Miramiola pusilla ( Miram, 1927 )

Sergeev, M. G. & Molodtsov, V. V., 2024, New data on distribution of Miramiola pusilla (Miram, 1927) (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae, Far Eastern Entomologist 496, pp. 16-24 : 18-22

Miramiola pusilla ( Miram, 1927)

Fig. 1

Metrioptera pusilla Miram, 1927: 181 (holotype: female, Askaniya Nova; kept in the Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg); Miram, 1928: 293–294 (male designated as " allotype ", Askaniya Nova; kept in the Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg).

Miramiola pusilla : Uvarov, 1939: 135–136; Bey-Bienko, 1964: 233; Sergeev, 1982: 42; 1986: 182; Heller et al., 1998: 34; Storozhenko, 2004: 136; Childebaev & Storozhenko, 2004: 218.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Russia: Orenburg Oblast (Region): Belyayevka settlement, 51.4°N, 56.39°E, 5.VIII 1932, 3♂, 1♀ (L. Zimin). Novosibirsk Oblast (Region): 40 km W Karasuk, Solenoye Lake 53.68°N, 77.62°E 9.VIII 1972, 1♂, 1♀; Karasuksky Raion (District), S Aleksandorvskij settelement, 53.67°N, 78.25°E, steppes, including plots treated against the Italian locust Calliptamus italicus (L.), 27.VI–20.VII 2000, 2♂ (f. macroptera), 1♀ (f. macroptera), 2 nymphs (MS); the same locality, 5.VI–5.VII 2001, 5♂, 2♀, 3 nymphs (MS, M. Peshkova); the same locality, 11.VI–13.VII 2002, 3♂, 4♀, 1 nymph (MS, E. Kuznetsova, M. Schweigert, O. Shalimova); the same locality, 12.VII 2004, 1♀ (MS); the same locality, 14.VII 2007, 1♂ (MS); the same locality, 12.VII 2008, 1♂ (MS). Altai Krai (Region): Burla River , left side, NW Burla, 53.35°N, 78.28°E, southern slope, dry steppe and very old Agropyron cristatum field, 06.VIII 1980, 3♂ (MS); E Burlinskoye Lake , near Bursol settlement, 53.16°N, 78.01°E, dry steppe, 17.VII 2018, 1♂ (MS); W Bolshoye Yarovoe Lake , 52.85°N, 78.55°E, dry steppe (very old Agropyron cristatum field), 28.VII 1999, specimens observed (MS); the same locality, 10.VII 2006, 1♀ (MS); the same locality, 13.VII 2007, 1♀ (MS), the same locality, 14.VI 2015, 1♀, 1 nymph (MS); Blagovechensky Raion, Kuchuk River , lower course, 52.68°N, 80.06°E, 30.VI 2016, steppes including the transformed ones, 2♂, 1♂ (f. macroptera), 5♀, 1♀ (f. macroptera) (MS); Rodinsky Raion, near Kayaushka settlement, Kuchuk River , 52.53°N, 80.48°E, terrace, steppe with Leymus , 12 VII 1992, 1♀ (MS); Volchikhinsky Raion, near Novokormikha settlement, 52.15°N, 80.12°E, dry steppe, 9.VII 2004, 1♂ (MS); W Bor-Forpost settlement, 51.87°N, 80.03°E, dry steppe (very old Agropyron cristatum field), 14.VI 2015, 1♂, 1 nymph (MS). Kazakhstan: Pavlodar Oblast (Region): Trofimovka settlement, 53.5°N, 76.92°E, dry steppe, 17.VII 1972, 1♂ (I. Stebaev); near Matogul settlement, 53.4°N, 75.89°E, Agropyron cristatum field, 9.VIII 1980, 1♀ (A. Lee); near Osmeryzhsk settlement, 53.1°N, 75.92°E, plain and upper terrace, steppe with Stipa and Spiraea , 19.VII 1972, 2♂, 1♀ (A. Lopatkin, I. Stebaev); near Mamait Omarov (Griaznovka) settlement, 51.91°N, 77.07°E, hollow, steppe with Stipa , 4.VII 1975, 2♀ (S. Kovalenko, I. Stebaev). Akmola Oblast (Region): NE Turgai settelement, 51.8°N, 72.88°E, southern slopes and piedmont plain, dry steppe, 21.VII 1980, 1♂, 1♀ (MS). Abai Oblast (Region): Tchar River , 49.71°N, 80.81°E, low terrace and hollow, dry steppe, 28–30.VII 1972, 3♀ (A. Lopatkin, I. Stebaev); Ayagöz River , 26 km downstream Ayagöz, 47.88°N, 80.11°E, slopes and upper terraces, dry steppes, VI 1976, 1♂, 1♀ A. Lopatkin); the same locality, mountain dry steppe, 4.VII 1991, 1♀ (MS); Tarbagatai Mts. , northern slope, Tebeske River , 47.42°N, 82.85°E, hollow, steppe with Stipa , 3.VIII 1972, 1♀ (I. Stebaev). Karaganda Oblast (Region): near Karagandy, Dolinskoe (Dolinka), 49.68°N, 72.69°E, 4.VIII 1934, experimental plot, dry steppe, 1♂ (A. Kazanskij) .

