Mecopoda confracta, Liu & Heller & Wang & Yang & Wu & Liu & Zhang, 2020

Liu, Chun-Xiang, Heller, Klaus-Gerhard, Wang, Xue-Song, Yang, Zhen, Wu, Chao, Liu, Fei & Zhang, Tao, 2020, Taxonomy of a katydid genus Mecopoda Serville (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae, Mecopodinae) from East Asia, Zootaxa 4758 (2), pp. 296-310 : 305

Mecopoda confracta sp. n. Liu

( Figs 2 a–e; 4b; 5g; 6g)

Holotype. male, CHINA: Yunnan, Mengla County, Wangtianshu Scenic Spot , 21.5998N 101.5869E, 2014.X., T ZHANG.

Paratypes. 10 males, same data as in holotype; CHINA: Guangxi , 6 males, 1 female, Nanning City, Damingshan Scenic Spot , 23.3844N 108.5507E, 2014.X., C WU ; 2 males, Longzhou City, Nonggang Nature Reserve , 2013. VII., YY WANG ; Yunnan, 1 male, Mengla County, Menglun Botanic Garden , 21.9237N 101.2711E, 2014.X., T ZHANG ; Yunnan, 3 males, Wenshan County, Maguan Village , 2017.X., C WU ; 1 male ( CH 7680), Jin Ping, 2014. IV., K-G HELLER & CX LIU; Ruili City , 2 males, 2 females, Botanic Garden ,. 2013.IX.16, C WU ; 4 males, Bangda Village , 1432m, 2014.III., XD YANG ; Guangdong , Zhaoqing City , 1 male, Dinghushan Nature Reserve , 22.6722N 113.9738E, 2014.X.5, T ZHANG ; 1 male, Heishiding Nature Reserve , 2014.X.2, T ZHANG .

Diagnosis. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by basal teeth of the stridulatory file which are abruptly becoming smaller proximad ( Fig. 5g ).

Bioacoustics. The song unit is only a simple chirp, made up of a few simple syllables ( Fig. 2 a–d) (see song parameters in Table 3). Its song is very similar to the song type “Chirper“ that was described by Nityananda & Balakrishnan (2006), but different from the latter by the short interval between neighboring chirps. The relation between duration and period is 1: 2 in M. confracta sp. n. compared to 1: 4 in “Chirper”.

The species “b1” is widely distributed in southern China (including Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guangdong).

Etymology. The species name indicates that its song consists of broken chirps.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Calling song of the species group confracta. a–e: M. confracta sp. nov., f–j: M. synconfracta sp. nov., k–o: Mecopoda_“S” (Sismondo 1990). Oscillogram of representative song units (a, f, k), a song unit (b, d, l), the syllable groups at the climax of a song unit (c, h, m), and at the end of a song unit (d, i, n). Spectrum of the calling song (e, j, o).

FIGURE 5. Male stridulatory file under the left tegmen. a: M. niponensis (Haan, 1843); b: M. fallax He, 2019; c: M. crescendo sp. nov.; d: M. himalaya sp. nov.; f: M. tibetensis sp. nov.; f: M. marmorata He; g: M. confracta sp. nov.; h: M. synconfracta sp. nov.; i: Mecopoda_“S” (Sismondo 1990); j: Mecopda sp. from Vietnam; k: M. elongata elongata from India; l: M. minor minor subsp. nov.; m: M. m. yunnana subsp. nov..