Distribution

Afrotropical region: Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Togo.

Biology

A potential crop pest, larvae feeding on Poaceae: Digitaria horizontalis Willdenow (Jamaican crabgrass), Pennisetum purpureum Schumacher (elephant grass), Setaria barbata (Lamarck) Kunth (bristly foxtail grass), Zea mays Linnaeus (maize) (Liston et al. 2015). These four species are all used as cereal or fodder crops throughout tropical and sub-tropical Africa (Akoegninou et al. 2006).

References

Akoegninou A, van der Burg WJ, van der Maesen LJG. 2006. Flore Analytique du Bénin. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, 1034 pp.

Koch, F. 1995. Die Symphyta der Äthiopischen Region. 1. Gattung: Xenapates Kirby, 1982 (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae, Allantinae). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, Neue Folge, Berlin 42(2): 369-437.
Koch, F. 1996. Die Symphyta der Äthiopischen Region: Zwei neue Arten aus der Gattung Xenapates Kirby, 1882 (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae: Allantinae). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, Neue Folge, Berlin 43(2): 307-312.
Liston A, Goergen G, Koch F. 2015. The immature stages and biology of two Xenapates species in West Africa (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 62(1): 9-17. doi: 10.3897/dez.62.8922

Credits

Photographs © Andrew D. Liston (Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut), Georg Goergen (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Benin) and Frank Koch (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin).