Anaxipha hyalicetra Cole & Funk

A. Cole, Jeffrey & H. Funk, David, 2019, Anaxiphahyalicetra sp. n. (Gryllidae: Trigonidiinae), a new sword-tailed cricket species from Arizona, Journal of Orthoptera Research 28 (1), pp. 3-9 : 3-4

Anaxipha hyalicetra Cole & Funk sp. n. Fig. 1: habitus and morphology; Fig. 2: male genitalia, tegmina, and stridulatory file; Fig. 3: songs, recording 140723_11, available as Suppl. material 1.

Holotype.-

1 male. USA. ARIZONA: Santa Cruz County; Peña Blanca Canyon, Coronado National Forest, 31.38230, -111.09251, elevation 1203 m. 23-VII-2014. J.A. Cole leg. Recording number 140814_00. Prepared with tegmina raised. Right antenna missing most of the flagellum, otherwise complete (Fig. 1A, B). Deposited in LACM.

Paratypes.-

3 males, 1 female (pinned), same data as holotype (ANSP); 5 males, 1 female, same data as holotype (FSCA); 4 males, 2 females (pinned), 4 males (DNA vouchers SING0518, SING0519, SING0520, SING0521 in 100% ethanol), same data as holotype (LACM); 2 males (pinned), same locality as holotype collected 31-VIII-2014 (LACM); 5 males (pinned), 2 males (DNA vouchers SING0453, SING0454 in 100% ethanol), same locality as holotype collected 15-16-VII-2013, J.A. Cole and J.F. Limón leg. (LACM).

Measurements.-

Males (n = 7): BL = 7.63 ± 0.24 (7.38 - 7.95), BW = 3.38 ± 0.18 (3.13 - 3.73), HF = 4.20 ± 0.14 (4.00 - 4.35); females (n = 2): BL = 7.31 ± 0.27 (7.11 - 7.50), BW = 1.95 ± 0.06 (1.91 - 1.99), HF = 4.25 ± 0.23 (4.08 - 4.41).

Hind wings.-

No specimens among the type series are macropterous.

Seasonal occurrence.-

Available records suggest early summer to midsummer adult activity. Individuals were common from 15-23 July in two consecutive years. By 31 August 2014, males were scarce, and no females were found. Males collected 23 July lived in captivity until 19 August.

Habitat.-

The population resides in a north-south trending canyon. Within the canyon, individuals are most common in the creek bed at the canyon bottom but extend a short distance up the canyon walls into mixed woodland. During both July collecting events monsoon rains had recently fallen in the canyon and humidity was high. Crickets were found on catclaw acacia ( Senegalia greggii (A. Gray)), on stems of pointleaf manzanita ( Arctostaphylos pungens Kunth), on Yucca , on bunch grass, and on oak leaf litter. Like other North American Anaxipha , individuals perched within 1 m of the ground ( Walker and Funk 2014). Acoustic activity was observed in the field from 19:41 to 22:05 h. In July and August, A. hyalicetra was sympatric with Oecanthus californicus Saussure, an arboreal chirping Oecanthus rileyi Group sp., Gryllus ?personatus Uhler, and two undescribed Gryllus species. Cycloptilum sp. and Hoplosphyrum sp. scaly crickets ( Mogoplistidae ) were found in the same habitat during the August 2014 collecting event.

Diagnosis.-

A. hyalicetra has a unique combination of morphological characters among the North American Anaxipha fauna. The basal segment of the hind tarsus is longer than segments 2 + 3 combined, a feature that is also found in A. imitator (Saussure), A. calusa Walker & Funk, and many Neotropical species. The male tegmina in A. hyalicetra are broader than in every other Anaxipha species (Fig. 1B, C), although many Neotropical species have broad tegmina. With 124 teeth in the stridulatory file (Fig. 2C), A. hyalicetra overlaps in file characteristics only with A. exigua (Say), which is a fall species with narrow tegmina found in eastern deciduous forests. The male genitalia (Fig. 2A) are unique: the median lophi are bifurcate and hook inward, each paramere has a hooked tooth at the anterolateral corner, and the parameres slope anterolaterally from the midline (rather than a posterolateral slope or perpendicular orientation, cf. plate 13 Walker and Funk 2014). The variable PTR in male songs (Table 1, Fig. 3C) is unique among North American Anaxipha (see Acoustic behavior below).

Etymology.-

l. hyalo (glassy) + cetra (a small light shield), referring to the broad, transparent male tegmina.

Acoustic behavior.-

PR in A. hyalicetra is 45.4 s-1 (Table 1, Fig. 3B), identical to that of A. fultoni Walker and Funk and close to that of A. imitator . Phrasing differs between these species. The calling song phrasing of A. hyalicetra is a series of PT of irregular length that may be termed a chirp (Fig. 3A, C). Phrasing in both A. fultoni and A. imitator is a broken trill rather than an irregular chirp. The calling song phrasing of the new species is qualitatively similar to that of A. litarena Fulton from the beaches of the southeastern United States, except that the latter produces more regular PTR and PTD. The carrier frequency is 6 kHz. A series of harmonics extend to 43 kHz at 6 kHz intervals (Fig. 3A).

The scree plot (Fig. 4) has a distinct inflection point at n = 4 components. The four components extracted by maximum likelihood factor analysis (Table 2) may be interpreted as follows. Factor 1 describes PTR (together with mathematically related characters PTI, PTP, and PTdc). Factor 2 describes PTD, which is determined by PN. Factor 3 describes PR (with mathematically related characters PD, PP, and PI) and PTCF. Factor 4 describes pulse characteristics Pdc, PD, and PI, which contribute to PTD. The factor analysis model was rejected as a perfect fit for the data (P = 4.64 × 10-18); the four factors explain cumulatively 91% of variation. PTCF is the least classifiable character (i.e. highest uniqueness at 0.46).

Songs were significantly different between the field and the laboratory (MANOVA, P = 9.32 × 10-3). Notably, males produced more rapid PTR (P = 3.65 × 10-3) due to shorter PTD (P = 8.06 × 10-4) in the laboratory (Table 1). PTCF also differed between field and laboratory (P = 1.21 × 10-3; Table 1). Song character differences opposed relationships predicted by temperature: PR and PTR were faster and PD and PTD were shorter in the laboratory than in the field, despite a lower mean laboratory recording temperature (Table 1).

Males sang in aggregations but did not settle into predictable chorus phase relationships, neither synchronous nor alternating (reviewed in Greenfield 2002). Males walked while singing, and, if on a stem, circled the stem (JAC pers. obs.). In the field, males were observed baffling by positioning themselves between twigs (JAC pers. obs.), a behavior that may improve broadcast by reducing destructive interference due to sound radiation to the rear of the insect ( Forrest 1982, 1991, Greenfield 2002). When in close proximity in the field, one or both males may have increased their PTR by shortening their chirps (i.e. reducing PTD; Fig. 3C). To a human observer, the effect was a staccato chirp that reverted back to a lower PTR with longer PTD over time (e.g. Fig. 3A). PTdc remained unchanged during alteration of PTR.