Moncheca elegans (Giglio-Tos, 1898)

Piotr Naskrecki, 2000, Katydids of Costa Rica / Vol. 1, Systematics and bioacoustics of the cone-head katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae sensu lato)., Philadelphia, PA: The Orthopterists Society at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, : 99-104

Moncheca elegans (Giglio-Tos, 1898)

Figs. 27 A-E, 47D, Map 12

1898 Giglio-Tos, Boll. Mus. Torino 13: 86 >> Exocephala ; type locality: Ecuador, San José; type depository: Museo de Instituto di Zoologia Sistematica dell’Universita di Torino, Italy – holotype male

1912 Karny, in Wytsman, Gen. Ins. 139: 16 >> Moncheca

1926 Hebard, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 52: 342 >>as Moncheca pretiosa (partim)

1927 Hebard, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 53: 83 >>as Moncheca pretiosa

1982 Morris and Beier, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 108: 302

>> as Moncheca pretiosa

Diagnostic description.— General characteristics as described above. Stridulatory file of male weakly curved, 2.18 mm long, with 114 narrow and relatively thick teeth, maximum width of file 79 μm ( Fig. 47 D); teeth of file uniform in thickness, evenly spaced and smoothly narrowing towards proximal end. Mirror of stridulatory apparatus with vein AA 1 strongly oblique. Male cercus flattened laterally and strongly expanded dorso-ventrally at apex, resulting in foot-like shape of cercus ( Fig. 27 E); male 10th tergite almost completely black, strongly sclerotized, convex and shiny, its posterior margin expanded, forming concave, lobe-like projection, covered with dense hair ( Fig. 27 D). Ovipositor longer than hind femur (ratio ovipositor/hind femur 1.24-1.36), perfectly straight ( Fig. 27 A).

Coloration.— Body coloration of preserved specimens mostly dark olive green. Face ( Fig. 27 B), larger part of pronotum ( Fig. 27 C) and legs shiny black. Clypeus and labrum crimson red and pronotum with wide, ivory band in metazona. Costal field of tegmina yellow to pink (crimson underneath), the remainder of tegmina dark olive green with yellow venation. Abdomen yellow or yellowish green. Sometimes lower valvula of ovipositor yellow.

Measurements.— Table 19 .

Bioacoustics.— Morris and Beier (1982) describe a calling sound of what they identified as a male of Moncheca pretiosa . The description of its coloration, combined with the origin of specimens (Monteverde — M. pretiosa does not seem to occur in that part of Costa Rica), suggest that it was in fact M. elegans (this conclusion was confirmed by G. K. Morris upon reexamination of the specimen described in their paper, pers. comm.). The call is described as sibilant and quavering, low Q buzz. Pulse train groups consist of two train types of similar duration but differing in amplitude envelopes ( Morris and Beier 1982: 313, Fig. 13 ). Energy of the call occurs in a wide band, 20- 70 kHz, with the strongest peak near 30-34 kHz.

Remarks.— Although frequently collected, it seems that this species has long remained unrecognized. I did not have a chance to examine the holotype personally, but I compared my specimens to color photographic slides of the type made by T.H. Hubbell, now deposited in the slide collection of the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan. Hebard (1927, 1933) considered it a junior synonym of Moncheca pretiosa , but a comparison of his specimens with the holotypes of M. elegans and M. pretiosa reveals the presence of two distinct species (see Table 18 for a list of differences). Surprisingly, he failed to notice well defined differences in the male genitalic characters of the two species, as well as less prominent but nonetheless consistently present differences in the pattern of coloration. Specimens from Peru mentioned by Hebard (1927) as having much darker coloration are also distinct from the two species known from Costa Rica, and possibly represent another undescribed species. The taxonomic problems with the genus Moncheca stem from the fact that most authors have paid a lot attention to the coloration, which can be quite variable, while almost entirely neglecting morphological characters of male genitalia and the stridulatory apparatus.

Guanacaste Province in Costa Rica seems to be the northern boundary of distribution of M. elegans . It occurs throughout Costa Rica ( Map 12 ) and part of Colombia. Records of M. pretiosa from Panama ( Hebard 1927) most likely also represent this species.

