Eupholidoptera latens Willemse & Kruseman, 1976

Willemse, Luc, Tilmans, Jos, Kotitsa, Nefeli, Trichas, Apostolos, Heller, Klaus-Gerhard, Chobanov, Dragan & Ode, Baudewijn, 2023, A review of Eupholidoptera (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) from Crete, Gavdos, Gavdopoula, and Andikithira, ZooKeys 1151, pp. 67-158 : 67

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1151.97514
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5FEDE55D-C9AF-47D5-9125-9F1758AE2A18
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/1E2F5C7D-3A98-52D2-86E7-ED67E87F7BEB
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Eupholidoptera latens Willemse & Kruseman, 1976
status

Treatment

Eupholidoptera latens Willemse & Kruseman, 1976 View in CoL

Figs 15 View Figures 11–24 , 29 View Figures 25–38 , 43 View Figures 39–52 , 57 View Figures 53–66 , 68 View Figures 67, 68 , 73 View Figures 69–82 , 87 View Figures 83–96 , 101 View Figures 97–110 , 115 View Figures 111–125 , 130 View Figures 126–139 , 144 View Figures 140–153 , 158 View Figures 154–167 , 172 View Figures 168–181 , 186 View Figures 182–197 , 187 View Figures 182–197 , 202 View Figures 198–212 , 203 View Figures 198–212 , 249 View Figures 247–253 , 254 View Figures 254, 255 , 256 View Figure 256 , 257 View Figure 257 , 258 View Figure 258 , 259 View Figure 259

Eupholidoptera latens Willemse & Kruseman, 1976: 134.

Eupholidoptera latens Morphological description. Willemse and Kruseman 1976: 134, 135.

Eupholidoptera latens Bioacoustics. Çiplak et al. 2009: 27, 51, 54, 55.

Examined specimens.

Holotype, allotype, 4 ♂, 3f (paratypes); 12 ♂, 7 ♀ (for details see Suppl. material 2).

Diagnostics features.

Frons (Fig. 15 View Figures 11–24 ) pale with black dots; pronotal disc (Fig. 29 View Figures 25–38 ) rarely completely pale, mostly frontal half with more or less well defined black central patch, border with pale rear half. V-shaped. Male (Fig. 249 View Figures 247–253 ) - stridulatory file with 108-123 teeth (including proximal and distal ones), density of teeth in middle two thirds of the file 26-31 teeth per mm; anal tergite (Figs 73 View Figures 69–82 , 87 View Figures 83–96 , 101 View Figures 97–110 ) centrally depressed, distally bend downward, forming two lobes with teeth like apex pointing downward, separated by wide excision; cerci (Figs 115 View Figures 111–125 , 130 View Figures 126–139 ) unarmed, 6-7 × longer than wide, in basal half conical, in apical half cylindrical, slightly curved inward in basal half, in profile straight to weakly upturned; subgenital plate (Figs 144 View Figures 140–153 , 158 View Figures 154–167 ) longer than wide, widest in proximal third, tapering and distinctly narrower in distal two thirds, sides rimmed in proximal third, in profile pointing backward, tip apical lobes rounded, spineless, with narrow median excision along one quarter of length its proximal half narrower; styli (Fig. 172 View Figures 168–181 ) short, one quarter as long as cerci, 2-3 × longer than wide, round or flattened, inserted at ventral side of apical lobes, proximal of tip, pointing downward; titillator (Figs 186 View Figures 182–197 , 187 View Figures 182–197 , 202 View Figures 198–212 , 203 View Figures 198–212 ) symmetrical, apical arms fused, parallel to slightly widening toward apical third inflated, diverging into two straight diverging hook-like teeth, in profile basal two thirds parallel, in second third swollen forming wide angle with two weakly upward curved hook-like teeth. Female - subgenital plate (Figs 43 View Figures 39–52 , 57 View Figures 53–66 ) generally slightly wider than long, proximally with two concavities separated by keel, tip apical lobes rectangular, rounded, with slit-like to narrow V-shaped excision reaching one third to halfway, in profile rhomboid, upper distal angle rectangularly rounded.

Measurements.

See Tables 6 View Table 6 , 7 View Table 7 .

Bioacoustics.

