Isophya rhodopensis leonorae Kaltenbach, 1965

Dragan P. Chobanov, Beata Grzywacz, Ionuţ Ş. Iorgu, Battal Cιplak, Maya B. Ilieva & Elżbieta Warchałowska-Śliwa, 2013, Review of the Balkan Isophya (Orthoptera: Phaneropteridae) with particular emphasis on the Isophya modesta group and remarks on the systematics of the genus based on morphological and acoustic data, Zootaxa 3658 (1), pp. 1-81 : 34-36

Isophya rhodopensis leonorae Kaltenbach, 1965 , stat.nov.

( Figs 17 , 45, 69 , 94 , 119 , 162, 163 , 168 , 193 )

Isophya leonorae Kaltenbach : Kaltenbach 1965 (sp.n.). Isophya kisi Peshev , syn.n.: Peshev 1981 (sp.n.).

Morphological description: see the references above; Bey-Bienko 1954; Harz 1969 (as I. leonorae ); Ingrisch and Paviċeviċ 1985 (as I. leonorae ). Bioacoustics: Heller and Helversen 1986, Heller 1988 (as I. leonorae ). Karyotype: Warchałowska-Śliwa et al. 2008 (as I. kisi ).

Synonymy: Peshev (1981) described I. kisi diagnosing it in comparison only with I. modesta . After comparing the morphology and calling song of diverse material from Bulgaria, including from the type locality of I. kisi , with these of I. leonorae , described from the neighbouring territory of Greece, it appeared obvious that both taxa are identical (first mentioned by Klaus-Gerhard Heller, personal communication). Thus, the preference was given for the senior synonym. Further, the morphology of I. leonorae from different localities shows great similarity to that of I. rhodopensis . The song of some populations from the western part of Western Rhodope Mts, located between the ranges of typical I. leonorae and I. rhodopensis (see below), has a structure closer to that of I. leonorae , though their morphology and karyotype characteristics may be intermediate between these of I. leonorae and I. rhodopensis or strongly remaining one of the latter taxa. These cases, we believe, concern hybrid populations, and therefore I. leonorae is here regarded as a subspecies of I. rhodopensis .

Supplement to the description and diagnosis: I. rhodopensis leonorae has a large, stout body. The tegmen is very wide with long CuP and stridulatory file (3.8–4.2 mm) bearing many teeth (149–170) ( Figs 45, 162 A, 163A).

Main colouration of male tegmen is green. The lateral stripes of metazone (above the light bands) are wide, reddish (compare with the other subspecies). Female stridulatory apparatus is shown in Figs 162 C, 163C. Typical characteristic of this subspecies is the very wide, showel-shaped apical tooth of male cerci ( Figs 162 B, 163B), usually narrower or pointed in the other subspecies. The song ( Fig. 168 ) consists of loose groups of decrescending syllables lasting 100–200 ms and sometimes followed by 1–2 after-clicks.

Bioacoustics: The song in the typical population from Alibotoush (Slavyanka) Mountain at 25–26°С included groups of few (usually 4–10, rarely 2–3) or many (over 15) syllables, which were divided by an interval of 1.3–2 s. The syllables were short—116–176 ms (mean 151±17; n=20), consisted of 60–66 impulses (mean 65±3; n=20), and sometimes followed by 1 (rarely 2) after-click (thus the whole length of the syllable became 246–376 ms; mean 300±53; n=13). The impulses within the main part of the syllable were dense and the impulse period lasted from 2 to 6 (at the syllable’s end) ms (mean 2.3).

Distribution ( Fig. 193 ) and phenology: The typical form of this subspecies was found in the mountain belt of Southern Rila, Pirin, Alibotoush (Slavyanka), Stargach Mountains in Bulgaria and the neighbouring mountains in Greece (Vrontous, Pangaion) between the valleys of Strouma (Strimon) and Mesta (Nestos) Rivers bordering its range from West and East. The subspecies inhabits mostly the mountain belt between 800 and 1800 m, where it keeps to lush grass associations. Nymphs—IV–VI(–VII), imago—VI–IX.

Figures

FIGURE 193. Distribution of I. rhodopensis leonorae, I. rh. leonorae / rhodopensis – intermediate forms, I. rh. rhodopensis – typical and northwestern form, and I. rh petkovi on the Balkan Peninsula.

FIGURES 1 – 18. General appearance of some Balkan Isophya. 1, 2 — I. hospodar (1 — male, 2 — female); 3 — I. thracica (male); 4, 5 — I. rectipennis (4 — male, 5 — female); 6, 7 — I. pavelii (6 — male, 7 — female); 8, 9 — I. bureschi (8 — male, 9 — female); 10, 11 — I. andreevae (10 — male, 11 — female); 12, 13 — I. plevnensis (12 — male, 13 — female); 14, 15 — I. m. modesta (= intermedia) (14 — male, 15 — female); 16 — I. l. longicaudata (male); 17 — I. rhodopensis leonorae (male); 18 — I. rh. petkovi (male) (Figures 6 – 11, 17, 18 — photo M. Langourov).

