Leptophyes calabra

Kleukers, Roy M. J. C., Odé, Baudewijn & Fontana, Paolo, 2010, Two new cryptic Leptophyes species from southern Italy (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), Zootaxa 2506, pp. 26-42 : 28-29

Leptophyes calabra nov. spec.

Figs 1 , 2 , 4 a–g, 5a–h, 9g, 10g, 13c, 14c, 15c, 16g, 17d

Material: Holotype: male, 7-VIII-2008, top of Monte Tiriolo, 3 km E Tiriolo, N38º57'01.3" E16º30'57.2", 830 m above sealevel, col. RMNH Leiden. Paratype: 1 male, same data, col. RMNH Leiden.

Recordings: Baudewijn Odé, ita08-h: take 0 0, 0 1, 0 2, 08; ita08-s: take 0 0 (all from holotype).

Diagnosis: The male can be distinguished easily from L. albovittata , L. boscii , L. discoidalis and L. laticauda , by the shape of the cercus and, in the first three species, the length of the elytra. Of the other three European Leptophyes species it is morphologically most similar to L. punctatissima , although the cercus is not constricted in L. punctatissima and the dorsal stripe on the abdomen is reddish brown instead of crème coloured. The best feature is the song, the syllable broken up into three fragments in L. calabra and unfragmented in L. punctatissima .

Morphologically L. calabra is quite different from both L. lisae and L. sicula , by the shape of the cercus, the bulge at the hind edge of the elytron and the form of the stridulatory file. The song is distinct from L. sicula , but similar to that of L. lisae , the syllable being broken up in three fragments. The last fragment is quite long in L. lisae but very short in L. calabra . A summary is given in table 1 and Fig. 13–16 . The female is as yet unknown.

Male: Head with fastigium narrow. Pronotum quite flat, only slightly upturned at the hind margin ( Fig. 4 a). Elytron more or less round, with a slight bulging at the hind margin ( Fig. 4 d), visible part of the elytron approximately the length of the pronotum ( Fig. 4 a). Stridulatory file with 56 (holotype) and 94 (paratype) teeth. The teeth widen sharply in the basal part of the file, for the remaining 90% more or less equally broad ( Fig. 4 f). Cercus slender and evenly curved, tapering into a sharp, dark point, somewhat constricted at 2/3 of its length ( Fig. 4 c). Subgenital plate long and narrow, extending beyond the tip of the cerci.

General colour in living animals light green, with numerous dark spots ( Fig. 1 ). Pronotum dorsally whitish with red margins. Elytron mostly crème coloured, with dark brown markings, fore margin green. Fore tibia and antennal base red. Abdomen dorsally with creme coloured stripe. Because only two specimens are known, the variability of the colour has to be investigated further.

Measurements (in mm, n = 2): body 13.6 mm, pronotum 2.4 mm, visible part elytron 2.5–3.2 mm, hind femur 14.4 mm.

Female: unknown

Sound: The following description is based upon several recordings of one specimen. The song consists of a repetition of short clicking sounds of about 170 ms, repeated every 1–4s, each consisting of three fragments ( Fig. 5 ). The first two fragments consists of a series of 10–14 pulses. Rarely the first fragment is absent. The third fragment consists of 1(-2) loud pulses, sometimes followed by another pulse at short distance. The frequency spectrum of the first two fragments shows a broad peak around 30 kHz. The third loud fragment in a syllable shows a slightly higher peak, around 35 kHz.

There is no wing movement analysis available. Yet, we assume that the movement is comparable to that of L.lisae , which has a similar song ( Heller & Willemse 1989). This suggests that the three fragments of a song all are produced during a single closing movement of wings and the song consists of a single syllable. The silent intervals between fragments are produced during a pause in this movement. Wing movement analysis might reveal which part of the stridulatory file is involved in the production of the different fragments.

Distribution: Up to now the species is only known from the type locality Monte Tiriolo in the region Calabria ( Italy) ( Fig. 17 d). The known records of L. punctatissima in southern Italy ( Fontana et al. 2006) might all or partly refer to L. calabra , but this has to be investigated further.

Habitat: The two specimens have been found at 800 m above sea level near the top of Monte Tiriolo, in the undergrowth of herbs and grasses in a light mixed forest of pine trees and some deciduous trees and bushes ( Fig. 2 ).

Etymology: A noun in apposition. The species is named after the region Calabria where the only known locality is situated.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Leptophyes calabra, male (holotype) at the type locality Tiriolo, Calabria (2008). Holotype. Photo R. Kleukers.

FIGURE 2. Habitat of Leptophyes calabra on Monte Tiriolo (Calabria). Photo R. Kleukers.

FIGURE 4. Leptophyes calabra male, a. pronotum and elytron (lateral view), b. supra-anal plate and cerci, c. cercus, d. elytron (dorsal), e. elytron (ventral), f. stridulatory file. All detailphoto’s by R. Kleukers & P. Fontana.

FIGURE 5. Oscillograms (200 ms) of calling song of Leptophyes calabra. a – e: Specimen 2: Rec. Baudewijn Odé, 22. VIII. 2008 from time stretched recording via batdetector, 19 ˚ C, recording ita 08 - s: take 00; f – j: Specimen 2: Rec. Baudewijn Odé, 22. VIII. 2008 at 24 bits / 96 kHz, 19 ˚ C, recording ita 08 - h: take 0 8.

FIGURE 13. Elytron (dorsal view), males, a. L. punctatissima, b. L. lisae, c. L. calabra, d. L. sicula.

FIGURE 14. Cercus (dorsal view), males, a. L. punctatissima, b. L. lisae, c. L. calabra, d. L. sicula.

FIGURE 15. Stridulatory file, males, a. L. punctatissima, b. L. lisae, c. L. calabra, d. L. sicula.

FIGURE 16. Songs of the European Leptophyes species, a. L. albovittata, b. L. boscii, c. L. discoidalis, d. L. laticauda, e. L. punctatissima, f. L. lisae, g. L. calabra, h. L. sicula. All recordings by Paolo Fontana or Baudewijn Odé, except L. discoidalis (by Sigfrid Ingrisch). Fragment of 1 sec.

FIGURE 17. Distribution of the European Leptophyes species, a. L. albovittata, b. L. boscii and L. discoidalis (asterisk), c. L. laticauda, d. L. punctatissima, L. lisae (upturned square), L. calabra (asterisk) and L. sicula (square). Sources: Baur et al. (2006), Fontana et al. (2006), Harz (1969), Heller & Willemse (1989), Kleukers et al. (1997), Maas et al. (2002), Schmidt (1989, 1990), Voisin (2006).