REMARKS. The description of the species was based on the only female from the Nature Reserve Askaniya-Nova in the southern steppes of East European Plain ( Miram, 1927). This female is the holotype ( Storozhenko, 2004). Later Miram (1928) described the male of this species and designated it as the allotype. However, this specimen can't be considered as the member of the type series.

DISTRIBUTION. The steppe and semi-desert areas of Eurasia from the southern part of East European plain up to the south-eastern parts of West Siberian Plain and the northern slopes of the Tarbagatai Mts. in east Kazakhstan ( Fig. 2 ).

ECOLOGICAL PREFERENCES

Almost all authors note that Miramiola pusilla prefers the dry steppes with presence of relatively short grasses, such as the Volga fescue ( Festuca valesiaca ), the crested wheat grass ( Agropyron cristatum ), and Stipa spp. However, the species individuals' distribution is very heterogeneous, and its more or less dense groups may be observed inside the grassy patches. The individuals often stay inside such patches and probably they feed on grasses.

Miramiola pusilla was very rare in the steppes of the Saratov Oblast ( Zinenko et al., 2005) and in the Troitsk Forest-Steppe Reserve (now the so-called zakaznik in the Chelyabinsk Oblast) ( Nefedov & Miram, 1939). Childebaev (2017; Kadyrbekov et al., 2017) also emphasized rarity and low abundance of this bush-cricket across the central parts of Saryarka (Kazakh Uplands) in Kazakhstan. However, in the dry steppes and the semi-deserts of the Zhanybek vicinities near the border of Kazakhastan and Russia, the species was distributed over almost all habitats studied and was very abundant, especially in June ( Kritskaya, 1997).

Our data show that, in the central and eastern parts of Saryarka, in the Kulunda steppe, and in the Tarbagatai Mts., the abundance of this species is low and varies usually around 3–12 per hour (cf. Childebaev, 2017; Kadyrbekov et al., 2017). The maximal level of the abundance (30 individuals per hour) was fixed on the steppe plot near Aleksandorvskij settelement (SW Novosibirsk Oblast) in the end of June, 2001. The species density may be about 0.16–0.48/m 2. However, the species occurs not only in the steppe habitats per se, but also across the agricultural fields (especially in the old fields of Agropyron cristatum ).

Miramiola pusilla could be found in the habitats where the Italian locust Calliptamus italicus (Linnaeus) , the handsome cross grasshopper Oedaleus decorus (Germar) and some other possible pests may be extremely abundant (Sergeev, 2021; Popova et al., 2021). However, the treatments (particularly the barrier ones) against the Italian locust populations with different insecticides did not devastate the populations of the bush-cricket (Sergeev, 2021).

The Maxent ecologo-geographic model shows that the most suitable areas for this bush-cricket are distributed over the steppes and the semi-deserts between the Volga River in the west and the Altai Mts. in the east and border the northern boundaries of the steppes to the north and the southern edge of Saryarka and Tarbagatai Mts. to the south ( Fig. 3 ).

The Maxent model performance is almost perfect (especially taking into account a few samples), because the AUC value for 25 replicates equals 0.98 ( Fig. 4 ). According the Maxent model, the precipitation of driest quarter is the most important factor (contribution – 20.5%). The precipitation of wettest quarter (19.7), the annual mean temperature (17.1), and the mean temperatures of driest quarter (10.3) are also significant. The Jackknife test allows to add the precipitation of warmest quarter and the mean temperature of wettest quarter as well.

The models for both 2021–2040 ( Fig. 5 ) and 2041–2060 ( Fig. 6 ) based on high rates of greenhouse gas emission forecast significant possible shifts in the species distribution. The optimal areas may cover territories from 55°N (Kurgan – Omsk – Novosibirsk), especially in the south-eastern parts of West Siberian Plain, up to the southern edge of Saryarka ( Kazakh Uplands ) and the Tarbagatai Mts .

However, across the territories between the Volga River and the south-western parts of West Siberian Plain, the conditions for Miramiola pusilla may become worse, especially in the middle of the 21st century ( Fig. 6 ).

Figures

Fig. 2. Miramiola pusilla known localities in the Asian part of its range.

Fig. 3. Predicted probabilities of suitable conditions for Miramiola pusilla according the Maxent model (all distribution data and bioclimatic variables for 1970–2000; point-wise mean for 25 replicates).

Fig. 4. Reliability test for the Miramiola pusilla. Maxent distribution model (bioclimatic variables for 1970–2000; 25 replicates with cross-validation).

Fig. 5. Predicted probabilities of suitable conditions for Miramiola pusilla according the Maxent model for 2021–2040 (all distribution data and bioclimatic variables; point-wise mean for 25 replicates; CNRM-ESM2-1 (Séférian et al., 2019) climatic model for 3-7.0 Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (Meinshausen et al., 2020).

Fig. 6. Predicted probabilities of suitable conditions for Miramiola pusilla according the Maxent model for 2041–2060 (all distribution data and bioclimatic variables; point-wise mean for 25 replicates; CNRM-ESM2-1 (Séférian et al., 2019) climatic model for 3-7.0 Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (Meinshausen et al., 2020).