FIGURES 56 – 79. Morphology of female head, pronotum and tegmina of the Balkan Isophya and I. yaraligozi (localities as in Figs 31 – 55 unless specifically given): 56 — I. hospodar; 57 — I. rectipennis; 58 — I. pavelii (paratype of I. rammei Peshev); 59 — I. thracica; 60 — I. bureschi; 61 — I. yaraligozi; 62 — I. tosevski; 63 — I. andreevae (paratype); 64 — I. clara; 65 — I. miksici (paratype); 66 — I. plevnensis (paratype); 67 — I. longicaudata adamovici (paratype, BG: Sliven, 1000 m, NMNHS); 68 — I. l. longicaudata; 69 — I. rhodopensis leonorae (BG: “ Alibotush, 1500 m ”, 13.07. 1959, NMNHS); 70 — I. rh. rhodopensis (as in Fig. 46 but 17.07.1956); 71 — I. rh. petkovi; 72 — I. modestior; 73 — I. dobrogensis; 74 — I. zubowskii; 75 — I. aff. camptoxypha (MK: Bistra Mt., 2.08. 2004, CC); 76 — I. gulae (paratype, BG: Dolna Topchiya, 10.07. 1974, NMNHS); 77 — I. obtusa (BG: Vezhen Peak, 15.07. 1969, NMNHS); 78 — I. amplipennis (TR: “ Turkey | 1960 | Sureya Bey ”, NHM); 79 — I. speciosa (BG: Sakar Mt., 14.06. 1952, NMNHS). Scale (if present; black line right of the specimen) = 10 mm.

FIGURES 80 – 104. Male abdominal terminalia of the Balkan Isophya and I. yaraligozi (localities as in Figs 31 – 55): 80 — I. hospodar; 81 — I. rectipennis; 82 — I. pavelii; 83 — I. thracica; 84 — I. bureschi; 85 — I. yaraligozi; 86 — I. tosevski; 87 — I. andreevae; 88 — I. clara; 89 — I. miksici; 90 — I. plevnensis; 91 — I. longicaudata adamovici; 92 — I. l. longicaudata; 93 — I. m. modesta (= intermedia); 94 — I. rhodopensis leonorae; 95 — I. rh. rhodopensis; 96 — I. rh. petkovi; 97 — I. modestior; 98 — I. dobrogensis; 99 — I. zubowskii; 100 — I. aff. camptoxypha; 101 — I. gulae; 102 — I. obtusa; 103 — I. amplipennis; 104 — I. speciosa. Scale (if present) = 2 mm.

FIGURES 105 – 129. Female abdominal terminalia of the Balkan Isophya and I. yaraligozi (localities as in Figs 31 – 55 unless specifically given); figures of the whole ovipositor are followed by enlarged figure of the ovipositor base: 105 — I. hospodar (BG: Dolni Glavanak, 25.04. 2005, CC); 106 — I. rectipennis (BG: Byala Vill., 27.06. 2002, CC); 107 — I. pavelii (BG: Chernogorovo, 29.05. 2006, CC); 108 — I. thracica; 109 — I. bureschi (BG: Bansko, 8.08. 2006, CC); 110 — I. yaraligozi; 111 — I. tosevski; 112 — I. andreevae (BG: Kresnensko Hanche, 19.04. 2006, CC); 113 — I. clara; 114 — I. miksici (BG: Gorski Dom Lodge, 24.06. 2006, CC); 115 — I. plevnensis (BG: Levishte, 14.07. 2009, CC); 116 — I. longicaudata adamovici (BG: Karandila, 24.06. 2008, CC); 117 — I. l. longicaudata (BG: Sofia University Botanical garden, 26.06. – 1.07.2004, CC); 118 — I. m. modesta (= intermedia); 119 — I. rhodopensis leonorae (BG: Livade, 9.08. 2006, CC); 120 — I. rh. rhodopensis (BG: Bachkovo, 600 m, 23.05. 2004, CC); 121 — I. rh. petkovi (BG: Gluhite Kamani, 23.06. 2008, CC); 122 — I. modestior (BG: Bankya, 24.05. 2006, CC); 123 — I. dobrogensis; 124 — I. zubowskii; 125 — I. aff. camptoxypha (data as in Fig. 75); 126 — I. gulae; 127 — I. obtusa (BG: Ravnets Ridge, 14.07. 2009, CC); 128 — I. amplipennis (as in Fig. 78); 129 — I. speciosa (BG: Bankya, 24.05. 2006, CC). Indications on Fig. 127 show, respectively: G—gonangulum; L—lamella; P—lateral pit between lamella and gonangulum. Scale (if present) = 5 mm.

FIGURES 162 – 167. SEM of taxonomically important structures of Isophya: 162, 163 — I. rhodopensis leonorae (162 — BG: N Pirin Mts; 163 — BG: Alibotoush Mt.); 164 – 166 — I. rhodopensis rhodopensis (164 — typical form, BG: above Smolyan; 165 — northwestern form, BG: Batak Lake; 166 — typical form or transitional to I. rh. petkovi, BG: near Assenovgrad); 167 — I. rhodopensis petkovi (BG: Glouhite Kamani Locality). A—male stridulatory file (162, 166 — scale 200 μm; the rest—scale 1 mm); B—ventral / ventro-apical view of apex of male cerci (scale 100 μm); C—female stridulatory apparatus (162 — scale 100 μm; 166 — scale 200 μm; the rest—scale 500 μm).

FIGURES 168 – 173. Male calling song at two different speeds (air temperature at recording shown; time scale below): 168 — I. rhodopensis leonorae (BG: Alibotoush Mt.; 168 B and C—song of two males from the same population); 169 — I. rhodopensis rhodopensis / leonorae (transitional / hybrid form, BG: Rhodope Mts, Shiroka Polyana Lake); 170 – 172 — I. rhodopensis rhodopensis (170 — northwestern form, BG: Batak Lake; 171 — typical form, BG: above Smolyan; 172 — typical form, BG: Turun Village) 173 — I. rhodopensis petkovi (BG: Glouhite Kamani Locality).