Platycleis kraussi

Skejo, Josip, Rebrina, Fran, Tvrtković, Nikola, Gomboc, Stanislav & Heller, Klaus-Gerhard, 2015, More than a century old ‘ Platycleis Kraussi case’ finally resolved (Tettigoniidae: Platycleidini), Zootaxa 3990 (4), pp. 497-524 : 502

Comparison between Platycleis kraussi and Bicolorana kuntzeni

Firstly, we made detailed comparison of some morphological features (tegmina and male cerci) of Platycleis kraussi and Bicolorana kuntzeni in order to test if there are differences strong enough to treat these two taxa as separate species. We performed both morphological and morphometrical analysis. We found that specimens with tegmina completely without black markings ( Figure 4 ) occur more often in Ćičarija Mt. and Učka Mt. population (17 males and 13 females), while specimens with tegmina bearing black markings are rarer (5 males and 5 females). Animals with black markings on tegmina are more abundant in Velika Kapela Mt. (20 males and 9 females), while specimens with tegmina bearing no markings are rather rare in this population (2 males and 3 females). Males from Velika Kapela Mt. show variability of a smaller range in cerci coloration (almost all the cerci examined—20 males—have distal 1/3 of the cerci much darker that the basal 2/3, while in Učka Mt. and Ćićarija Mt. population there is no morphotype that can be said to be more common than others (Figure 3).

We concluded that these differences are not species specific, but represent the variability within the species. Both old descriptions ( Padewieth 1900, Ramme 1931) were performed on small samples without possibility to analyse species variability, while detailed analyses of a larger sample indicate that B. kuntzeni and P. kraussi are indeed the same species. In the analysis of other morphological characters (body coloration, head morphology, veins morphology, males pars stridens morphology, fore and mid legs morphology, hind femora morphology, males X th tergite morphology, males titillators shape, subgenital plate morphology, females ovipositor morphology) no statistical differences between samples were found. In all following analyses we consider B. kuntzeni and P. kraussi as a single sample. For nomenclatural actions on this matter, consult Taxonomical and nomenclatural part.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Male tegmina. A – C) left tegmen: A) dorsal surface, B) ventral surface, C) stridulatory file. D – F) right tegmen: D) dorsal surface, E) ventral surface, F) stridulatory file. G – H) variability of tegmina coloration: G) Francikovac, H) Musino Brdo, I) Mala Učka, J) Ćićarija: Dol, K) Francikovac, L) Francikovac. (photo J. Skejo).