Eupholidoptera giuliae Massa, 1999

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/EF64048A-9EA1-5F42-A17D-55AA260C3466
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Eupholidoptera giuliae Massa, 1999
status

Treatment

Eupholidoptera giuliae Massa, 1999 View in CoL View at ENA

Figs 16 View Figures 11–24 , 30 View Figures 25–38 , 44 View Figures 39–52 , 58 View Figures 53–66 , 74 View Figures 69–82 , 88 View Figures 83–96 , 102 View Figures 97–110 , 116 View Figures 111–125 , 131 View Figures 126–139 , 145 View Figures 140–153 , 159 View Figures 154–167 , 173 View Figures 168–181 , 188 View Figures 182–197 , 204 View Figures 198–212 , 220-223 View Figures 220–223 , 247 View Figures 247–253 , 248 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 giuliae Massa, 1999: 72.

Eupholidoptera giuliae Morphological description. Massa 1999: 72-75; Willemse and Heller 2001: figs 8, 16, 23, 30, 45.

Examined specimens.

2 ♂, 1♀ (paratypes); 52 ♂, 30 ♀ (for details see Suppl. material 2).

Diagnostic features.

Frontal part of head (Fig. 16 View Figures 11–24 ) pale with black dots; frontal half of pronotal disc (Fig. 30 View Figures 25–38 ) with extensive central black patch not reaching sides, border with pale rear half diffuse or distinct V-shaped. Male (Fig. 247 View Figures 247–253 ) - stridulatory file with 106 teeth (including proximal and distal ones), density of teeth in middle two thirds of the file 23 teeth per mm; anal tergite (Figs 74 View Figures 69–82 , 88 View Figures 83–96 , 102 View Figures 97–110 ) wide, centrally depressed, distally bend downward forming two pointed lobes pointing downward and slightly outward separated by wide excision; cerci (Figs 116 View Figures 111–125 , 131 View Figures 126–139 ) unarmed, 5-6 × longer than wide, basal half cylindrical, apical half conical almost straight to slightly curved inward, in profile straight; subgenital plate (Figs 145 View Figures 140–153 , 159 View Figures 154–167 ) wider than long, widest in proximal third, sides rimmed in proximal half, in profile upturned, pointing upward, tip apical lobes rounded, spineless, at inner side emarginate with V-shaped excision along one seventh of length; styli (Fig. 173 View Figures 168–181 ) minute, square to circular, as long as wide, inserted at internal margin of apical lobes proximal of tip, pointing inward to slightly downward; titillator (Figs 188 View Figures 182–197 , 204 View Figures 198–212 ) symmetrical, apical arms proximally fused, halfway to two thirds diverging into two parallel or divergent, smooth hooks, in profile basal half distinctly wider than in ventral or dorsal view, halfway recurved, forming wide angle with beak-like evenly, weakly curved spines. Female (Fig. 248 View Figures 247–253 ) - subgenital plate (Figs 44 View Figures 39–52 , 58 View Figures 53–66 ) generally as long as wide, widest in proximal third, proximally with two distinct, dark-coloured concavities separated by a median ridge, tip apical lobes acute, rounded, separated by slit-like medial excision along one third to half the length, in profile triangular, ventrally and in proximal upper corner depressed.

Measurements.

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

Bioacoustics.

Based upon the sound recordings of 5 specimens (50 syllables measured), the song of E. giuliae - 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. giuliae , the syllable duration is ~ 199 ms, with a syllable rate up to ~ 1/s. There are no published descriptions of the song of this species. 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 giuliae see Suppl. material 3.

Variation.

Along the south coast and more to the northeast up toward the town of Rethimno males show little variation in cerci, anal tergite, subgenital plate or titillator. Styli are small, mostly pointing inward but in some specimens somewhat downward. In the titillator the two apical arms are mostly divergent but sometimes almost parallel and close to each other. It is unclear whether such variation is structural, the result of the drying up process after killing or the age of the specimen in number of days after the final moult. Toward the northwest, in the municipalities of Chania and Apokoronas, male subgenital plates (Fig. 220 View Figures 220–223 ) are longer than wide with long styli pointing downward (Fig. 221 View Figures 220–223 ) resembling the subgenital plate in E. latens . A unique feature found in males from this area are the teeth bordering the medial excision in the hind margin of the anal tergite (Fig. 222 View Figures 220–223 ) which are distinctly longer than in other areas. Notwithstanding differences in the subgenital plate and anal tergite, populations from Chania and Apokoronas have been assigned to E. giuliae because the titillator with its slender apical arms and long apical hooks (Fig. 223 View Figures 220–223 ) perfectly fits this species. The morphological variation in E. giuliae , its geographical pattern and links to E. latens , are further elaborated in the discussion.

Differential diagnosis.

Males differ from congenerics in the wide, upturned, spineless subgenital plate (Figs 145 View Figures 140–153 , 159 View Figures 154–167 ) with styli (Fig. 173 View Figures 168–181 ) inserted at the inner margin of apical lobes pointing inward to slightly downward, in the anal tergite (Figs 74 View Figures 69–82 , 88 View Figures 83–96 , 102 View Figures 97–110 ) medially bent downward forming two widely separated lobes with tips pointing downward and slightly outward, in the slender, weakly inward bent, unarmed cerci (Figs 116 View Figures 111–125 , 131 View Figures 126–139 ) and in the stout apical arms of the titillator (Figs 188 View Figures 182–197 , 204 View Figures 198–212 ), fused in basal half, separated into two strong, long, parallel to diverging curved hooks. Females differ in the elongated subgenital plate (Figs 44 View Figures 39–52 , 58 View Figures 53–66 ), proximally with two distinct concavities, apical lobes with slit-like excision along one third to half the length. In colouration, the amount of black shown by E. giuliae is intermediate between overall pale coloured species such as E. cretica , E. jacquelinae and E. smyrnensis and dark coloured species like E. annamariae , E. astyla , or E. mariannae . For more details differentiating E. giuliae from other Cretan Eupholidoptera , see Table 5 View Table 5 .

Distribution.

The species was described from Chora Sfakion and a site 2.5 km east of Argoules along the southwestern coast of Crete ( Massa 1999; Çiplak et al. 2009). Additional data gathered over the past years indicate that E. giuliae occurs from the eastern part of the Chania regional unit to the western part of the Rethimno regional unit not only along the southern coast but across the island up to the northern coast (Fig. 254 View Figures 254, 255 ). The westernmost find of E. giuliae just south of Chania town is quite close to the easternmost find of E. latens from Lakki. For a complete list of localities, specimens and repositories see Suppl. material 1.

Habitat.

Based on current data E. giuliae is a lowland species occurring from sea level up to some 500 m. It has been found in a variety of habitats ranging from very dry phrygana covered hills and Quercus forest, to rather wet lush vegetations including ferns.

Phenology.

Adults of this species have been collected by hand from 10 May to 24 June. This is also the period during which most pitfall catches were made but at least in one instance E. giuliae adults were caught in a trap that had been set 20 August. This indicates that although adults may appear early in the season and may be most numerous in June, they can still be found until late August.