Ruspolia Schultess, 1898

Naskrecki, Piotr & Guta, Ricardo, 2019, Katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) of Gorongosa National Park and Central Mozambique, Zootaxa 4682 (1), pp. 1-119 : 24-25

Ruspolia Schultess, 1898

http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid: Orthoptera .speciesfile.org:TaxonName:15169

With 41 valid, often poorly diagnosed and morphologically similar and highly polymorphic species, and 36 junior synonyms, the genus Ruspolia is in desperate need of a comprehensive generic revision, one that combines morphological, molecular, and bioacoustic data. Compounding the problem is the presence of a number of new African species awaiting description (R. Toms, pers. comm., and this study) as well as the possibility that the New World genus Neoconocephalus Karny , a taxon that exhibits a similar morphological uniformity and an even greater number of species, is a junior synonym of Ruspolia . The most recent review of the African members of the genus ( Bailey 1975) has clarified the status of many species but included only rudimentary acoustic data. Subsequent treatments ( Bailey 1976; Bailey & McCrae 1978) presented songs of several Ruspolia species from Uganda but also pointed out the existence of numerous (‘limitless’) cryptic species in the genus. For this reason, this review of Mozambican katydids does not attempt to formally describe species that do not fit within the diagnoses of the known species but rather presents their morphological and acoustic characteristics, with the hope that their identity will be fully elucidated in a future revision of the genus.

At least 6 acoustically distinct but morphologically similar species of Ruspolia occur in Gorongosa and Central Mozambique. They all prefer open, grassy habitats at low elevations, with only R. ampla occasionally found at elevations above 800 m. They are active primarily during the wetter months of the year and, unlike other genera of Mozambican Copiphorini , adults appear to be absent at the peak of the dry season between July and November. They feed mostly on grasses, both leaves and the generative parts. R. differens is a known pest of rice and sorghum in Mozambique and elsewhere in Africa ( Bailey & McCrae 1978). Most species are nocturnal although R. ampla often sings during the day.