Chortoscirtes meruensis (Sjöstedt, 1909), Sjostedt, 1909

Hemp, Claudia, 2013, Annotated list of Ensifera (Orthoptera) and further records on Caelifera (Orthoptera) of Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Zootaxa 3613 (4), pp. 301-342 : 314

Chortoscirtes meruensis (Sjöstedt, 1909)

Distribution. Tanzania; Mt Meru (Sjöstedt 1909); Mt Kilimanjaro; endemic to the area between Mts Meru and Kilimanjaro.

Described by Sjöstedt (1909) from Mt Meru.

Habitat. Ngare na nyuki, Mt Meru (Sjöstedt 1909). Savanna grasslands of West Kilimanjaro (Hemp et al. 2010a).

Song. Long, uninterrupted sequence of pairs of syllables, typical for all Chortoscirtes species, mostly in the ultrasonic range (Hemp et al. 2010a).

Molecular phylogeny: Chortoscirtes species (5 species) are the sister group to a larger clade consisting of the species of the genus Karniella (two species) basally in the Karniellina tree and the genera Melanoscirtes , Phlesirtes , Acanthoscirtes , and Fulvoscirtes . C. meruensis is the sister taxon to C. pseudomeruensis . Both species evolved on different sides of the geologically young volcano Kilimanjaro, occupying colline to submontane grasslands, probably during the past 1–2 Ma years (Hemp et al. 2010a, Hemp et al. 2012).

Altitudinal range at Mt Kilimanjaro: 1200–1400 m.

Records: 6