The South African Meligethes of the M. amplicollis-complex (Coleoptera : Nitidulidae : Meligethinae)

The known South African species of the M. amplicollis-complex in the genus Meligethes Stephens, 1830, are listed and revised. A diagnosis of this species-complex is given, and five species, known to occur in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces, and southern KwaZulu-Natal, are described or re-described and illustrated. A new sibling species, M. aspalathi sp. n. is described from the southeastern Western Cape Province. Meligethes chevrolati Reitter, 1872, previously erroneously considered a synonym of M. amplicollis Boheman, 1851, is resurrected to specific rank. Meligethes imbricatus Easton, 1953, erroneously attributed to Australia, where Meligethes species are absent, is considered to be a synonym of M. chevrolati Reitter, 1872. Bionomical and ecological data on the species covered, which all use flowers of Fabaceae of the genus Aspalathus as larval host-plants, are also included