Based upon the sound recordings of nine specimens (49 syllables measured), the song of E. latens , as in all species of Eupholidoptera , consists of isolated syllables produced in long series with the opening hemisyllable much shorter and weaker than the closing hemisyllable. In E. latens , the syllable duration is ~ 228 ms, with a syllable rate up to ~ 1/s. Published records ( Çiplak et al. 2009) show a syllable duration of ~ 161 ms and a syllable repetition rate of ~ 0.5/s at maximum. The song may most likely be confused with the other species of Eupholidoptera in Crete, except E. smyrnensis and E. forcipata . For details of sound recordings of Eupholidoptera latens see Suppl. material 3.

Variation.

Eupholidoptera latens is restricted to the northern and central Chania region in western Crete. The cerci and anal tergite show little variation across its range. Titillators in males from the Rodopou peninsula (Figs 187 View Figures 182–197 , 203 View Figures 198–212 ) are relatively slender, with longer apical hooks, being intermediate between E. latens and E. giuliae . In males, morphological variation is most pronounced in the subgenital plates. In males from Kolympari, Rodhopos, and Kato Kefalia in central and northern Chania, as well as in the outlier found in Rethimno the subgenital plate is clearly more slender than in the populations of the Lefka area, the transition between the wide basal part and the narrow apical part generally being more distinct. The morphological variation found in E. latens , E. giuliae , and E. francisae sp. nov. is further elaborated in the discussion.

Differential diagnosis.

Males differ from congenerics in the stout apical arms of the titillator (Figs 186 View Figures 182–197 , 187 View Figures 182–197 , 202 View Figures 198–212 , 203 View Figures 198–212 ), fused in basal half, separated into two strong, short, parallel or diverging curved hooks in the elongated, in the slender subgenital plate (Figs 144 View Figures 140–153 , 158 View Figures 154–167 ) narrowing at one third of the length, the apical lobes without a teeth at its apex and with short styli (Fig. 172 View Figures 168–181 ), inserted pre-apically pointing downward, the anal tergite (Figs 73 View Figures 69–82 , 87 View Figures 83–96 , 101 View Figures 97–110 ) medially bent downwards forming two widely separated lobes with short pointed tips pointing downward and in the slender, unarmed, weakly inward and upward bent cerci (Figs 115 View Figures 111–125 , 130 View Figures 126–139 ). Eupholidoptera latens most closely resembles E. francisae sp. nov. but differs in the shape of the subgenital plate (compare Fig. 144 View Figures 140–153 with Fig. 146 View Figures 140–153 ), the length-width ratio of styli, the shape of the titillator (compare Figs 186 View Figures 182–197 , 187 View Figures 182–197 with Fig. 189 View Figures 182–197 ), body size and the ratio height-length of the hind femur (see Tables 3 View Table 3 , 4 View Table 4 for measurements). Females differ in the subgenital plates (Figs 43 View Figures 39–52 , 57 View Figures 53–66 ) being as long as wide, proximally with two concavities, slit-like to narrow V-shaped excision between the apical lobes reaching halfway. They can be distinguished from females of E. francisae by the fact that in ventral view the incision of the hind margin in E. francisae is shaped in the form of a wide V; in profile the apex of the female subgenital plate in E. latens reaches the distal half of the gonangulum or surpasses it (Fig. 68 View Figures 67, 68 ) while in E. francisae it does not reach or surpass the proximal half of the gonangulum (Fig. 67 View Figures 67, 68 ). In colouration, the amount of black shown by E. latens is intermediate between overall pale coloured species like E. cretica , E. jacquelinae and E. smyrnensis and dark-coloured species like E. annamariae , E. astyla , or E. mariannae . For more details differentiating E. latens from other Cretan Eupholidoptera see Table 5 View Table 5 .

Distribution.

The species was discovered in 1973 at high altitudes on Mt. Lefka, western Crete and published records from this species originated only from this mountain and its foothills (Lakki). Specimens collected between 2016 and 2019 indicate the species also occurs at low altitudes in the northern and northeastern parts of Chania region (Fig. 254 View Figures 254, 255 ). To the east the distribution area of E. latens borders to but is separated from E. giuliae . For a complete list of localities, specimens and repositories see Suppl. material 1.

Habitat.

The species occupies habitats from sea level to alpine regions between 1600 and 1800 m on Mt. Lefka. It hides in low prickly shrublets in the phrygana while at lower altitudes it was also found on shrubs of blackberry ( Rubus ) or gorse ( Ulex ).

Phenology.

At low altitudes adults appear around mid-May, at mid-level elevations toward the end of May or early June whereas at high altitudes it may take to the second half of July before the first adults appear.