Material examined.— COSTA RICA: Navarro, elev. 1158.24 - 1112.52 m, 24 July 1927 (coll. Lankester and Rehn) - 1 female ( ANSP); Alajuela Prov., 2 km N Colonia Blanca, P. N. Rincón de la Vieja, elev. 800 m, 28 June 1992 (coll. III curso Parataxon.) - 6 males, 2 females ( INBio); Dos Rios de Upala, elev. 600 m, 9 July 1990 (coll. A. Fernández) - 1 male ( INBio); Finca San Gabriel, 2 km SW Dos Rios, elev. 600 m, 15 June 1989 (coll. GNP Biodiv. Survey) - 2 males, 1 female ( INBio); N slope Volcán Poas, 8 km N Vara Blanca, elev. 1300 m, 25 - 26 July 1990 (coll. Meredith and Powell) - 1 male ( EMEC); Cartago Prov., Grano de Oro, Chirripó, Turrialba, elev. 1120 m, 30 July 1992 (coll. P. Campos) - 1 male ( INBio); Guanacaste Prov., Estac. Cacao, elev. 1000 - 1400 m, 3 November 1994 (coll. J.F. Corrales) - 1 male ( INBio); Estac. Cacao, lado SO, elev. 1000 - 1400 m, 15 July 1993 (coll. J.F. Quesada) - 2 males, 1 female ( INBio); same locality, elev. 800 - 1600 m, 15 July 1993 (coll. G. Mora et al.) - 1 male ( INBio); Estac. Cacao, Lado SO Vol. Cacao, P.N. Guanacaste, elev. 1000 - 1400 m, 29 May 1992 (coll. K. Taylor) - 1 female ( INBio); Estac. Cacao, Lado suroeste del Volcán Cacao, P.N. Guanacaste, elev. 1000 - 1400 m, 15 June 1990 (coll. II curso Parataxon) - 3 males ( INBio); same locality, elev. 1000 - 1400 m, 15 June 1991 (coll. C. Chávez) - 1 female ( INBio); Estac. Las Pailas, P.N. Rincón de la Vieja, elev. 800 m, 15 August 1992 (coll. C. Caño) - 2 males ( INBio); same locality, elev. 800 m, 11 July 1993 (coll. K. Taylor) - 1 male ( INBio); same locality, elev. 800 m, 16 - 24 August 1993 (coll. D. García) - 1 female ( INBio); Estac. Pitilla, 9 km S. Santa Cecilia, elev. 700 m, 15 June 1992 (coll. C. Moraga) - 1 male, 1 female ( INBio); same locality, 15 June 1993 (coll. C. Moraga) - 5 males, 1 female ( INBio); same locality, 18 - 23 July 1993 (coll. C. Moraga) - 1 male ( INBio); same locality, 15 June 1994 (coll. C. Moraga) - 1 female ( INBio); Estac. Pitilla, 9 km S Sta Cecilia, elev. 700 m, 15 May 1990 (coll. II curso Parataxon.) - 2 males, 2 females ( INBio); Estac. Pitilla, 9 km St. Cecilia, elev. 700 m, 15 May 1988 (coll. GNP Biodiversity Survey) - 2 males, 1 female ( INBio); same locality, 15 June 1988 (coll. GNP Biodiversity Survey) - 1 female ( INBio); same locality, 15 July 1988 (coll. GNP Biodiversity Survey) - 2 males, 2 females ( INBio); same locality, 15 May 1989 (coll. GNP Biodiversity Survey) - 3 males, 5 females ( INBio); same locality, 15 June 1994 (coll. P. Rios) - 1 female ( INBio); Estac Cacao, SW side Volcán Cacao, elev. 1000 - 1400 m, 15 September 1989 (coll. R. Blanco and C. Chávez) - 7 males ( INBio); Estac. Mengo, SW side Volcán Cacao, elev. 1100 m, 15 September 1989 (coll. R. Blanco and C. Chávez) - 2 males, 2 females ( INBio); Estac. Pitilla, 9 km S Santa Cecilia, elev. 700 m, 15 June 1991 (coll. P. Rios) - 1 female ( INBio); Hda. Santa Maria, elev. 750 m, 1 - 30 September 1996 (coll. D. Briceño) - 1 female ( INBio); Puntarenas Prov., Monteverde, 13-15 June 1986 (coll. B.C> Ratcliffe and party) – 1 male ( UNSM); Buen Amigo, San Luís Monteverde, elev. 1000 - 1350 m, 15 September 1994 (coll. Z. Fuentes) - 1 male ( INBio); Estac. Pittier, 4.2 km SO del Cerro Gemelo, elev. 1670 m, 11 - 25 May 1997 (coll. M.M. Moraga) - 1 female ( INBio); Finca Cafrosa, Estac. Las Mellizas, P.N. Amistad, elev. 1300 m, 15 April 1989 (coll. M. Ramirez and G. Mora) - 3 females ( INBio); same locality, elev. 1300 m, 20 August - 4 September 1989 (coll. M. Ramirez and G. Mora) - 3 females ( INBio); same locality, elev. 1300 m, 15 October 1989 (coll. M. Ramirez and G. Mora) - 2 females ( INBio); San Luís, Monteverde, A.C. Arenal, elev. 1040 - 1350 m, 15 July 1993 (coll. Z.

