Abstract:
Recently, large numbers of Melanophila unicolor
Gory, 1841 were attracted to furnaces and cooling
copper at a smelter at Tsumeb, Namibia, where the
beetles are colloquiallyknownas ‘furnace-beetles’.
The smelter is surrounded by indigenous savanna
woodland. The beetles were alleged by workers to
inflict a painful bite. Specimens were sent to us
for identification; the results are reported in this
communication.
