A new parasitic fungus, Laboulbenia curtonoti sp. n., associated with the endemic Madagascan fly Curtonotum balachowskyi Tsacas (Diptera: Curtonotidae), is described and figured. The new species is one of the very few Laboulbeniales which penetrate the insect's cuticle by means of more-or-less developed rhizoids. A brief review of the 23 species of the genus Laboulbenia associated with Diptera is presented in a tabulated form.

Epimastax hesterae sp. n. is described from the Lopingian deposits of the Tarkastad Subgroup of the Beaufort Group. All described congeners are known from the Lower and Middle Permian (Sakmarian, Kungurian and Kazanian) of Central and East Europe.

The following new species of Dryinidae are described from Kenya: Anteoninae: Anteon bytebieri, A. copelandi, A. shimbanum, A. whartoni; Dryininae: Dryinus copelandi, D. shimbanus; Gonatopodinae: Gonatopus baginei. The following new species of Embolemidae are described: Ampulicomorpha nzigidaherai, from Burundi and Kenya; Embolemus burundensis, from Burundi. Updated checklists of Dryinidae, Embolemidae and Sclerogibbidae of Kenya and Burundi are presented. Embolemidae are recorded for the first time in Kenya and Burundi. With the above new records, 39 species of Dryinidae, four species of Embolemidae and 12 species of Sclerogibbidae are now known from Kenya, and two species of Dryinidae, three species of Embolemidae and one species of Sclerogibbidae are known from Burundi.

The fauna of the plume moths of Lesotho is reviewed based on existing collections. Four new species are described: Platyptilia bowkeri, P. sochivkoi, Hellinsia basuto and Merrifieldia innae. In total, 16 species of Pterophoridae are found in Lesotho, with 15 of them being recorded in the country for the first time.

Examination of recently collected material of predominantly ground-dwelling jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) mainly from the Free State and Northern Cape provinces, South Africa, lead to the discovery of 15 new species, which are described here: Cembalea triloris sp. n., Evarcha brinki sp. n., E. flagellaris sp. n., E. vittula sp. n., Icius pulchellus sp. n., Langona hirsuta sp. n., L. lotzi sp. n., Microbianor globosus sp. n., Pseudicius dependens sp. n., P. gracilis sp. n., P. karinae sp. n., P. maculatus sp. n., P. solitarius sp. n., Rhene lingularis sp. n. and Tanzania meridionalis sp. n. The unknown male of Rhene konradi Wesolowska, 2009, and the unknown females of Pellenes bulawayoensis Wesolowska, 1999, P. modicus Wesolowska & Russell-Smith, 2000, Phlegra etosha Logunov & Azarkina, 2006, P. karoo Wesolowska, 2006 and Thyene thyenioides (Lessert, 1925), are described for the first time. Nine species, Dendryphantes hararensis Wesolowska & Cumming, 2008, Menemerus pilosus Wesolowska, 2006, Pellenes geniculatus (Simon, 1868), P. modicus, Phlegra bresnieri (Lucas, 1846), P. etosha, P. karoo, Tanzania mkomaziensis (Wesolowska & Russell-Smith, 2000) and T. thyenioides, are recorded from South Africa for the first time. Apart from two records in the Northern Cape Province, Cembalea triloris sp. n. is also recorded from southern Namibia. Additionally, new provincial records for species previously recorded from elsewhere in South Africa are presented: 19 species are recorded from the Free State for the first time, five from the North West, and two from the Northern Cape. Thyenula oranjensis Wesolowska, 2001, described from the eastern Free State, is recorded from KwaZulu-Natal for the first time.

Wild molluscs from five sites and farmed oysters and abalone from one site each along the south coast of South Africa were examined for shell-boring Polydora and Dipolydora. One new species each of Dipolydora and Polydora are described. D. keulderae sp. n. belongs to the D. barbilla / D. bidentata group and was present at all the sites sampled. P. dinthwanyana sp. n. belongs to the P. ciliata / P. websteri group and was recorded only at Haga Haga, the most easterly site sampled. In total, five Dipolydora species (D. cf. armata, D. capensis, D. cf. giardi, D. keulderae and D. normalis) and three Polydora species (P. cf. ciliata, P. dinthwanyana and P. cf. hoplura) were recorded. All but D. normalis bored into mollusc shells and while the rest of the worms showed no host preference, the larger, subtidal Haliotis spp. and Turbo sarmaticus usually hosted the largest number of species at each site. D. normalis and P. dinthwanyana were recorded only at Haga Haga, P. cf. ciliata only at Port Elizabeth and the rest at all the sites. This study extends the known distributions of D. normalis, D. cf. armata and P. cf. ciliata in South Africa.

This paper focuses on five species of Polyplacophora (Mollusca) collected from Lavanono, southern Madagascar. Ischnochiton sirenkoi is described as a new species and is compared with the two Ischnochiton species known from Madagascar, I. yerburyi (E.A. Smith, 1891) and I. sansibarensis Thiele, 1909, and with all known Indian Ocean Ischnochiton species. Findings for the other species here discussed provide a significant extension of previously known geographical range. Chaetopleura chelazziana Ferreira, 1983 is reported for the first time in the chiton fauna of Madagascar. The taxonomic status of Callistochiton ashbyi (Barnard, 1963), previously considered a synonym of C. crosslandi Sykes, 1907, is discussed. This taxon, which was described from a unique intermediate valve from South Africa, is re-evaluated and recognized as a valid species, differing from C. crosslandi in several significant characters. We also present an unusual feature detected in almost all the specimens of Cryptoplax dupuisi Ashby, 1931, which are characterized by the absence of dorsal girdle spicules on the first four valves, a feature never reported in other chiton species. Type material of Callistochiton madagassicus Thiele, 1909, Chiton ashbyi (Barnard, 1963) is figured.

The Caecidae found in shallow water sediment samples in Inhaca Island and Maputo Bay are described and illustrated. Three species are recorded: Caecum chinense, which is the most common; Caecum sepimentum, which was represented by a couple of specimens only; and Caecum inhacaense, a new species here described. The operculum of C. chinense is described and illustrated by SEM for the first time. The type specimens of the Indo-Pacific species Caecum amputatum Hedley, 1899, C. attenuatum Folin, 1879, C. berberense Ladd, 1972, C. chinense Folin, 1868, C. sepimentum Folin, 1868, C. maculatum Habe, 1963 and C. vertebrale Hedley, 1899 are illustrated. C. maculatum and C. berberense are newly synonymised under Caecum sepimentum.