Fuentes) - 1 male, 2 females ( INBio); San Luís, R.B. Monteverde, elev. 1040 m, 15 August 1992 (coll. Z. Fuentes) - 1 female ( INBio); same locality, elev. 1040 m, 15 September 1992 (coll. F.A. Quesada) - 2 males ( INBio); San José Prov., Estac. Santa Elena, Las Nubes, elev. 1210 m, 6 - 10 April 1997 (coll. E. Alfaro) - 1 male, 1 female ( INBio); same locality, elev. 1210 m, 4 - 9 July 1997 (coll. E. Alfaro) - 1 male ( INBio); COLOMBIA: Sn. Fortuna to Bonis, - 1 female ( ANSP).

Figures

FIG. 13. Frontal and lateral view of fastigia of Costa Rican Neoconocephalus spp. A-B. N. triops, C-D. N. punctipes - form without a fastigial gap, E-F. N. punctipes - form with a fastigial gap, G-H. N. cf. spiza.

FIG. 27. Moncheca elegans. A. female - habitus, B. female face, C. female head and pronotum, dorsal view, D. male cerci, dorsal view, E. male cerci, lateral view.

FIG. 47. Stridulatory files of Costa Rican species of Conocephalinae s. l. A. Vestria punctata, B. ditto, enlarged fragment, C. Moncheca elegans, enlarged fragment, D. ditto, entire file, E. Moncheca pretiosa.

MAPS 7 - 12. Distribution of species of Conocephalinae s. l. in Costa Rica. 7. Neoconocephalus affinis, N. triops, 8. Neoconocephalus punctipes, N. cf. spiza, 9. Bucrates capitatus, B. clausus, Metacaputus brenesi, 10. Pyrgocorypha rogersi, P. hamata, 11. Caulopsis cuspidata, C. microprora, 12. Moncheca elegans, M. pretiosa, Vestria punctata.

Tables

TABLE 19. Body measurements of Costa Rican species of Moncheca (all measurements are lengths in mm: range, mean ± SD)

Species	Body with wings	Tegmen	Pronotum	Hind femur	Ovipositor
elegans male female	50-54.7, 52.4±2.2 64.9-71.6, 68.4±3	42.7-46.8, 44.9±2.2 55.9-62.2, 59.1±3	6.2-6.7, 6.4±0.2 8.1-8.7, 8.4±0.3	14.4-14.9, 14.6±0.2 17.4-19.3, 18.6±0.8	na 23.2-24.9, 24±0.8
pretiosa male female	44.4-53.6, 47.8±3.6 57.6-66.7, 61.2±3.1	36.8-45.7, 40.2±3.4 48.5-58.2, 52±3.3	5.4-6.3, 5.9±0.4 6.7-7.5, 7.2±0.3	14.3-17, 15.6±1.1 16.5-19.5, 18.3±1.1	na 21.6-25, 23.1±1.2