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Tomatares citrinus

Posted on by Ryan Tippett

View the above photo record (by Marius van Zyl) in LacewingMAP here.

Tomatares citrinus – Painted Grassland Antlion

(Hagen, 1853)

Identification

Size: Medium-Large (Wingspan up to 100mm)

Tomatares citrinus – Near Lephalale, Limpopo
Photo by Justin Bode

Tomatares citrinus is one of the regions most beautiful and brightly coloured antlion species. The body is black, white and yellow. The opaque wings are primarily white with bold black lines and bright yellow accents. The Antennae are noticeably short and stout.

Tomatares citrinus – Sebe-Sebe Lodge, Limpopo
Photo by Riaan Robbeson

Habitat

T. citrinus is a typical savanna-grassland species. Favours places with fairly tall, dense grass.

Behaviour

Tomatares citrinus – Near Osire, Namibia
Photo by Neil Thomson

This species is easily detected when flushed from its resting place in thick grass. Tomatares citrinus is unusual in that it is a diurnal species.

Adults are active during late summer from December to April.

The larvae are known to live freely in soil among grass tussocks. They are voracious predators feeding mainly on other arthropods. The larvae are seldom encountered.

Status and Distribution

Tomatares citrinus is fairly widespread in the northern parts of South Africa. Despite its wide distribution, T. citrinus is an uncommon species. In South Africa T. citrinus is known from KwaZulu-Natal, FreeState, North-West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. It has also been recorded from Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Distribution of Tomatares citrinus. Taken from the LacewingMAP database, July 2022.

Taxonomy

Order: Neuroptera Family: Myrmeleontidae Subfamily: Palparinae Tribe: Palparini Genus: Tomatares Species: citrinus

Tomatares citrinus – Near Waterpoort, Limpopo
Photo by Steve Woodhall

Further Resources

Virtual Museum (LacewingMAP > Search VM > By Scientific or Common Name)

Acknowledgements:

The use of photographs by Justin Bode, Marius Van Zyl, Neil Thomson, Riaan Robbeson, Stephen Ball and Steve Woodhall is acknowledged. This species text has benefited enormously from comments made by Mervyn Mansell on records he has identified in LacewingMAP. We acknowledge his important contribution.

Recommended citation format for this species text:

Tippett RM 2022. Tomatares citrinus. Biodiversity and Development Institute, Cape Town.
Available online at http://thebdi.org/2022/08/13/tomatares-citrinus/

Tomatares citrinus – Near Loding, Mpumalanga
Photo by Stephen Ball
Ryan Tippett
Ryan Tippett
Ryan is an enthusiastic contributor to Citizen Science and has added many important and interesting records of fauna and flora. He has been a member of the Virtual Museum since 2014 and has currently submitted over 12,000 records. He is on the expert identification panel for the OdonataMAP project. Ryan is a well-qualified and experienced Field Guide, and Guide Training Instructor. He has spent the last 18 years in the guiding and tourism industries. Ryan loves imparting his passion and knowledge onto others, and it is this that drew him into guide training in particular. Something that he finds incredibly rewarding is seeing how people he's had the privilege of teaching have developed and gone on to greater things. His interests are diverse and include Dragonflies, Birding, Arachnids, Amphibians, wild flowers and succulents, free diving and experiencing big game on foot. With this range of interests, there is always likely be something special just around the corner!