (Type species: Natalina tarachodes Connolly, 1912: 96 , by orig. des.)

Subfamily Chlamydephorinae Cockerell, 1935 Chlamydephoridae Cockerell, 1935: 143 . (Type genus: Chlamydephorus W.G. Binney, 1879: 331 .)

Not Chlamidophorina C.L. Bonaparte, 1851 [1850]: 476. (Type genus: Chlamyphorus Harlan, 1825 ( Mammalia: Dasypodidae ).)

Aperidae MÖllendorff, 1903 [1902]: 5; Connolly 1912: 62, 1939: i, 6; Thiele 1931: 726. (Type genus: Apera Heynemann, 1885: 20 .)

Aperaidae Collinge, 1910: 159, 163. (Type genus: Apera Heynemann, 1885: 20 .)

Genus Chlamydephorus W.G. Binney, 1879 Chlamydephorus W.G. Binney, 1879: 331 ; Fischer 1880: 368, 369; Dall 1880: 430; Kobelt 1881: 91, 92; Martens 1881: 65, 66; Binney 1884: 81, 136; Tryon 1885: 7, 17; Cockerell 1890: 390, 1935: 142; Cockerell & Collinge 1893: 189, 206; Cooke 1895: 334, 440; Simroth 1896: 5, 19, 20; Sarasin & Sarasin 1899: 106, 112; Wenz in Wenz & Zilch 1960: 555; Boss 1982: 1072; Richardson 1989: 2, 12; Rosenberg 1989: 153; Herbert 1997: 209, 2000: 4; Schileyko 2000: 753; Herbert & Kilburn 2004: 285. (Type species: Chlamydephorus gibbonsi W.G. Binney, 1879: 331 .)

Chlamydophorus : Tryon 1884: 13, 366; Fischer 1887: 448, 449; Simroth 1901: 110, 111.

Apera Heynemann, 1885: 20 , 1905: 23; Smith 1892: 465; Cooke 1895: 334, 440; Collinge 1897: 221, 1900, 1901a, 1901b, 1910: 159, 163; Simroth 1901: 110 et seq.; Möllendorff 1903: 5; Pilsbry 1907: xi; Connolly 1912: 62, 1939: 6; Watson 1915: 107 et seq.; Thiele 1931: 727). (Type species: Chlamydephorus gibbonsi W.G. Binney, 1879: 331 .)

Not Chlamydephorus Lenz, 1831 : xi [“ Chlamyphorus (richtiger wäre ChlamydephorUs oder ChlamydophorUs )”].

Not Chlamyphorus Harlan, 1825a: 236–246 , 1825b: 154– 163; Lenz 1831: xi, 217, 310. ( Mammalia: Dasypodidae )

There have been few occasional direct observations of the feeding behaviour of chlamydephorid slugs. Watson (1915: 158) mentioned that C. gibbonsi W.G. Binney, 1879: 331 feeds on earthworms and Pieterse et al. (2017) described how this slug fed on earthworms in captivity. Forcart (1967: 520) mentioned in his description of C. bruggeni that holotype of that species “found devouring a Sphaerotherium spec. ( Diplopoda)”. Herbert (1997: 209) reported C. dimidius (H. Watson, 1915: 204) eating a small specimen of Trachycystis in captivity. Three years later, Herbert (2000) presented results of his detailed observations of C. sexangulus (H. Watson, 1915: 213) consuming pill-millipedes of the genus Sphaerotherium and mentioned that he personally observed C. burnupi (E.A. Smith, 1892) feeding on Sphaerotherium as well ( Herbert 2000: 4). All historical knowledge related to the feeding behaviour of Chlamydephorus was summarised by Herbert and Kilburn (2004: 285–289).

The results of observations on the feeding, as well as on the general behaviour of two species of Rhytididae , Chlamydephorus burnupi and Nata vernicosa ( Krauss, 1848) , are presented below.